Dipper woke up in the middle of the night with a violent startle. Someone was screaming and it took little time for him to figure out it was Bill. Without waiting for Mabel who slept on the bed just next to his, he jumped out from beneath the covers and darted down the stairs. He nearly fell but didn't let that slow him down as he barrelled to Bill's room. He was the first one there and he found the ex-demon sitting on his bed, knees up, back curled, and hands clutching at his blond locks. He seemed utterly terrified and Dipper didn't understand why.

"Bill—!" He tried, approaching his bed and gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "Bill, what's wrong?"

But no matter how many times he asked the question, he received no answer. He just continued screaming and shaking his head violently. Dipper had never seen someone so completely horrified. It was starting to frighten him.

"Stanford!" Bill yelled desperately, "Stanford!"

Dipper took a step back and frowned. The man in question ran into the room seconds later and moved past the brunet, nearly knocking him over, as he gathered Bill in his arms. Bill's demeanour changed quickly. He clutched at Ford's shirt frantically and pressed himself against his body as though he were trying to disappear in it. Dipper caught a glimpse of his face and found it colourless from fear. He trembled so violently, and the sixteen year old stood there for a moment just watching his Great Uncle cradle the blond in his arms in a vain attempt to soothe him. Dipper glanced behind him and found Stan and Mabel standing in the entrance with confused expressions.

"He's in my head!" Bill cried and tears stung at his eyes, "He's in my head! He knows where I am! Stanford, he knows!"

Everyone stiffened at that. Bill could only be talking about the Warlock.

"How is that possible?" Dipper asked. "I thought he couldn't get through the ward."

"I thought he didn't even know where Bill was." Stan said and took a step into the room.

"Bill," Ford said as softly as he could all the while being stern in a way to snap the ex-demon out of his state of pure terror, "Bill, what happened?"

He breathed harshly for a moment, struggling to control his breathing before attempting to speak. "H-he…I-I fell asleep…" He started, his voice low and trembling, "A-and he was there…" his voice cracked and he buried his face in Ford's chest to hide his terrified tears, "He…spoke to me."

"He got in through the dreamscape." Ford frowned, gritting his teeth, "He went around the ward."

"He's going to kill me." Bill breathed, "H-he showed me how he would do it…"

"Hey," Ford said soothingly and held the blond tighter, "It's okay; you're safe inside the ward. He can't get you here."

"He said I would screw up." Bill whimpered and clutched so hard at Ford's shirt his knuckles began to whiten, "He said I would screw up and he would kill me."

"Listen to me," Ford said firmly and he took Bill's face to force him to meet his eye, "I'm not going to let him hurt you. Not again. Do you hear me? I – we're going to protect you."

"You can't…" Bill lamented, defeat evident in his eyes, "We're going to screw up…he's going to get me…"

Ford was evidently dismayed. The blond seemed so convinced they were doomed to fail, which left to wonder what the Warlock had exactly said to strip Bill from any and all hope? It was obvious he wasn't going to sleep for the rest of the night so Ford told them all to leave, saying he would stay with the ex-demon and care for him. They would discuss the situation in the morning, after most of them had actually gotten a good night's rest. Though 'good' may have been hoping for too much.

Stan closed the door behind them as they left. For a moment, the three stood outside and listened to the murmur of Ford's voice as he attempted to comfort the spooked blond. Perhaps they were also trying to find comfort in the lies he told Bill. They were all scared. Sure the Warlock was targeting Bill, but that was only for now. If he managed to get the power he sought, all of their lives would be in danger. It was as Ford had said; if the guy was looking for power it meant he was up to no good.

"Go back to your room." Stan said. "Try to sleep."

Dipper and Mabel exchanged weary glances, but they did as they were told. They climbed back up the stairs to the attic and went to bed. They lied on their mattress, above the covers and stared quietly at the ceiling. Dipper could still hear the screams that had first torn him from sleep. They haunted his mind and inspired fear.

"Do you think we're going to screw up?" Mabel asked, her voice so quiet Dipper almost hadn't noticed it.

