Chapter Text
Lilly wondered the street of the rundown town, wondering between small shops, family owned business, and teenage owned bakeries. She lived in a fairly small city at the very edge of the surrounding forest and right now she was downtown. A series of building all Victorian themed and filled with over priced, but good looking, items. Just enough to draw in the tourists and while locals don't travel there much, Lilly found herself with nothing to do on this Saturday and a horrible case of artists block. So what better cure then a walk down a visually dynamic part of down.
She had been in all of these shops plenty of times and she knew the layout of the street like the back of her hand, so at this point there were few she really visited. Only the ones that were kept updated or had a constant influx of new material, or the bookstore, that was also her go to.
Now though she was interesting in visiting the antique shop. An older store owned by an older man selling the oldest of products. Lilly was a connoisseur for the old, really, she loved rusty type writers and ancient paintings and creepy children's toys that probably had several different types of diseases. She rarely bought anything, money too tight to splurge on her interests, but browsing was still a good way to pass the time.
So she wondered into the shop, the door creaking and an enthusiastic bell welcoming her. The place never had much business unless it was the holidays and due to her semi frequent visits the shop owner knew her by name.
"Lilly, good to see you again," He chimed, face wrinkling up into a kind hearted smile. She smiled back, nodding. He knew she didn't talk much, she knew she didn't talk much, everyone knew she didn't talk much. Or at all, if they were honest. She didn't enjoy conversation, of course that doesn't mean she didn't partake in them, though she tended to find people who enjoyed listening to themselves talk and often just joined in.
She wondered into the isle, rusted model cars, jewelry missing latches, lots and lots of furniture. Not seeing anything of interest she looped back around the the front where the older man stood above a display case housing the more expensive items. Mostly pearl necklaces and sterling silver bracelet, but one thing did catch her eyes.
A ring, gold in appearance with a small triangle carved into the front. In the center was an eye with a black stone for a pupil. Further inspection brought her to the price tag, '$5.00'.
She pointed at it, and spoke in a soft, cracking voice. "Why so cheap?"
He blinked at her, then at the ring. "Oh, that thing," he bent, sliding back the glass pane on the other side of the counter and retrieving the ring and the box it was held in. "The person who brought it in here said it was cursed, strange man. A scrawny gentleman, had this crazed look in his eye and practically shoved it into my hands before running out the door." He sighed and placed it down on the counter, letting her slide the ring from the felt and start to fiddle with it. "Since then I've had nothing, but bad luck. I'm starting to believe him." He set both hands on the counter and made eye contact with her. "So I'm just lookin' to get rid of, five bucks and it's yours if you're interested."
She eyed it again, twirling it around and around in her fingers. There was something so strange about the figure in the middle, something so alluring. He said it was cursed, but Lilly was never one to believe in that sort of thing, all it was, was a ring. A nice one at that, might be all gold for what she could tell, and for five dollars, what better bargain could you ask for.
She placed it back on the counter, fiddled around her pockets for her wallet and promptly paid the man. He smiled as she slipped it onto the middle finger of her left hand, it fit perfectly.
He gave a small smile, "Maybe it'll bring you better luck then it did me," he offered her a receipt, she silently declined and headed out.
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Lilly's apartment was small, and an odd setup if she ever saw one. The front door led to a small hallway, the first door to the right after that led to her kitchen. A 6x6 room just big enough to fit an oven, sink, and microwave, though the ceiling stretched up a good ten foot. Farther down the hallway led to a second room, this a bathroom, almost bigger then the kitchen, fit with a shower and tub mix, and a good size sink. The end of the hallway led to a massive room with two large windows, one straight ahead and one to the right, each with a small cushioned ledge underneath and giant red drapes framing either side that made one feel like they were in a palace. To the far right corner against the back wall was her bed, a small futon, and a her bedside table next to that with a digital alarm. Against the right wall and centered in the middle of the room was her easel set up so she could look out either window when she decided to paint.
The view was marvelous and the entire studio apartment was beautiful, it should have been twice, even three times as expensive as she was paying for it, but the main flaw in the design was the kitchen. The room to the right in the hallway was meant to be a bedroom, while the kitchen would be open and installed in the main room. The people working on it we're dumbasses, but Lilly wasn't complaining, she got it cheap.
