Pines, Reporting for Duty

Chapter 2

(Dipper pov)

I get woken up as water splashes in my face. I sputter out water before shaking my head to get the water out of my eyes.

"Rise and shine, Pinetree." I hear a metal bucket clang against the ground and don't have to look up already knowing it's him. He runs his hand through my hair brushing my wet bangs out of my face. "I was starting to think maybe I just hit you too hard."

He tilts my head up making me groan, my head pounding terribly. My eyes glance around as I see he has me in a dimly lit basement, the only light being a single light bulb hanging above me. I weakly try to move away from his touch as I realize I'm tied to a chair in the center of the room.

"Where...where am I?"

"That's something for me to know and you to never find out."

"Please just let me go."

"Can't do that. Last time I let a witness live the police released a sketch of me."

"They already know what you look like. Letting me go can't possibly make it any worse."

"Maybe, but there's a lot I can gain by keeping you alive for now. No one dares to try and kill me if I have a cop hostage. There's also much information you can give me about what you know about my case."

I gulp nervously as he pulls over a cart full of different knives.

"I-I wasn't assigned the case, I don't know much of anything really."

"Your notepad here says you did quite a bit of research on your own." He holds up my notepad that I always keep on me. "I ask the questions and if I decide that you're lying then I will hurt you. Is that understood?" I nod feeling my whole body trembling. "Let's start off simple. What's your name?"

"Officer Dipper Pines."

"How old are you?"

"24."

"How long have you been on the force?"

"Only 5 years."

"Most people with your skills would have become a detective already."

"I tried, but my superior officers don't like me that much."

"What do you know about me?"

"You're estimated to be about 25. The Murphy's were your foster family that took you in when you were 15, you went through quite a few foster homes after your mother killed herself and your father was inmprisoned. You had a few odd jobs after you turned 18 but you went off the grid after killing the entire Murphy family, kids included except their 2 month old baby who was found outside a church the next morning."

"Any leads on my motivation or where to find me?"

"No. Knowing your face and identity didn't help us get any closer to finding you."

"Then, how did you find me?"

"It was really just dumb luck. I was stuck doing traffic control and just happened to see you jaywalking."

"Then why was a sketch of me in your pocket?"

"I was doing some digging on my own to try and probe myself capable of becoming a detective but it only lead me to dead ends."

"What do you think my motive to kill them was?"

"I already told you-"

"I'm not asking for facts anymore. I'm asking for your opinion."

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

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first lie!" His laugh echoes in the room as he goes over to the cart of knives. Panic sets in as I start to stuggle once again.

"I'm not lying! I don't know why!"

"And another lie! You are on a fucking roll, baby doll." He grabs a roll of duct tape, ripping a piece off as he comes back over to me."

"No no please! Please don't do this! I am begging you to please just let me go!"

Tears stream down my cheeks as he holds my face in his hand and covers my mouth with the duct tape so I can't make a single sound.

"I suggest you save that pretty voice of yours. You're going to need it for later."

He picks up a knife off the cart and slowly uses it to cut the top part of my uniform off of me. He stands behind me, the tip of his knife resting on my bare shoulder. Pain erupts from my body as he drives the knife down into my skn and drags it down my chest.

My screams are muffled by the tape, tears pouring down my face faster as he drags the knife further down my body to my stomach before he finally lifts the knife up and walks in front of me again. He uses the knife to lift up my chin so I'm forced to look up at him.

"You going to answer me honestly if I take that tape off you now?" I weakly nod, willing to do anything to get myself out of this situation. Setting the knife down he gently takes the tape off my mouth.

"Y-You were molested by Mr. Murphy." His expression tells me theat my theory was right.

"What lead you to that darling conclusion?"

"After finding out your identity I talked to neighbors who knew you and teachers from your high school. They all said you were a terrific boy but you always seemed to procrastinate going home. I called hospitals to search for signs of domestic or child abuse. When that came up empty I checked 911 calls. Only found one and it was mostly static. Had to run it through a computer software to even remotely hear what was happening but it wouldn't have been conclusive enough to use in a court of law because of all the static."

"Did you share your findings with anyone?"

"No. I work alone and don't have any friends on the force."

"What about off the force?"

"I don't talk about my work with anyone, especially my family."

"That's a good boy. See how much simpler things are if you just don't constantly fight me, Pinetree?" He leans towards me and I grimace in disgust as he licks my remaining tears away.

"You are fucking sick, Cipher."

"Tell me something I don't know." I grimace more as he forces a kiss on my cheek.

"I told you everything I know about the case, now please just let me go."

"No, I don't think I will. Hope you enjoy your new home, Pinetree."

He stands up straight again as he walks out of the room, the door shutting behind him. Once he's gone, my sobs fill the room.