He pondered the matter for a moment. It was hard to give an answer. The Warlock was admittedly smart. He had figured out where Bill was hiding and found a way to reach him and torment him. His intellect seemed to match all of theirs combined. It would undoubtedly be a tough fight to win.

"We beat Armageddon." Dipper reminded. "I think we can handle this guy."

But he wasn't convinced.

"Are you scared?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah." Dipper answered frankly, "You?"

"Yeah." She said.

Dipper rolled onto his side, facing his sister and found her mirroring his position. He couldn't see her face in the darkness of their room.

"We'll get through it though." Dipper said. "We always do."

Mabel gave a brief nod and then they fell into silence. It was the middle of the night and though they should have been trying to fall back asleep, both were too afraid to do so. However, as the hours progressed, Dipper found it was getting harder to keep his eyes open and before he knew it, he was dreaming.

For a moment, there was only darkness. The world then materialised around him. He was outside the Mystery Shack and everything was grey. It reminded him a lot of the mindscape. He stared at the edifice in front of which he stood for a moment when he suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring into his back. Dipper turned and found himself face to face with a cloaked figure whose face was blurred. A terrifying smile stretched on the man's face and the next thing he knew, Dipper was tied to a wooden pole.

Mabel and Ford were tied next to him on their own posts but they were knocked out. Blood trickled from Mabel's forehead and Dipper wiggled anxiously, wanting to free himself from the rope that kept him bound to check on his sister. A piercing laugh stopped him. He glanced in front of him and found the cloaked man standing in front of an alter with various apparatus to perform a ritual. Dipper then looked up and saw the full moon.

His heart suddenly began beating wildly as he noticed Bill was chained to two stone pillars a few feet away. The cloaked man recited a spell in a foreign language, lifting a bowl to the moon before placing it back down and grabbing an obsidian dagger. He held the bowl with one hand, the dagger in the other and went to Bill. The latter's body was scarred in the same way it had been when he had first arrived at their door step after escaping the first ritual. His head was slumped between his shoulders but the moment the cloaked figure stopped in front of him, he snapped it up and he wore a panicked expression. Bill screamed bloody murder and Dipper wanted to look away but a force compelled him to keep staring.

The man draped in black raised his obsidian dagger towards the sky and it twinkled in the moonlight. He brought it back down swiftly, slicing Bill's neck and catching the blood that poured from the wound in his bowl. Bill stopped screaming and his eyes lost their life as his head slumped back into its original position. The bowl filled with his blood; quickly overflowing. The cloaked man laughed and it chilled Dipper to the bone. He felt sick. He was scared. So very scared.

Suddenly, Dipper woke up.

The sky was blue and light was pouring through the triangular window of the room he shared with his sister. He could hear the birds singing though their chirping was mostly muffled by his heavy breathing. He was covered with sweat and he felt sick. The images of the nightmare he had so recently had flashed in his mind. It was gruesome – too much for him to handle. He jumped out of his bed and ran to the nearest bathroom, hardly making it in time to throw up. He hadn't realised Mabel had worriedly followed him until he was done retching.

"Dipper…?" She asked, "What's wrong?"

He breathed heavily over the toilet bowl, a line of bile dribbling down his chin. He wiped it away and flushed the toilet. His heart was still pounding and he understood the fear Bill had felt mere hours ago.

"Did you…did you fall asleep?" He asked as he turned on the faucet and washed his hands and rinsed his mouth.

"No." Mabel admitted, dropping her gaze to the ground, "I tried but I couldn't. I noticed you did, though."

Dipper frowned and clenched at the sides of the sink. "He came to see me." Dipper said and Mabel gasped softly. "He showed me what he was going to do…"

"Are you sure it was him?" Mabel asked, "It could have just been a nightmare…"

"This was too…specific." Dipper said, shaking his head, "It all felt too real and beyond my control. I tried looking away, but I couldn't." he then glanced at her, "I think he's going to torment us until we give him what he wants."