Nightmares and Daydreams

Chapter 20: Let Me Keep You Safe

Wirt's Pov

"Damnit. C'mon just wash off." I continued to scrub at my hands but the more I tried to wash off the oil, the more it seemed to spread across my palms. I scowled and continued to scrub till my hands burned but of course, nothing happened. This was my 3rd night of nightmares and after every single one, I would look more and more like the Beast. The twigs in my hair were growing and becoming harder and more painful to pull out. It took my eyes longer to turn back to normal and sometimes I just had to wake up and hope they were no longer colorful. And the black oil on my hands was becoming increasingly difficult to wash off, soap and water no longer making a dent on the stains. I honestly just wanted to sink to the bathroom floor and cry, but that would just leave black tear stains all over my face. So, I continued to run my hands under scalding hot water and roughly rubbing a bar of soap through them, hoping and hoping that the oil would finally come off. I only stopped when the sound of footsteps rang through my ears.

I put the soap down and pressed my ear to the wooden door, listening to see who might be awake. Please just be Mabel getting some water or even Stan sleepwalking. Anyone but- "Crap." I heard someone hiss and sighed, instantly recognizing that voice. It was Dipper. I stayed quiet and waited for his footsteps to disappear, then peaked my head out the door. Dipper was in fact awake and downstairs in the living room. I silently watched as he passed by the couch and went out the back door. Once he was out of my view, I tiptoed downstairs and stood near the couch, my eyes trained on the door Dipper stepped through. I should have stayed in the shack, just go to sleep and hope he didn't notice that I was up. But, there had to be a reason he was still awake, and I kind of wanted to find out. So, against my better judgment, I followed him out the shack.

"D-Dipper?" He jumped up and looked back, relaxing slightly when he saw it was just me. "Hey. Wh-what are you doing still awake?" "I could ask you the same thing." "Touche," he said with a small smile. We both sat down on the deck and Dipper sighed, running a hand through his curls. "I um, I couldn't sleep. I'm guessing you're having the same problem as me since you're still awake." I nodded and went to rest my head in my hands when I remembered that my hands were currently stained with oil, and Dipper could have seen them. So instead, I buried them deeper in my pant pockets, one of them brushing against the poem in my pocket. I turned to Dipper, who was gazing at the woods in front of us, and asked, "why couldn't you sleep?"

He bit his lip and paused before answering. "That 'thing' you saw. I know you d-don't really want to talk about it, but I... I couldn't stop thinking about it and-" "I'll tell you." Dipper looked up at me in surprise and the excited glow that I had grown to love, returned to his eyes. He really did have the most beautiful eyes. It almost made me forget that I agreed to tell him something that I wanted to take with me to the grave. Almost.

I sighed and tried to come up with something believable, but I couldn't. It wasn't because I was incapable of thinking up some strange monster, it was that I didn't want to. I didn't want to keep lying to Dipper, even if I was afraid of how he would react. Maybe I don't have to tell him everything, but I could at least be a little truthful in my words. I could tell him about the branches, about the Beast, about Bill's dea- No, that would reveal too much. Best to keep that secret. Anyway, with most of my thoughts in order, I told Dipper about that night.

"S-So first off, I-I'm sorry for leaving you in the woods. That was stupid and you were probably confused and hurt and I-" "Wirt, it's fine. I get it, okay. Sometimes we just need a little moment to ourselves to think. I'm not mad at you." Dipper gave me a comforting smile and it reminded me how lucky I was to have him as a friend. Still, it didn't make what I was about to do any easier. "Ok um thanks, I was worried you would be mad so thank you for understanding. So um, while I was walking I sat down and cut myself on something. Wh-When I went to look, If-found those branches. The ones from Bill's statue." Dipper gasped and became increasingly concerned, moving closer to try and find any scars or bruises that those branches could have left.