Heartless, right?

Chapter Sixteen

The ride back to the Shack is quiet. Without Mabel, things seem so strange. Or maybe it's just in Dipper's head, maybe the guilt of being off today. She only decided to spend her last day home because of him. He should have known that the drink Stan practically forced him to drink wasn't just punch.

When he opens the attic door, Bill is sitting on his desk, looking through a small stack of papers. Fuck.

Bill looks up and smiles. Did he say that out loud? "I've gotta say Pinetree, you are probably the most interesting human I've had the pleasure of killing."

Dipper shuts the door, reminding himself of the deal they made. "Why's that?"

"Well, if you ask me, I'd say you acted relatively normal. Normal for you, at least. And here you are beating yourself up for ruining your sister's last day in good old Gravity Falls. It's not like you'll never see her again... possibly."

"Yeah, thank you for pointing that out. Unfortunately, I know exactly what happens in my head."

"Yes, and you are much more aware of that than most. To be honest, I never believed in the whole mental health thing. But you kid," the demon laughs, "you are very fucked up."

Dipper rolls his eyes, "I'm aware."

"Anyway," Bill jumps off the desk and approaches the young Pines twin. "Making you feel worse about yourself wasn't my only purpose for coming today. As much as I'd love to start killing you, I've got some personal matters to attend to. So the deal's frozen."

Dipper looks at the man in confusion. Why is he telling him this? And what does he mean by frozen?

"So, unfortunately, our little game will have to wait until I take care of the other demons after you." Bill says, like that little bit is common knowledge.

"Wait, what? What do you mean 'other demons'?"

"Oh, did Ford not tell you? This should be fun! Just ask him about his little Phaeloxian prophecy." The chaos god grins at Dipper. "Catch you later, kid."

Bill laughs as he disappears. Dipper just stares at the spot the demon had previously been standing. Behind him, someone knocks. He shakes his head and tries to mask his anxiety.

"Dipper, are you alright?" Ford asks when the door opens.

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Now that Mabel's gone, there's something that Stanley and I need to talk to you about."

"The prophecy?" Dipper asks before he can stop himself.

Stan barges through the door, "That bastard, is he the one who told you? Fucking Cipher, when I get my hands on him."

"No, he just now told me to ask you about some prophecy."

"Did he try to hurt you?" Stan looks the boy over, searching for some sort of injury.

"Actually, the opposite. He called a truce. I guess there are other demons after me, and they'll screw the deal up." Dipper reslizes his mistake too late. "Shit no, why did I say that?" He looks at Stan, hoping to change the subject. "What was in that punch last night?"

"Ny-Quill, probably a slight overdose. But that's not-"

"What deal are you talking about?" Ford interrupts.

Looks like there's no getting out of this now.