But the time she arrived back at home sweet home Lilly was tired, though she always seemed tired now days, she worked a full time job and painted for money on the side, hoping to make that her full career someday. It was an unlikely dream, but a dream nonetheless. For now though she dove head first into her futon, and promptly fell asleep, ring still secured tightly around her finger.
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Lilly's dreams were often plagued by nightmares. Horrific imagery and gore weren't uncommon. As a child her own mind would traumatize her, leaving her awake most nights, heart pumping and sweat running down her skin in large drops, but now she was far more use to it. Either she had a nightmare or no dream at all.
Tonight was an usual, but not foreign setup, she stood in a pool of dark red liquid, too thick to be blood, but too dark to be water. Monster and beasts surrounded her, amalgamations of creature she new in her life. A dog graphed onto a bear with its lower jaw hanging off, or just culminations of human parts stuck together with pulsing muscle. They surrounded her, and she couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't scream. All she could do was watch at they drew closer; maybe they would kill her, maybe they would just rip her piece by piece until she bled out. She didn't know, she didn't care, she was just scared.
Years ago Lilly had mastered the art of lucid dreaming, but it didn't do her much good. As soon as the dream started she was able to recognize it, try and use it to benefit her. All those articles online were bullshit though. She couldn't control her dreams anymore then one could control a new puppy. All she could do was be made aware that nothing was real and attempt to comfort herself with that.
Then a voice rang out, "Quite the twisted mind ya got there, girl." It was high in pitch, but still obviously masculine. A distortion seemed to flow beneath his words, making everything crackle.
Her eyes shot up, then scanned the area. Her body was still frozen in place, a voice in her dreams was uncommon, especially one she didn't recognize. All of a sudden everything around her vanished and she was left standing on pale concrete, free now of the invisible bonds. Around her stretched a pure black void, absolutely nothing, until a small yellow light flashed in front of her. The flash slowly began to take a shape, a triangle to be exact.
A triangle, about four foot tall, floated in front of her, a black top hat balanced on its head, a bow at its chest, and similar black arms sprouted from either side of its torso, leading down to small hands, one clutching a cane in its palm. The most peculiar thing though was the eye, a large black eye centered in the middle of it.
The ring, she mused, her mind had twisted the ring to be some sort of monster. Of course, only someone both simultaneously creative and boring could create something like that.
The thing chuckled, gliding to be closer to her, "No, no, no, while the ring brought me here, I’m as real as can be.” The cane vanished from his hand and he extended it, "Names Bill Cipher, resident dream demon and immortal being that just so happened to be trapped in that ring you bought,"
Her eyebrows crunched together, analyzing him before slowly taking his hand in her own, giving it a shake.
He glided back a bit, snapping his fingers to being the cane back between them. "Lady of few words, I see. That's fine, I can do enough talking for both of us!" He didn't have a mouth, but the smile was audible. "You see, I need your help Twister,"
Her head cocked. Twister, what kind of name was that. She was going to correct him, but gave up before even opening her mouth, what good would it do to correct a dream.
"You see, I've been in that ring for quite sometime now, and it gets awfully boring in there." He pointed down to the ring still wrapped around her index finger, "So, im willing to make you a deal, you help me get out of this hell, and I'll give you anything you want."
"Anything?" She mused, voice barley audible, seeming to get sucked into the surrounding abyss.
"Ah, she does have a voice," he laughed at his own joke, "but yes, anything your tiny mind could think of. Fame, riches, power,"
She stood there for a moment, hand going to twist the ring around as she thought. "What would you want me to do?"
He drifted a bit, turning to lay on his back, "Oh, nothing much. I favor here and there, fetch a few things for me, blood ritual if it comes to that, nothing too big."
She grimaced, "No blood ritual, but I got the rest of it," she paused again.
"So, what do ya want in return Twister? A deals not a deal if it's only one sided, unless you just want to lend a poor demon a favor,"
She shook her head, "I want something, not sure what yet.“ a pause. “Can I take a rain check for now?”
He seemed surprised by the question, eye widening, only slightly, before he shook himself out of it. “Alright, if that’s what you want then Twister, you have a deal."
His cane disappeared once again, and a bright blue fire enveloped his right hand as he offered it out to her. She hesitated, then shrugged and took it.
Heat suddenly coursed through her body, and while it didn’t exactly hurt, she was jolted awake, looking down to see the ring around her finger glowing a light yellow.
"Shit,"