Not On The Wheel (Bill Cipher x Reader)

Prologue: From The Ashes

A little gasp left her lips. Dad sent me a wish!

The joy that came with that thought almost outweighed the achiness of her small and tired body. Her dull eyes twinkled slightly, before once again plunging in darkness. What should she wish for? She didn't necessarily want to go back inside; her mother would still be mad and drunk. Plus, there was a strange man in there with her. Different from the one from yesterday, but strange nonetheless.

As another chill seeped into her skin, she decided. "I— I wish I was warm..." she mumbled into her arm, shutting her eyes. A childish wish maybe, but right now, as the winds whispered a cold lullaby and her eyes began to grow heavier, a little warmth would mean the world.

A moment passed as she waited patiently for a sudden warmth to overtake her. Not just a regular warmth, produced by fire or held within a blanket. No, she wanted the sort of warmth that came from a hug; the warmth that came with a loved one, both in their smile and in their kind eyes. She wished for the same kind of warmth her father had, one that both she and her mother missed so dearly.

She held her breath, thinking that it could possibly aid her wish. When nothing happened, she felt her heart drop; a painful squeeze in her chest that shook her more than the December winds. More tears flooded her vision. Why... why didn't it work?

She started sobbing again. They were louder than before; a guttural cry from the depths of her aching heart. They echoed in the forest, the trees almost shaking with her. The howling of the wind mirrored her cries, carrying her sobs and screams.

She was stuck on the porch, no way to get back into her house, surrounded by trees with no loved one or friend in sight. What was she supposed to do?

And then suddenly, as she felt her hope slowly die out, it came: the warmth.

She didn't realize it at first; starting as a prick in the palm of her right hand, the warmth grew stronger. It was the same comforting heat she felt when she was tucked into bed and bid farewell with a small kiss to her temple. But... there was something... off about that warmth: it held a certain familiarity with it, but overall there was something almost eerie about it. Her cries stopped suddenly, her brows raising as she lifted her tiny hand.

To her surprise, it was engulfed in a small glow, a greyish light that was almost unnoticed in the dull glow of the moon. The small girl's eyes widened as she rubbed at them with her left. She wasn't exactly sure she was seeing correctly. However, as the heat persisted, she realized the glow was no trick of her mind.

She turned her hand around, examining it breathlessly, as the warmth continued to spread up her arms. It was what she had wished for, but for some reason, she was scared.

Her heart started thumping in her chest as she realized the heat kept growing in an unsettling intensity. It was comforting at first, but as it neared her shoulder it was becoming almost smothering.

Her palm looked different, and it's what scared her the most. In the middle of her hand sat the small outline of a flame, its tips reaching below the starts of her fingers. The girl's breathing quickened and she scrambled to her feet. The heat started to cross her neck, almost strangling her with an invisible fist.

She waved her arm around, as if in an attempt to cool it. Her mind was racing; teeming with panic. Her breaths started to come out in short bursts as the heat started to overwhelm her. It was quickly crawling down her other arm, masking her completely in its scorching path.

"S-stop! Stop, please! I'm warm now!" She sputtered. The warmth was starting to hurt now; any comfort it once brought gone. She wasn't sure how much she could take.