Damaged (A Reverse Falls & Gravity Falls Crossover)

Chapter 3: Nightmares

"Pathetic"

"Weak" 

"Useless" 

"Why can't you ever do things right!?" 

Every word was met with the whip flying across his skin, 

Pain with each word, 

Blood with each word. 

Dipper Gleeful used the whip expertly, hitting him in the places it hurt the most. He bit his lip to keep from making a noise as it broke his already scarred and bruised skin. "Why must I punish you every day, William? Will you ever learn?" he growled at the disobedient demon. The whip snapped at his chest, leaving a deep bloody gash across it, and this time he yelped in pain. 

Oh, no! Now he'd done it.

"I told you not to make any noise, now I have to bring in Mabel, and she's so been looking forward to knife throwing practice all day, don't ruin it for her" 

Will whimpered slightly, the chains clinking as he tried to get comfortable, useless in his situation. Mabel's heels click clacked along the cement ground, coming nearer and nearer. He closed his eyes as she came in, his whole body shaking.

"Blue blood, blue clothes, blue eyes, blue hair, blue is such a pretty colour, and you have it all!" Mabel said. Will opened his eyes and looked up at her, his right eye swollen shut. She grinned at him nastily and took out her beloved knife, the one that had lodged itself in his body many times before. 

"One word, one whimper and I'll make it worse each time, be a good demon and be quiet" she hissed. 

He bit down on his already mangled lip and nodded.

He woke up covered in sweat and his heart beating in his chest a mile a minute. He got up out of bed, ignoring the pain he was in and made his way to the window. The curtains fluttering in the soft breeze as he opened the windows to let in the cold refreshing night air. He sighed happily as the wind cooled him down, "J-Just a d-dream W-Will" he said to himself. 

He sat on the windowsill, leaning his head back to admire the view, the woods swayed and creaked and the whole town was silent and still, a peaceful calm before the storm. He looked up at the stars, watching them glitter and shine, finally noticing the moon as it blinked at him from above. He shrieked and jumped back, heart pounding in his chest. 

"Scared of the moon, William? HA!" the voice of his brother laughed at him, sickly and cruel.

Will didn't answer.

"You're pathetic! Did you enjoy that little nightmare I gave you? Your memories are full of them, such a bounty of different events just waiting to happen." 

Will stood there frozen, sweat dripping down his face. "Disgusting human form. Why must you stay in it?" Bill's voice muttered, "Doesn't really matter anyway, you're going to die and no one will miss you when you do, I for one, certainly won't." 

Will stepped back, breathing hard, "N-Not t-true!" he said, pointing a finger at the moon. Bill's eye grinned "Oh? And who do you think will cry for you, Hmmm?" 

"M-Mabel P-P-Pines!" Will insisted, remembering her face, the hug and the gift she had made for him. 

"That girl will cry for anything. I have to go now, but remember this, William. I'm always watching you," Bill said, chuckling as the moon turned back to normal. Will collapsed to the floor, sobbing loudly as he trembled. He stayed there, even as the moon sunk below the horizon and the sun came up.

~ 

Mabel found him the next morning, curled up on the floor and shaking like a leaf. Ford helped him to his feet and sat him down on his bed, where Mabel sat beside him and hugged him as he sobbed. Ford took out the first aid kit from the small bedside cupboard and began to clean the wound on his back. Re-stitching it carefully and staying silent the entire time as he concentrated. "Will? Did something happen?" he asked once he had done.

Will just shook his head, not really wanting to talk about it. 

"Are you hungry?" 

Will shook his head, it was a lie; he was in fact starving, but he held his tongue. He didn't need to bother them with his issues. "Are you sure, Will? You need to eat." 

"W-Why w-would you c-care!?" Will asked angrily, standing up and moving away from Ford, "I h-have n-nothing l-left! No h-home, no family, NOTHING!!" he cried, tears spilled down his face. 

"That's not true Will! You have us! And we want to help you!" Ford insisted, putting the needle and thread back into the first aid kit, Mabel nodded "Yeah, you have us." 

Will faced them in confusion "B-But why?" 

"Because you deserve it, you're important to us" 

"I barely know y-you" Will muttered.

Ford came over and placed a hand on his shoulder, Will didn't flinch at the contact. "Well then, get to know us, we want to be friends with you, Will, we want to help you, make you happy, but we can't if you won't let us" 

Will stared at them, bottom lip wobbling as he fought not to cry, "I'm sorry" he said, looking down at his feet, Ford hugged him and the tears flowed down his face as the man patted his back gently, "It's okay Will, we understand." 

~ 

Will ate the toast that he was given carefully and slowly while Ford kept glancing at him as he sipped his coffee "What?" Will asked him on the third glance.

"It's just weird seeing an immortal dream demon with sharp pointy teeth eating toast" Ford replied. Will smiled a little at that, it probably did look strange.

"So he does smile!!"

"Of c-course, I do have o-other e-emotions t-too you know" he said, stuffing a single slice of toast into his mouth, jam and all. Ford chuckled at his sudden appetite. "Slow down, huh? There's plenty of food." 

Will nodded and proceeded with another slice, barely swallowing the first one. 

"So if you eat normal human food, how come your teeth are sharp and pointy" Dipper asked as he swirled his spoon in his bowl of cereal. Will shrugged "Maybe, maybe j-just f-for show?" he said, thinking about it.

Will flinched at that word, why did he say it?

"Will? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just th-thought of s-something" he said, pushing more toast into his mouth so he wouldn't have to talk. 

Show: a word hereby meaning a grand performance, the Gleefuls loved a good show, their parties, their twins of telepathy show, the dinners they held. He hated the word; it was vile and poisonous and infected with them. 

"Can I have s-some m-more toast p-please?" he asked quietly, trying to change the subject. Ford nodded "I'll go make some more" he said, standing up to go put more toast in the toaster and refill his cup.

"I can cook too you kn-know, I'm p-pretty g-good at it"

Mabel looked up from her breakfast. "Whoa! What can you make?" 

"Everything, I h-had t-too, f-for them" 

"Oh? You don't have to cook for us, you know that right?" Ford said, bringing back some more freshly cooked toast "Are you s-sure? I m-make p-pretty good p-pancakes" he said smiling. Mabel dropped her knife in her excitement, "OOOO PANCAKES!" she yelled. 

"Maybe another time okay? Right now you need to rest and recover" Ford said.

"Okay."