Nightmares and Daydreams

Chapter 22: Time's Up!

Wirt's Pov

"Ahh!" I burst awake, sweat dripping down my face and my heart racing. Calm down, it was just another nightmare. I shook my head and scowled at my thoughts. I wish it was just another nightmare, but it wasn't. In this one, the Beast wasn't there and I was completely alone. Then all of a sudden, some creepy demonic voice just kept chanting 'your time is up' over and over again. No, this dream was definitely different. I took a deep breath and stood up, making my way over to the back porch. I silently closed the door behind me and sat down on the porch. There was no doubt that my eyes were different, that there was oil on my hands. I was changing and now it was too late.

Not wanting to stay at the shack and risk someone seeing me, I got up and walked off into the woods.

Usually, I hated the woods but, for some reason, they were slightly more bearable. Maybe that's just one of the symptoms of becoming the Beast. I sighed and walked deeper in. As I was walking I swore I heard whistling but when I turned around to look, there was no one there. Deep breathes Wirt. You're just hearing things. I followed my own advice and calmed down, continuing my trek through the woods.

A few minutes had passed before I heard the whistling again. Growing agitated, I turned and glared at the woods surrounding me, but there was nothing there. "Okay I know something's following me, so show yourself!" The whistling turned into demonic laughter and the world faded to gray. Suddenly a gloved hand was on my shoulder and I jumped and screamed, startled by its sudden appearance. "Pfft, hahaha! You should have seen the look on your face! HAHAHA!"

I scowled, recognizing that laughter, and turned to face Bill Cipher. "I thought you could only appear in my dreams." The demon rolled his eye and floated over to my side, a sinister grin on his face. "Honestly I'm a little offended you would insult my power like this. Of course I can show up outside of dreams. Now let me get a good look at you." He grabbed the sides of my face with his hands and lifted up my chin, examining me like an old relative would do to a child. Then he squished my cheeks and let go of me, laughing to himself. "Wow, you've really done it now. You've even got his antlers," Bill said as he continued to take pleasure in my misery. Wait I have his... I reached up to feel the sides of my head and my heart dropped into my stomach when I realized that the small stubs had grown.

I gulped, the fear in my body rising, as I slowly dropped my hands back to my sides. I-I-I have h-his antlers! Bill must have noticed because he chuckled and grabbed the small branches that were protruding from my head. "Hey, maybe I should start calling you twigs or even branches. Hahaha, now wouldn't that be fun." I swatted his hands away and backed away from the demon who continued to follow me.

"Look I already know where this is going. You're going to try and get me to take your deal by promising stupid bullshit like getting rid of my curse or-" "Or giving you Pinetree's heart," Bill added, a small Cheshire cat grin growing on his face. My face heated up but I ignored it. "Um y-yeah. But it doesn't matter cause I'm not taking it." Bill laughed and put his hands over my eyes so that I couldn't see. Then he moved closer and whispered, "why? Are you saying you don't want this?" He moved his hands and everything was a soft pastel color.

The forest looked absolutely beautiful. I looked down at my hands and found that they were back to normal. Even those stupid branches were gone. The sound of giggling entered the forest and I looked up to find Dipper standing a few feet away, his back turned to me. He turned his head to face me and smiled, a soft blush grazing his cheeks. He motioned for me to take his hand, beckoning me over. I looked over at him and scowled, keeping my hands at my sides. "You got his smile wrong." The world blinked back to gray and Bill stood in front of me, slightly confused. "Excuse me?" There was an undertone of anger but I ignored it and continued. "His smile. You got it wrong. It isn't that large or wide." A small grin came to my face as I recalled one of my favorite things about Dipper.