Chapter 2

It was funny really. Even as a statue, weathered down and covered in moss, Bill still gave an aura that said loud and clear not to touch or come anywhere near him. The area around him was covered in dead plants; not a single animal or insect dared to come within a few miles of the clearing Grunkle Ford and I were in. I noticed it when the noise in the forest slowly came to a hush and the light from the afternoon sun was steadily becoming blocked out by the increasing number of trees. It was like all the life was being starting to drain from the forest and I hoped it wasn't affecting Grunkle Ford too much. After all, we had already lost one life, one life too many.

Looking at Bill now, in the state he was in, I couldn't help but feel a bit of satisfaction knowing that I was part of the reason he was dead. Or at least he was supposed to be dead. I had hoped he was dead. However, I was starting to have my own doubts and the look in Grunkle Ford's eyes as he stared down at the statue was only adding to the dread piling in the pit of my stomach.

What were we doing here? This was insane, he couldn't seriously be serious about going through with this. I mean after everything we did to defeat him and now we were trying to bring him back? We have no clue if this is even going to work and if it does? What then, huh? He's already proven that he can't be trusted. We can't seriously be considering asking him for help. What if the price is too high? What if he asks us for something we can't possibly do? There are too many risks. It was a mistake coming here. We need to leave. We should just forget about even coming here and just go-

"Dipper!"

I was quickly snapped out of my hyperventilating by the sound of Grunkle Ford and automatically started scoping out my surrounding. By now it was a force of habit, I mean after everything I've been through, I've learned it's best to never let your guard down.

I could hear the crunch of the dead grass as he moved a few feet from me to turn around and examine the statue before us. Never before had I ever seen such a look of abhorrence on his face like he did now.

"After all these years, I never would have thought I would need to see the likes of you again Bill."

"Grunkle Ford this is ridiculous! You can't possibly-!" I threw my arms out and had started to express my thought; however, I stopped short at the look he threw my way. Grunkle Ford usually had a calm demeanor about him and when he was mad he usually had good control over it. Yet, that wasn't the case here. Grunkle Ford was one of those men where you could see his life stories and adventures in his body and age. He had plenty of scars and wrinkles to account for, and the number only grew as the years passed by. There was rage and grief in his eyes and if you looked deep enough you could catch the glint of desperation he was trying to hide.

"You know just as much as I do that this is are only hope! I can't think of what else to do. We have to do this, we have to at least try." Grunkle Ford's tone sent chills down my back as he took a few steps towards me.

I can't let him do this. I made a vow to protect him. If there really was a chance- which there wasn't- that Bill could be summoned then it was my job to stop Ford before he made a terrible mistake. He wasn't thinking right, he's not in his right state of mind. Was it not him who had taught me to not trust anyone?

"And we are! There has to be something, anything, but not can look for another solution! We- You can't seriously think that this will work. You know-" At this point we were having an all out yelling match and Grunkle Ford had a tight grip on my upper arms. Why couldn't he just listen?! Doesn't he realize the danger he's putting us in?

"No! No! I've explained it to you already. I will not repeat myself. Why are you so hesitant? You of all people should understand, you of all people should be jumping at this opportunity! Remember why we came here in the first place! Remember who's at home, rotting away without a care in the world! Stop and think about the facts Dipper. I know that this isn't the solution we both want but you have to admit that even you have some hope that this will work. I can see it in your eyes, you can't deny it."

He was right. A part of me, no matter how far I pushed it away, was hoping that this would work. I needed it to work. I couldn't deny it, a part of me couldn't care less about the risks and the danger the opportunity presented. We had tried just about everything we could think of. Sure, if we could just stop a moment and think more, search a little more then maybe we could find a better solution. But lets face it, there wasn't a guarantee that it would work. That was the thing about Bill, at least he would get the job done. Whether it was done it was done the way you wanted it done or not was besides the point; he would still keep his end of the deal and the job would get done.

Dipper was at his wit's end. He was so tired. All he wanted was his family back to normal. He wanted his family to be happy and healthy. That's all he wanted. He knew it was too much to ask for, he knew that there would always be a piece missing from all of their lives now that Grunkle Stan was no longer with them. But still! Was it really so much to wish for?

Dipper looked up to his Grukle, staring him in the eyes. He thought back on the last month. He thought about what led them to where they were right now. Back to the person they were doing it for, the person he held most dear. Mabel.

It had been weeks. A month and 2 weeks to be exact. And not once had Mabel showed a sign of getting better.

