Don't Forgive Me

Chapter 60

All was far from settled in the Mystery Shack. It was lucky for the young Pines boy that his uncle, no matter how hard his exterior was, had a bit of a soft spot in his heart. Let alone, he couldn't begrudge the boy much for clobbering a rival in the face.

So, he let the grounding go after a while, but he didn't return the books. He made the excuse that Bill still needed time away from them; that those books weren't doing him any good. And, in a way he was right. How right he was, was yet to unfurl. In any case, it bore an ugly amount of teeth.

Stanley laid the books out to create the rest of the instructions to build the portal; everything was falling into place. He could feel success at the reach of his fingertips. Yet, he wasn't the only one. Preparations had to be made in any instance whether in this dimension or the next.

His brother, however, had been doing much more than Stanley had in the last thirty years in that department. He was confident that he would be the one to take down the Demon no matter what. After that surgery, Ford felt as though he were freed up enough from the beast's clutches to begin to combat him again. His mental fortitude is as clear as ever, and he felt a spry spring in his step that he hadn't felt in ages.

All thanks to The Oracle, he would forever be in debt to that woman. Ford often questions what he would have done without her. In his little workspace in her abode, he hashed out a plan to build a device that would potentially have the power to defeat the star creature.

The younger man he was before was ill equipped when he faced The Great Constellation for the first time. He vowed he would never make that mistake again. He would be sure that when he was finished with the demon it would breathe it's last at his hands.

There wasn't exactly a surefire way to decipher Standford's notes, in fact, it was quite a task. This left the twin scratching his head and dumbfounded at his brothers' clumsy handwriting. It was odd to think that he of all people was supposed to be the brightest in the family.

The old man thought back to when he was counted as being the dull bulb, maybe not anymore considering his success. He shook his head and let the jealousy of his siblings' opportunities in life fade away as he continued to work on the machine. All he knew is that this would take a tremendous amount of work. Though, It wasn't going to deter him from getting his brother back.

Over the summer, Mable, as this was typical for her, took an interest in many..many boys. On these escapades Bill was dragged along. On many occasions, he was just third wheeling her misadventures. This he didn't mind, actually, the majority of the time he liked causing chaos alongside his sister.

Admittedly that's how he got his first, albeit shared, kiss with a merman. In all honesty, that awakened another side of him that made the boy awkward around boys rather than girls. Girls never really bothered him much, he actually grew pretty close to Wendy after the whole incident where her friends bullied him. strange to say, yet it was true.

Mable however, had made many friends in their time together. That girl had a magnetic personality. She was able to be so free around other's while Bill still had his difficulties.

Sometimes, Bill's waxing and waning mental state eclipsed. Darkness would well in the corners of his mind until he was boxed in, and became trapped in his own instability. Seconds became hours when his disability got this severe. It often comes down to him locking himself in the bathroom.

His body is drenched in anxious sweats as it's curled up in a ball underneath the porcelain sink. His blotched legs tucked up underneath were held by his trembling arms and his head buried deep between his knees.