Never Trust Your Demons

8

APOLOGIES APPARENTLY THIS WASN'T PUBLISHED

Disclaimer: my friend wrote at least half of this chapter to help me through writer's block

I yawn as I stretch my arms, looking around as I slowly wake up. The mystery shack is still empty except for me, and is more silent than ever.
It's kind of creepy.
When I finally decide to get up, the sky has darkened some more. Walking outside, I know some thing's......off.
No birds are chirping, and I can't hear Waddles. Or Mabel. That's a first.
Moving to the back of the mystery shack, I almost barf.
Stan lies on the ground, unmoving. His fez is a few feet away from him, and has blood on it. Silent tears stream out of my eyes as I lean down.
I squeeze his hand, and it's cold. Placing a hand over my mouth, I kiss it, then press it to his cheek, a silent goodbye. Standing up, I grab his fez and place it over his head, a last comfort.
I walk away before I can completely break down. I didn't ever want to see that sight, not now, not ever. Walking back into the mystery shack, I call for Dipper.
No response.
I think the worst has happened when I walk into the TV room and see Soos on the Sofa, his eyes blank. Rushing past him, I whisper "goodbye", before making my way up the stairs.
First my Grunkle, then Soos....Who's next?
"Mabel?! Dipper?!" I scream frantically. "Guys, I really need you!!!"
A guttural scream reaches my ears, and I run up the stairs even faster. Slamming open the attic door, I see a terrible sight.
Dipper stand protectively in front of Mabel, blood dripping down his chest. Collapsing into her arms, he looks her right in the eyes.
"Thanks for all the good times and mysteries, sis." He says, coughing, and goes limp in her arms.
Mabel lets out a sob, hugging him tightly. "What... Wh-what about our awkward sibling hug?!" She says, crying into his shirt.
I manage to make it to Mabel before collapsing too.
"Mabel, I'm so sorry.....Who could have done this...?"
She looks up at me, fearfully, clutching Dipper's body.
"No! You've taken too many people! I wont let you take me too!"
"Mabel, what?"
"You did this! You killed them all!!"
"Wh-what?!" I pull away in surprise under her gaze. She seems uncertain for a second, tears still stinging her eyes. Then it turns into a glare as she lowers Dipper's body to the ground.
"You heard what I said!" She screams at me, jabbing an accusing finger to my chest. "You six-fingered monster!"
Paralyzed by shock, i do nothing as she shoves me backwards. I crash into something behind me. When i turn, my reflection stares back at me through the mirror..
The eye on my forehead indicating Bill's presence is prominent on my forehead as Mabel and Dipper fade from my vision. But something is different. As tears pour out of my eyes, I notice they're like Dipper's were when Bill possessed him. Yellow with long, cat-like pupils. I recoil quickly in surprise and bang my head against something else.
I wake up, sitting up in a jolt. Once again, I'm sitting in the chair by the register, the sun still in the high noon position. I can feel my heart beating out of my chest as my breath slowly goes back to normal.
"O-oh gosh..." My voice cracks as I lean back in the chair. "It was just a nightmare..."
I quickly rub away a tear that escaped and as Stan walks in, letting my relief settle in. No one's dead. We're all still okay. It was a dream, i attempt to assure myself.
"Hey, Stan," I look up at him. He completely ignores me. "Fine, don't reply..." I grumble.
"Ah, Connie's sleeping again..." He mutters suddenly.
"Huh? No I'm not!" I stand up.
"Teenagers... huh!" He walks away.
"Stan!" I walk around the desk towards him. "I'm awake and right here! Are you pretending I'm invisible or something?" He looks over at me. Or rather, through me. "What?" I snort. "Just proving how good you are at the game....?"
I turn around to see what he's pretending to look at. I see...
Me. I'm still snoring, laying my head on the desk.
I proceed to slightly panic.
Okay, not the best words... more like totally flip out.
"Wh-what?!" I run back over to myself. I'm obviously still alive. Man, do I normally snore that loudly?
"You do, actually," I hear a familiar voice.
In part annoyance, part anger and frustration, and part confusion, I whirl around and find Bill.
"B-bill!" I don't know which of my questions I want answered first. What's happening now? Where has he been? What was up with my dream? And all those other questions! What plans does he have? What does the author, or more importantly, what do my cousins and I have to do with them?!
"Well, where to start? Where have I been? Ignoring you, mostly," He gives a bored sigh as my-now ghostly, as I have realized-arm cross in front of my chest.
"Why, though?!" I ask, barely blinking at the fact that he knew my questions before i voiced them. "First you don't stop bugging me, now when I actually need to talk to you, you ignore me!"
"Because," He snaps his fingers and his cane appears. "You keep asking me questions I prefer not to answer. At least not now. Plus you keep turning red whenever I'm in my human form, and don't take things seriously when I'm in my original form."
I can feel my face turning red now. "But when will you answer them, then?!" I ignore it.
"All in good time, Police Box," He leans on his cane."For now, let me tell you what's happening. Welcome to the Mindscape, kid! Basically, you're a ghost. Though I'm not sure how you got here..." He looks over at me snoring, then back at me. "Or how you're still breathing and all that, but it's easily fixed!"
I wait for a second as he fiddles with his bowtie.
"What?"
"Aren't you going to tell me how to fix it now?" I ask in exasperation.
He laughs. "No not now! You've still got some questions, more easily answered like this. Plus, if you need to shout at me, you won't seem all, you know..." His eyes-well, eye-cross and he twirls his finger around his ear. "To Stan! For now, how was your dream?"
"I..." In my mind, all I can see are flashes of the dream. Dead Stan. Dead Soos. Dead Dipper. Angry, scared Mabel. Bill me. "It... was horrific. Awful. I'm so glad it was just a dream."
"You saw the rest of you're family and friend dead," Bill says, no longer in his playful mood.
"Yeah, and then in the end-"
"It looked like I was possessing you," He interjects again.
"Uh... yeah...."
"Makes sense, seeing as I gave you the dream."
"Why would you do that?!" I put my hand out to shove him backwards, but my hand goes right through him. I pull it back sheepishly. "You nearly scared me to death!"
"It's a warning," He tells me. The look in his eye is so dead serious, it's a bit terrifying. "It's how you all will end up if you keep looking into things on the author."
"What, you'll possess me and force me to kill everyone I love?! Fat chance," I growl.
"Just saying, it can happen if you're not careful," Bill shrugs.
"No, Bill, that was just a dream. A-a stupid nightmare you gave me."
"You know that little saying? Oh, what was it... dreams come true?" He taps his cheek thoughtfully.
"Yeah..." I affirm warily.
"Well, what no one ever tells you, Police Box, is that nightmares count as dreams too."
With that and a mischievous smile, he somehow is able to shove me back in my ghostly form. I fly backwards until my back sits something hard behind the desk.
Gasping, I jerk my head up off the table as I realize I'm back in my body, causing Stan to throw his coffee at me. I duck, and fall off the chair.
"Connie, you really shouldn't do that!!" He yells, fuming. "And you need to figure out how to not snore when you sleep."
I scratch the back of my head, embarrassed.
"Ah, sorry. I had a weird dream...."
"Hmph, yeah. Well, stop having them."
"I would if I could.....But someone won't let them be." I mutter.