After the incident had occurred that night, Mabel had completely… stopped living. She wasn't herself anymore. It was almost like she had turned into a lifeless puppet.

Everything that made Mabel herself simply vanished. Her randomness and spark died out. She stopped smiling and laughing. She stopped making her famous Mabel juice and colorful sweaters she loved so much. She stopped playing and her imagination was no longer full of color and life. The life and happiness she carried around her, that used to brighten up anyone's day, completely vanished.

She didn't do anything of her own will, she simply let others move her around and do as they please. If it weren't for her brother and grunkle then she would be happily decaying in the her bed up in the cold attic.

Dipper refused to allow her that pleasure. He made took care of her needs and made sure that she got everything she needed. He fed her, bathed her, clothed her, he did everything a parent would do for their child. Except there was only so much he could do for her; her bloodshot eyes with bags under them and the fact that you felt like her bones would snap with just the slightest pressure proved as much.

Only Soos knew how to cook decent food that Mabel could manage to choke down a few bites of. Being as it was, Dipper only knew what Stan had taught him how to cook and Ford only knew how to heat up ramen. And considering Mabel couldn't bare anything that reminded her of Stan (hence why she only stayed in her room with the covers over her eyes) the two went to Soos for help.

She wouldn't sleep anymore. She couldn't. It was the only time she refused to do as they asked. She could barely close her eyes without seeing images of bright blood, sickly green smoke, and the eyes of her Grunkle Stan. Those eyes that used to hold so much life and love; that used to look down on her with adoration and affection. Eyes that were 5 feet under because of her.

Dipper couldn't blame her, none of them had slept those first few days. However, it was Mabel who had never gotten passed them. She had taken it the worst. She would wake up every night screaming bloody murder and crying her heart out. It would get to the point that she would claw at her skin, drawing blood, and pull out her hair. She would repeat the same words over and over; not stopping until hours later and slumping into Dipper's arms, allowing him to fix her up.

It hadn't been until recently that Ford had joined in the efforts of trying to get Mabel back to her original state of mind. Ford had been dealing with his own grief in his own way. He was angry and regretful and guilty. He couldn't face the twins, especially Mabel.

He knew it wasn't her fault but he was so… so mad. He had missed a great deal of Stanley's life. Of course they had made up for it after he had came back and had two amazing great kids with them, they were a perfect family. And then… and then she does something stupid! Despite how hard he tried not to, a part of him blamed her for it all .He knows she hadn't meant for any of it to happen but that doesn't change the fact that it had happened. Now Stanley is gone instead of by his side. He had hoped that they would still have a few more years together.

He was just so mad and then it had happened. For a while, Ford had locked himself down in the basement so he wouldn't accidentally lash out at her. He didn't want her to feel worse than she already did if what she said that night was any indication. He had no idea what was going on without him while being down there. It wasn't until Dipper had shown up one particular night that he realized that he wasn't the only one in shambles.

It wasn't unusual for Dipper to come check up on him. After all, if it wasn't for the boy then Ford wouldn't be in good enough health. However, it was the fact that the boy was sobbing and that he was waking Ford up during one of the few times he got sleep that he realized something beyond him was terribly wrong. Dipper had been crying so much that he barely understood what her was saying. But he could make out one thing, a single phrase as he griped the boy.

"P-lease! P-please help her!" Dipper cried out as he continued to sob and shake violently. His eyes were wide and held such panic and desperation. Ford felt a wave of guilt and dread hit him. There was only one person Dipper could be talking about. And he had been trying to keep away from her as much as possible when she had needed him most.

He ran up to her room, each step becoming faster and faster as the volume of screams increased. He had never heard her sound like that, the raw emotion she conveyed in her screams were something he himself had felt. However, this… this was on a completely different level.

He slammed the door open, Dipper right behind him. He almost wished he hadn't have opened the door. His heart and breathing stopping for a moment at the sight that lay before him.

Mabel laid there in her bed looking up towards the ceiling; the covers having been thrown to the ground and showing the bandages covering her body that weren't hidden by her white nightgown. Her screams were echoing throughout the room, but that wasn't the most disturbing part of the whole scene.

No, it was that her whole body was completely still while her eyes and mouth were wide open. Her eyes were unfocused; what were usually bright and warm brown irises were now faded and dark brown eyes full of overflowing tears.

