A Deal with the Devil

Chapter 2

(Dipper pov)
I gasp awake as I sit up, my hand clenching the front of my hoodie as I take in gulps of air my body trembling in utter fear.

I look around and realize that I am in the woods, the sun hanging over the trees looking like it's nearly noon. "It was just a dream....just a bad dream....."

I have myself almost convinced until I look towards the statue and see it's in pieces, meaning that somehow it really did break. But how? Even if I did kick it I am not strong enough to destroy something made of stone.

"If he's back then Ford needs to know....no.....if that statue just fell apart on it's own from age and the elements then he will just think I'm crazy. He won't let me help him anymore......I-I'll tell him once I have solid proof that he is back. If he even is back."

I get up and quickly make my way back to the shack. I step inside and just as Ford comes out of his lab. "Where on earth have you been, Dipper? We have been looking all over town for you."

"I'm sorry.....I went for an early morning walk and was resting on a log. I must have fallen asleep on accident. I'm sorry I worried you guys for nothing."

"It's not for nothing, Dipper. We are your family and worry about you. If you are going to go in the forests, next time just please leave a note or something so we know ahead of time."

"Yeah no problem."

I start to head up the stairs when he calls up to me again. "One more thing. Stan is on his way to get Mable from the bus."

"I thought I was going to do that when she got here at noon?"

"She called and said she got an earlier bus and wanted someone else to pick her up. Is everything alright between you two."

"....I don't know....she hasn't really wanted to talk to me since we were kids....."

"I'm sure once she gets settled here then things will be back to normal with you two."

"We'll see I guess....."

"She also requested that she had her own room so she's getting the spare room. Would you mind-"

"Moving her dresser and bed in there? No problem."

I hurry upstairs to the attic before he can say anything else.

I see that Ford and Stan had already moved all of Mabel's things except for the matress.

Wanting to get it over with I pull the matress into the spare room and with a bit of effort I put it on Mabel's bedframe before going back upstairs and grabbing some clean clothes for myself.

I carry them to the bathroom and start up a shower for myself. Once it's warm enough I strip out of my clothes and step into the shower, resting my head against the wall as I just let the hot water wash over me. I try to just let the water take away all my thoughts but it never works and this instance is no better.

I finish showering before turning the water off and stepping out of the shower drying myself off with a towel. I pull the clean clothes on glancing at the mirror covered in steam. I open the medicine cabinet my eyes scanning over the shelves of different vitamins and pills.

The top two shelves are Ford and Stan's things, all of it just being vitamins or pills for their old person problems. Nothing really serious, just things to help and try to prevent certain things like arthiritis or cardiac events.

And then the bottom shelf is full of pill bottles all labeled 'Mason Pines.' Over the last few years I have had a few different doctors diagnosis me with things. The diagnosis usually changes from anxiety to ADHD to depression or a lot of different issues that isn't solved with a single hospital visit like I would like.

The most recent diagnosis is that I have chronic depression along with anxiety, insomnia, and mild eating problems. It isn't that I don't eat three meals a day or have been caught throwing up meals. I just have a hard time reminding myself to take breaks to eat. Or if the nightmares are exceptionally bad I just have a hard time keeping the food down.

Because doctors keep changing my diagnosis it means the presciptions keep changing as well and it's a pain trying to constantly remember which meds they want me to take now and the exact time that I need to take some of the meds since some have to be in the morning or before going to bed while others have to be taken when I eat food.

I grab the current meds for my anxiety and open the bottle swallowing a few pills down before putting the pills back and closing the medicine cabinet again.

My eyes widen in horror as I look at the mirror again, in the steam something drew Bill's symbol and wrote the words 'YOU KNOW YOU HAVE IT COMING'

"No.....no no no no!" I frantically back away from the mirror tripping over my towel and fall back, my head hitting the edge of the tub hard making me see double for a few seconds.

"Dipper, are you alright!" The door slam opens and I see Ford standing there looking worried and he only looks more worried as he looks at the words and picture on the steamed mirror. "What......"

"I-I don't....I....."

He kneels down in front of me holding my shoulders. "It's okay, just calm down. Everything is going to be okay."

He helps me to my feet and leads me down to the kitchen sitting me at the table before he sits in the chair next to me. "Can you tell me what happened in there?"

"I don't know.....I had finished showering and just took my anxiety meds when I saw the picture and words written on the steam on the mirror.....I-I didn't do it...."

"Which prescription did you take?"

"Fluoxetine."

"Dipper, you know that a small side effect of those can be loss of time. It's not a common side effect but it can still happen."

"But I remember getting out of the shower and all the way up to when you came in. I have no memory blanks."

"We have been over this that when you lose time, even small amounts, you don't always realize it. It would have only taken a few seconds for those things to be written on the mirror."

"But I didn't!"

"Or so you think. You need to accept that it is possible that you did do it."

"But why would I?"

"Sometimes our subconscious does things that we can't make sense of. We have talked about this."

I go to say something when the door opens and Stan comes in, a happy laughing Mable coming in as well dragging her suitcase behind her.

The minute her eyes see me her laughing stops and her smile fades. Without a word she heads upstairs, reacting pretty much just like how I knew she would.