It's Where My Demons Hide

Chapter 16

Ford

"Hey, did you hear the news?" A voice shouted behind us. I was startled by the sudden voice and turned around to find my brother's staff, Wendy, approaching us. She was waving her phone at us.

"Of Dipper going to jail?" I asked, ignoring Stan's swearing. I glanced at Stan who backed away and tripped over Gompers. I had no idea why the goat was there and how he tripped over it, but he just did. I paid my attetnion back to Wendy.

"Dipper just escaped jail!" She exclaimed, showing a breaking news article from her phone. Stan's swearing stopped and we both stared at her in disbelief. I took her phone and read the article over and over again.

According to the article, Dipper had escaped jail at about 12:30 pm. He was called in to see the agents. About 13 minutes later, the emergency alarm rang. The guards only found agents lying on the floor and a large hole on the wall. There was no Dipper to be found in the room.

There wasn't much detail in it. Questions started popping in my head. Why did the agents want to see him? Why did he escape? How did he escape? He's just a 12 year old kid, how could he possibly escape a highly guarded jail? Did Bill possess him?

I looked at my brother who was now rocking back adn forth on the ground. Remembering about Stan tripping over Gompers and his swearings, I asked, "Stanley, are you al'right?" I held out my hand, worried.

He took my hand and stood up. "You're not gonna believe this, but I think Dipper just ---"

Before he could finish, he was cut off by a sound of a large explosion. Its noise shook the ground and trees started to fall. Stan lost balance and fell flat on the ground.

I raised my head and saw blue fireballs shooting over the sky. I was confused and surprised. Not at the fireballs but the sky. The sky was light sky blue and little hints of orange. Strange. Last time I remembered, the sky was deep blue with stars. It was midnight, but now it was noon. Since when did the sky change its color so quickly? I gazed at the clear blue sky until a fireball lighted my coat on fire.

That snapped me out of it.

I quickly put out the fire and ran to my brother's side. Stan tried to stand up but his ankle was twisted and bruised really bad. I put his arm around my head and carried him. I gestured at Wendy and we both carried him to the shack.

We eventually made it back to the shack. The shack was fireproof so we didn't need to worry about the fireballs. It was easy to make a wooden house fireproof with few incantations I learned from the gnomes. Gnomes are actually smart, they just don't show it.

I put Stan on the sofa and treated his bruises and cuts with ice and bandages. Stan argued that he was okay but I insisted him to lie down and not move. He frowned and gave up. Later, I noticed the fireballs seemed to stop.

"I'll go out and see what happened. I'll be quick," I said, and left the shack before anyone could object.

I ran to the woods and swept the area, studying every spot, looking for any clues. After running for few minutes that seemed like years, I bent down to catch my breath. Looking up, I saw a path with broken twigs, shifted branches on trees, and shoe impressions in the dirt. I leaned down to examine some dirt. All the signs - the length of the strides, the smashed bushes, the broken shrubbery and branches – showed that they were running. More likely being chased. But who were they?  Was it the girls?

I looked closely and noticed the some shoe impression had glitter on it. Yep. Definitely the girls.

I straightened up and broke into a run. I followed the footprints. I kept running, not looking back. Run, run, run.

Then I got tripped over a branch and fell flat on the ground. Grunting, I did my best to straighten up and was shocked at what I saw.

There were Mabel and Pacifica standing there looking surprised. They had tears escaping from their puffy eyes. They looked like they had been fighting and crying. I turned my head and saw a dark figure in the shadows. Only his golden eyes were seen in the shadow.

"You shouldn't have come," said the figure. The voice, it sounded so familiar...

Before I could even open my mouth to respond, I was given a blow in the head. My whole energy drained away and I collapsed to the ground.