Betrayal

Chapter 9

~Dipper's POV~

I sat by the fire. Bill was... pacing, I guess? Would you call it pacing if you're going back and forth in the air? Well, whatever. That's what he was doing.

"What to do...what to do," he was muttering to himself. "8 :97)$ 546 59 ?@+3 *8? @ $3?9, )8+3 ?3..."

I didn't understand the last part. It was like he was speaking a different language or something. Maybe demons have a different dialect? "Bill, are you okay?"

"Don't interrupt me!"

I jumped at his outburst. I knew he was insane, but he hasn't really shown his emotionally unstable side to me. "Well, I'll go get some more firewood-"

"Sit!"

I plopped back down. No need breaking our deal and him hurting my family.

"Now, would you rather become a demon or have a demon clone of you?"

"...what?" I asked.

"Well, making you a demon would take up a lot of energy. Just simply cloning you might be faster. But making you one is more effective."

"You are not messing with me! You've already possessed me once and that was bad enough!" I crossed my arms. "Besides, why would you want to make me a demon anyway?"

"Nevermind that," Bill said. "It's all part of my master plan."

"Look, man," I said. "I'm not being your puppet again. You can't make me hurt anyone."

"Oh really?" Bill asked. "Punch yourself in the face."

"What? Why?"

"Because I told you to," Bill said. "We had a deal."

"But-"

The next thing I knew, Bill's fist came flying out of nowhere. It hit me hard in the face. Hard enough to smack my into the wall. My hand automatically went to my bloody nose. "What the heck, man? What was that for?"

"If you don't do as you're told, I'll do it for you. And I'll do it much   more brutally than you would. Consider this an object lesson."

I glared at him. "Gee, thanks."

"Don't mention it."

~Mabel's POV~

I sat up in my room, expecting Stan to come and wake me up soon. I sat in the covers, cocooned like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

I was still holding Dipper's hat. He'd worn it some much this summer, it was already a little faded and beat up. Whenever he got worried, he did something crazy! I never thought he'd do anything like this!

I was up late last night, not able to get to sleep. It was like not having my brother in here with me made me not able to get to bed. When I did fall asleep, I had a nightmare. You know, just one of those things you can't exactly remember, but it woke you up none the less. I normally would walk over to Dipper's bed and ask him if I could sleep with him for the night. He would usually oblige and keep his arm securely around me to make sure I knew he was there.

When I went over there, I found it empty. I cried a little bit more and slept on his bed for the night.

I waited for about half an hour, but Grunkle Stan never came to wake me up. I eventually got up, got dressed and went downstairs. It was strangely quiet. "Grunkle Stan?"

Nothing. I was starting to get worried. Oh no! Did Bill get him too?

I ran into the kitchen. No sign of him or Stanford. I was getting really scared, when I saw a note on the table. I grabbed it.

Mabel, we went to go see if we can find your brother. Stay calm and don't leave the house. If Soos or Wendy come in, show them this note. They'll know then to take care of you. Don't worry, we'll get Dipper back.
-Stan

"They went without me!" I said out loud. I threw the note down and walked over to the window. Nothing. Not even tracks to follow. I sighed and sat down.

I whipped up some breakfast for myself and turned on the tv. Since Grunkle Stan wasn't here, who cares if I broke the rules about not eating in the living room?

I tried to stay calm and just relax. Stan would find Dipper and everything would by okay.

Still, I felt...empty. I don't know. I just felt so helpless. Here I was, relaxing in front of the tv and eating a healthy breakfast and Bill could be starving Dipper and forcing him to do terrible things to himself or others.

I barely even touched my food after that thought. I switched off the tv with a sigh. All this summer, we knew that there would be danger. But we never thought that anything too drastic would happen. Yeah, he's been possessed and junk, but actually being kidnapped and at the mercy of the insane dorito demon? Never in a million years would I think of that!

I curled up on the chair and closed my eyes. Waddles ran over to me and jumped up next to me. I closed my eyes and fell asleep with him in my arm, wishing to wake up and all this just to be a nightmare.

~Dipper's POV~

This had to be a nightmare.

Bill had decided to chain my arms so that they were spread apart the farthest they could without being pulled out of their sockets.

"I'm gonna start by testing your abilities and your limits," Bill said casually. "Every demon should have a great will and mind."

"Get it into your skull!" I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not helping you! And there is no way I'm becoming some sort of demon!"

"See, this is what I mean. A strong will. Now, the human body has many faults. For example..." He closed his hands into fists and pushed them away from each other.

I felt searing pain in both my arms as the chains started to pull on them. If he did it much farther, I was scared that he'd tear me apart. Sweat was starting to pour down my face.

"You see?" Bill asked. "Many faults." He laughed. "Anywho, let's get back to business." He unclenched his hands and my arms went back to normal. "I've tested your limits, but what about your abilities? Hmm, let's see." He threw a fireball at me. I braced myself for the impact. Pain exploded near my chest. I let out a cry and tried to double over, but couldn't. "What are you... doing?" I panted. "Are..are you trying to kill...me?"

"Why would I want you dead? Yeah your annoying, but my blows aren't fatal. I've made your inner self resurface. Now, if you could just stay still for me and not freak out..."

He stuck his hand inside my chest. Yeah. Inside. I screamed and tried to get him off me, but he wouldn't budge and neither would the chains holding me there.

Bill pulled a glowing orb out of my chest. What the-

"This is part of your soul, Pine Tree," Bill said, holding it up.

My mouth fell open. "What...h-how do you have my soul? H-how am I still alive!?"

"Nevermind that," Bill said. "I'm gonna but this to good use."

As he left, I felt a lot weaker. I could barely even keep my eyes open. ""Bill..."

See ya later, Pine Tree. Sweet dreams.