He was completely frozen ashe watched Dipper push his way passed to get to his sister's side. What was he supposed to do? This was worse than he could have imagine. How long had she been like this? How long had Dipper gone through this by himself? Why hadn't he noticed sooner? Here he was wallowing in his anger and self-pity while his great niece and nephew were suffering. How could have he let himself stoop so low?

Dipper had been strong for them in his place when really it should have been up to him to keep his family together and offer his comfort. Looking at them now, he realized he had to step up and be the adult and be there for them like he should have from the beginning. He was there Grunkle and he'd be damned if he wasn't there for them a second longer. He would apologize, he would help Dipper take care of Mabel, and he'd take care of Dipper. He was late but it's better than never, right? He could only hope Mabel could find it in her heart to forgive him one day. However, right now he had a great niece to take care of.

From the looks of it, Mabel couldn't be waken up from the night terror she was suffering. Not to mention that he had a feeling it would get worse if she saw him. After all, him and Stanley were twins and in her current state, she wouldn't be able to make that connection and he feared what would happen. He had to think and come up with something fast.

'Come on, come on! Think of something! I can't bare to see them like this anymore. What relieves one from night terrors? What do I have that can calm her down and turn her nightmares to dreams?' Ford continued to ponder on this as Dipper was starting to get impatient with him.

"Aha! That's it! Dipper, my boy, wait here! I have just the thing! Don't worry, I know I haven't been there for you like I should have been but I'm here now. I'm going to make it up to you two as best as I can. We will get through this together, I promise."

With that ran down missing the wide stunned, hopeful look from Dipper's retrieved what he was looking for and dashed his way back to the twins' room. Dipper watched as his Grunkle carefully walked towards his sister with a small bottle labeled 'Dream Salt'. Dipper had read about it once before; it was salt formed from good dreams, seawater, and pure white sand. Dipper watched as he opened the bottle and poured the slightly glowing grains over Mabel's body. They both watched in relief as the salt melted into her skin and her screaming came to a sudden stop. Her tears came to a stop as well and her eyes slowly closed shut.

Dipper had been so relieved, so happy. She was asleep! And she wasn't frowning, crying, or even screaming. He should have thought of this sooner but at the same he was kind of glad he didn't. Because now he had his Grunkle Ford back, and he promised he wouldn't leave him by himself anymore. He couldn't help but run to his grunkle and tackle him into a hug. Feeling him tightly wrap his arms around the boy was something Dipper had missed and needed.

They had stayed like that for a while, both cherishing each other's presence. However all good things come to an end, and after a while Ford had asked Dipper to tell him everything that had been going on. His heart started feeling heavier with every word the boy muttered; and the hopelessness of the situation was starting to make him desperate. From what Dipper has told him, Dipper had already tried everything he could to help his sister. And Ford knew better than to question Dipper on this matter, If he says he's tried everything then he tried everything.

"I- I don't know what I'm going to do Grunkle Ford. I've already tried everything I could possibly get my hands on and I've called several doctors. None of them had anything that some other doctor had already said to try. Not to mention that the journals had nothing that could truly help Mabel's condition. I definitely wasn't going to try to giver her all of them without knowing how they would affect her when used together."

Damn it! Was that really all there was to it? Were they just going to have to watch as Mabel wasted away? There had to be something, something that no one would dare do because it was too risky, too dangerous. Wait.

"Dipper, pack up some gear and call Soos over to watch over Mabel. I have a theory and it's incredibly risky and you won't like it. However, you will just have to trust me on this."

"Wait, where are we going? It's already dawn." Dipper didn't like the sound of the serious tone his Grunkle had taken on or his word choice for that matter. Not to mention the hard look in his eyes; it made Dipper a little anxious and wary of what was going on in his grunkle's mind. After all, Grunkle Ford had been in a less severe state of mind than Mabel is in.

"I'll explain on the way there. I want to get this done with as fast as possible."

"At least tell me where we'll be going!"

Fine. However if I tell you where we're going then you must go with me no matter what. Understand?"

Dipper had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer but his curiosity got the best of him. And it's not like he had a choice anyways, this was for Mabel and he definitely wasn't going to let hi grunkle go on his own.

"Fine. I promise I'll come along no matter what. Just tell me where we'll be going and what we'll be visiting."

"We are going into the woods. There's a certain dream demon's statue we need to find."

Dipper's eyes widen and his face paled. "W-wait, y-you don't mean we're going to look for-!"

"Indeed I do. Prepare to meet Bill Cipher."