It's Where My Demons Hide

Chapter 26

Dipper

Sighing, he ran his fingers through his tousled hair, and glanced at Ms. Belrose, who was smiling at the other criminals. Dipper always could tell when a smile was a fake, and noticed what this woman did was all an act. There was something hidden behind all her kind smiles and acts. Something big, and not knowing it was really bugging him.

There's no one you can trust anymore.

Dipper stared at the drawing. He had seen many strange things, but now he just wanted to take his mind off all these crazy events, and relax. He didn't want to think of this mysterious woman. He didn't want to think that he was in jail. He didn't want to think about his demon powers. In fact, he didn't want to think anything. Right now, he was thinking of what to draw.

Triangles ... Why triangles? Why not trapeziums?

He hold a pencil, and sketched on the paper, letting his mind do whatever it want. He had no idea what to draw and what he was drawing right now. Let your art flow, he told himself.

When he was finished, he looked at his drawing. It was a large pyramid with the top detached and multiple bricks and broken off pieces floating around it. On the top, there was a giant "X." He was pretty impressed at his drawing skill. When had he gotten so good? Maybe it was because he had often drawn stuff in the journals, which had improved his skills.

Dipper grinned proudly and examined his drawing again. His grin soon turned into a scowl. This wasn't an ordinary pyramid, but the exact one he had seen in his dream. The one where he had seen Bill kill Time Baby.

"Dude," said someone beside him, nudging. "Earth to Dipper!"

Dipper was snapped back to reality, and turned around. It was Finnick. He was givinig him concerned looks. "Dude, you were staring at your drawing for few minutes. Not blinking! What's wrong?"

"It's uh, nothing. Nothing is wrong with me at all. I'm fine. Yes, very fine. There's no need to ----"

"Whoa, that looks wicked!" Finnick said in awe, interrupting Dipper's rantings. He was looking at Dipper's drawing, surprised at his amazing skill. "Is this some kind of apocalypse or something?"

Dipper shrugged. Finnick took the paper and continued complimenting it. Dipper smiled.

He wasn't used to being praised, really. Bullies called him a nerd and other mean names, just because he was better than them in all subjects (except P.E.). The teachers usually didn't pay attention to him, even when he was the top student and all. Mabel laughed at him when he failed at something, his parents didn't really care too, since they were too busy with their work. When he told Mabel of his prizes and accomplishments, all she said was "Oh," and that was it. It was the same as his friends back school.

Finnick's praisings and compliments had brightened up Dipper's mood. But it was soon gone when he looked at his drawing again. His dream - no, a vision - was probably a warning to their future. He knew this could happen soon, he just know it. And Dipper knew that he had to stop it from happening.

"Before class ends, I want each of you to present your drawings," Ms. Belrose announced. "It helps improving your speech skills! So who wants to go first?"

Finnick raised his hand. "ME, ME, ME!" Ms. Belrose laughed and told Finnick to come up and present his drawing.

Finnick grinned and showed his drawing to the class proudly. Dipper looked closely and smiled. It was a rough sketch of a unicorn eating a slice of pizza. After telling the class that his dream was to ride a unicorn, everyone applauded.

Then it went on. Criminals volunteered and went up to present their drawings. Some even drew a princess from Pizzaland!  Dipper couldn't get why they were so eager to do it. Don't they even feel a bit embarrased? Dipper did. He tried to hide in the crowd, to wait for all this to end. But unfortunately, Mike had pushed him out of the crowd, onto the stage. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to present his drawing.

Dipper gulped and glanced at Mrs. Belrose. She gestured him to start, smiling. But she seemed to have a smug look, or maybe he had imagined it. Shrugging, Dipper turned back to face the criminals. He stuttered, "I -uh - made this drawing." Then he took out the paper and hold it out so that everyone can see it, while hiding his face behind it, feeling embarrassed.

The people oohed and aahed. The applause slowly increased. Dipper murmured "Thanks," and turned to go back, but Ms. Belrose stopped him.

"I don't think so, Mister Pines," she said coldly. "You haven't told us what your drawing is about, and I'm sure that everyone is very curious about it, dear."

"Oh - um - okay." Dipper turned back, surprised at the sudden change in her tone. Why did her attitude change so suddenly? Who was that woman?

"This is a -uh- sketch of a pyramid I had seen in my nightmare," he said, then left the stage quickly, back to his seat.

As if on cue, the bell rang, signifying that the program had ended, and was time for Lunch. Dipper, taking the paper with him, left the room hurriedly.

"Mister Pines?" called out someone behind him. It was Ms. Belrose. "Meet me in my office."