My Name is Bill Cipher

To Take Away Nightmares

     The next hour brought many people to the door of the Mystery Shack. Each one of them had their place on the Cipher wheel. To be honest, I'm not too happy about it.
     Pacifica was the next one to come after Gideon. The next to arrive was the girl named Wendy. She still sports the lumberjack plaid. After her came Robby, the angsty teenager dude who I honestly don't know why he was in the zodiac in the first place. The last to arrive was Fiddleford McGucket.
We spent hours discussing my arrival, how I came to Gravity Falls, how I'm in this human body now. We talked about Ford's plan, along with many arguments from me about it. But all too soon, it was night, and everyone returned to their homes. Time moves so fast for human beings. It felt like a blink to me, who has been alive for over a billion years.
Soos, Melody, Stanford, and Stanley have all gone to their rooms to sleep. Mabel is going up the stairs, Dipper is about to follow her, but then he turns to look at me.
"I need to talk to you. I'll be back down." I look at him blankly for a moment, but then I nod my head in agreement. Dipper wants to speak with me? He disappears around the corner at the top of the stairs and I am left alone, left to wonder what in the universe he needs to talk to me about.
     Shortly after, he returns and ushers me to the shop room of the Mystery Shack. "So no one can hear us," he explains.
     "So what did you want to speak to me about?" I ask him.
     "I need to know... if your being is... merging or whatever... are you getting some powers back?"
     "What?"
     "Do you still have powers in the dreamscape?" I looks at me with a pleading gaze. What is he so anxious about?
     "No, I don't." He wrings his hands through his hair. The look on his face scares me. He is either relieved or terrified. Perhaps both. "Why?"
      His breathing is becoming noticeable. Quick and constant. "Mabel and I..." he begins. "We have simultaneous nightmares. These aren't just any dreams, Bill. They're recurrent. They're alternate endings to Weirdmageddon. Remember that moment when you said you'd kill one of us, just for the heck of it?" I nod shakily. "Luckily, Stan stopped you in time, but... these dreams... Bill, they're what would have happened if Stan wasn't quick enough. In Mabel's nightmares, I die... And in mine... she does." His voice breaks. A hard feeling floods my chest. Sympathy?
     Though he tries to contain them, tears roll down his face as he explains the nightmares. "Some nights, we're awakened by each other's screams. Other nights, we wake up sobbing. The only relief of this pain we experience is realizing we were dreaming again. As soon as we see our twin is there..." He looks at me, his gaze nearly bloodshot. "I hate you!"
     "What, you think those dreams are my fault?!"
     Pain flickers in his gaze before hatred replaces it again. "Of course they are! Do you know how agonizing it is to watch the most important thing in your life die in front of your eyes?!"
     "...no," I admit, sullen.
     "I thought so," he replies, glaring at me.
     I hesitate, but I ask a question. "Tell me the rest of the dream."
     A look of horror passes his face, but he complies. "It's... different sometimes. Most often, you just snap your fingers." His voice gets tight. "Then her body goes limp next to mine. You let her fall to the ground. The shock from it all numbs all of my senses. Faintly, I can hear Stan's and Ford's screams, along with screams of my own." His lip quivers as he continues. "And you. You just laugh sadistically. You say how refreshing our agony is. Refreshing." He spits out the word. "Don't deny the fact that that's what would have happened." He sighs. "Other times I have the dream, it's more gory and... horrifying. Mabel's dreams are the same." He takes one more deep breath. "If you do get your powers back, heaven forbid, I ask one thing of you. Leave this dimension and my friends and family alone forever, and please, take these nightmares away from us."
     I want to tell him that I will if I can. I want to apologize for causing him and his sister this much pain. Mostly apologize to his sister, but I guess he's part of the package. I never thought I'd apologize for anything I've done. Perhaps I'm just too prideful to do so. I'm thinking that if Mabel had been the one to bring me here and tell me these things, I would have agreed on the spot. After what she did for me yesterday, I feel something new towards her, but I'm not quite sure what. I don't want her to be in pain or her to see her twin in pain either. "If I get my powers back, if I am able to take away nightmares... I will," I tell Dipper. "But I'm doing it for her. I'll take away the nightmares from both of you, if I can, but only because of her. She's the only one that has truly shown me compassion."
     Dipper's expression hardens, but he nods. "Thank you."
     And I can actually hear the genuine graciousness in his voice.