Nobody Forgets Bill Cipher

Bitter Resentment

I wake up in a cold sweat, and, sure enough, it's morning. My heart is beating oddly fast, which shouldn't be happening, given I was asleep only a minute ago. Did those demons really get to me?
No. I know them. What's the worst they can do? Amorphous Shape can look like absolutely anything, 8 Ball can read minds and badly predict the future, and the rest of them have pretty stupid powers. If they think they can mentally abuse me, they are dead wrong. My name is Bill Cipher! I've seen more torture, distress, and horrors than they could ever imagine! Sure, I was slightly affected by the apparitions, but that's because I wasn't expecting them to think up something so disturbing to me so soon. I can handle anything they throw at me from now on.
After I dress and get ready for the day, I realize my hands are shaking. What's going on? I'm fine. Totally unaffected. Nothing can hurt me.
I'm greeted by Mabel, who's eating breakfast in the kitchen, when I come downstairs. "Good morning!" she chirps, giving me a big smile. She studies me for a second, and her smile fades a little. "Hey, you okay?"
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I answer, taking a seat next to her. I'm not lying to her... right?
"Are you sure? You look a little off."
"Yeah, I'm sure," I say, smiling just for her. "You don't have to worry about me."
"Okay, then. I trust you," she says, her focus returning to her bowl of cereal. "But if there ever is anything the matter," she adds, "you can let me know."
     The rest of the day continues without any hitches. It's pretty laid back. To be honest, Mabel, Dipper, Stan, and I just watch a bad movie marathon on tv for most of the day. I occasionally have to change Rosanna's diaper, and Pacifica even stops by to hang out for a few hours.
     Soon enough again, it's night. I'm gotten my henchmaniacs off of my mind for a lot of the day, distracting my mind with other things. I'm less afraid (if that's even the right word to use) of them than I seemed to have been this morning. Now, I'm more curious to see what kind of 'torture method' they've come up with for me tonight. I'm in no hurry to fall asleep, I'm not looking forward to this or anything, but my henchmaniacs are dumb. I don't know, maybe they've gained some more sense in the past few years since I left, but I'd be shocked if they came up with a torture method that actually works.
I fall asleep with no trouble and wake up again in the dreamscape. Only seconds later, my henchmaniacs materialize around me. They must have been waiting for me to fall asleep.
     "Yay!" Pyronica shrieks with joy. "You came back, Billy!"
     "Did I really have a choice?" I ask skeptically.
     "No, that's a fair point," Keyhole responds.
"Tonight, we have something very special for you planned, Billy!" Pyronica exclaims with a nasty smile, only inches away from my face. She claps her hands. "Amorphous Shape, if you please?"
     A group of people so familiar to me appears around me as Amorphous Shape forms into them. The rest of my henchmaniacs suddenly disappear. The dreamscape suddenly changes to the landscape outside of the Mystery Shack. What are they planning?
     "Oh my gosh, look at him!" apparition Mabel shrieks with laughter, pointing at me, apparitions of Dipper, Yule, Pacifica, and Gideon at her side. "What happened to your poor face?" she says in a mocking tone, reaching toward the patch over my empty eye socket. "Oh, wait. I remember! It was us!"
     I shove her hand away. "Don't touch me, Amorphous Shape!"
     "Who's that?" apparition Gideon asks, looking to our friends. He begins to laugh as well. "I think he's going crazy!"
     "Wow," I remark with utter sarcasm. "You guys are really getting to me. I'm so scared."
     "Ha, I think he is going crazy!" Pacifica exclaims, her eyes gleaming. She turns to me. "Why are you even here? Don't you know we have better things to do than be entertained by a worthless fiend like you?"
     "Shut up, Amorphous Shape."
     "Who is he talking to?" Dipper snickers. "Don't you think you're a little old for imaginary friends, Bill?"
     Another group of teenagers join in the laughter. I spin around to be faced with the children in my grade at school.
     "Hey, look who it is!" one girl nudges her friend. Francine, I put a name to her face.
     "What a loser!" Her friend, Merrily, remarks back. At school, these kids don't pay much attention to me... but could this really be what they think of me?
     One of the taller boys, Anthony, I believe, walks up to me from behind them and shoves me back. "Get outta here, stupid, before we make you."
     I yell with fury, aiming a punch at him. However, he easily grabs my fist and throws me back so that I lose my footing before my punch even reaches him. Sprawled on the ground, the people I thought of as friends are laughing at me.
     Yule approaches me and reaches him hand out to me. Finally, at least someone hasn't lost their senses. I reach my hand up to grab his, but at the last second, he pulls away his. "Wow," he remarks to everyone. "You really fell for that?" He looks at me, and I see some cruel emotion sparkling in his eyes that I've never seen before. "How dumb are you?" Oh, Yule... I look at the ground, trying to avoid the piercing stares of everybody. Why are they treating me like this...?
     "Wow, are you seriously gonna cry?" Mabel asks me, bitter resentment masking her mocking tone.
     "I'm not-"
     "Whatever," Mabel cuts me off. "I don't want to hear it. You seriously thought we really wanted you to stay? Tch, you should've just-"
     "I thought-" I try to cut her off, but she simply cuts me off again.
     "He thought," she cruelly mimics me. "Yeah, of course you would've actually believed we cared or something stupid like that. C'mon, Bill, can't you recognize a good joke? Or are you too dumb to even realize that?"
     "Mabel..." is all I can make out in my despair. What's happened? I don't even know anymore... I curl up on the ground, trying to block out everyone's hurtful remarks. "Wait..." I finally remember my situation. "Amorphous Shape, it's still you, isn't it?" My voice wavers, as if I'm not quite sure anymore.
     "Even if this wasn't the physical world," another student tells me, Hendrick, I believe his name is. He morphs into the shape of Pyronica. "If you tell anyone about our tortures, we'll haunt their dreams, too." My heart drops and a knot appears in my stomach. "Ooh, here's a better idea! Rule number one: don't tell anyone. Rule number two: hmm... we can't physically hurt you here... so I think threats work pretty well. You must do whatever we tell you to do in the real world, or your friends will experience what you're experiencing now... for tonight, you can't fall asleep for another two days. How does that sound? Don't worry. We won't tell you to physically hurt yourself or anyone else- we're saving that for ourselves."
     I have no idea what I'm going to do...