Not a Monster Anymore (Double Crossed Book 2)

Chapter 5

Zim didn't leave his room all of yesterday, and when I wake up he's still huddled up in there. I'm starting to get really concerned, but he still won't let me inside, no matter how much I beg.

I've been spending a lot of time with Gir; he's really talkative, and always has something to tell me about, no matter how long I sit with him on the couch, staring at the 'snow' as he calls it. I think he keeps it on because it's easy to talk to me when there's not colours all around the screen. I'd never thought about it before, but Gir is almost like a kid to Zim and I. He's not an evil minion anymore, though he wasn't much of one before anyways. He's so childish and hyper all the time, just like a toddler.

Gir hasn't gone out yet this weekend. He's pretty much just stayed on the couch, again, watching the white noise. Usually he'd have been to three parties already. Somehow, he was really popular with the humans.

I decide to walk back and visit Gaz at our old house today, since I have nothing else to do. She'd stayed there after Membrane died, deciding that having the house to herself was better for her than having to share with someone. I haven't actually visited her since I moved here, so now should be as good a time as any.

"Wanna come to my house with me?" I ask Gir. He shrugs and leaps off the couch. His dog suit is near the front entrance this time, so it takes even less time for us to get out the door.

We get to the door, and I knock, despite this kind of being my house as well. Gaz would probably get pissed if I didn't knock. Loud music comes from inside, and when the door opens I can barely hear Gaz say, "Come on in."

A few seconds after we get inside, the music dies down so that we can hear normally again. "So, watcha need?" Gaz asks, having already sat down on the couch.

"Zim is sick today, so I decided to stop by." I sit down next to her. No point in standing. Gir hops up between us, sticking out his tongue and gawking at Gaz. She ignores him.

"So, have you two done it yet?" she asks, a sly grin on her face.

My face heats up. "No! No we have not," I say, probably louder than I need to.

"Alright, sure," Gaz teases. "We'll go with that."

We sit in awkward silence for a minute as I try to cool my face down. I should've known she'd ask.

"Does Zim even have a pe-"

"Okay! Moving on," I interrupt her, my cooling down completely useless now as blood rushes to my face again. Gaz holds back laughter beside me. "What's new?" I know it's a lame question, but I'd rather avoid the other option.

"Nothing," she answers, leaning back into the cushions. "I've pretty much just been here the whole time, playing games. I don't want to go back to school, since I don't have to anymore."

That explains why I hadn't been seeing her there for the past week. "I guess that's fair enough," I answer, knowing that if I argued with her, she'd definitely beat my head in.

"Yeah. There's no one telling me to go anymore, so I figured I'm allowed to do what I want."

"Eh. I kinda like going." I cross my arms behind my head.

Gaz looks at me like I'm insane. "Freak," she mumbles, smiling a bit. It's good to see her not as destructive. Of course, she'll always be a bit messed up- what happened to her was pretty bad, and would ruin anyone- but at least she's making progress. I'd even seen her talking to some other people. At least they're not scared of her anymore. I guess since all of Membrane's experiments were forgotten, Gaz is included too. We never met our mother, and Membrane never mentioned her. No pictures, nothing. It was a safe bet to say that we're both science experiments. The thought makes me sick.

"There's a new episode of Mysterious Mysteries," Gaz says. "I recorded it in case you wanted to see."

I shake my head. "I'm not really in to the whole paranormal thing anymore," I say, shrugging. "I mean, if I just so happen to be walking through the woods at the same time as bigfoot, sure I'll take a picture, but I'm not going to chase after those things anymore."

Gaz looks over at me, holding back a laugh. "No, no, you don't get it," she giggles, "it's fucking hilarious, just... just watch." She grabs the remote and flicks on the episode she was talking about.

"The biggest mystery to date: a new room has appeared in our office, full of boxes and letters with the name of a boy who doesn't exist," the announcer says as the screen zooms in on a door that is labeled, 'The Dib Archives'. Gaz bursts out laughing, holding her head in her hands to try and calm herself. Over her laughter, I can make out the announcer saying, "the entire team is investigating all of the material in the room, but no one can remember how or when it all got there."

"Okay," I say, laughing a bit with Gaz. "That is actually pretty funny."

Gir squeals beside me, rocking back and forth as he laughs. Then he stops and turns to me. "I don't get it," he chirps, still smiling.

Composing herself, Gaz presses another button and a CD rolls out of the player on the TV. "Do you want it?" she asks, waving the CD in my face.

"Why the hell not?" I shrug, pocketing the CD. It'll give Gir something new to watch, at the very least. Maybe Zim will get a kick out of it too.

After some blank TV watching and a few more conversations that go nowhere, I decide that we should get back home, due to the fact that Gaz and I are literally the world's most boring people to talk to apparently.

As usual, Gir enjoys the walk home, humming and chatting and skipping while rolling in the snow and making footprints in the fresh patches. When we finally get home he runs ahead of me, leaping into the front door happily only to plop down in front of the TV once again.

---

On Monday morning, I wake up after another Zim-less night. He'd been cooped up in his room all weekend, refusing to open the door for me to come in or him to come out. I make my way towards his room and knock on the door. "Zim?" There's no response, but he didn't say no, at least. I turn the handle, surprised to find that the door isn't locked, and walk inside. "Zim are you going to come to school?"

Zim quivers in the corner, holding himself. "Something is wrong..." he mutters. "I... I feel bad."

"Bad... how?" I ask.

"Not sick... it... it's worse than that. I feel like..." His breathing picks up, and he starts to giggle, louder and louder until his giggles have escalated into insane laughter.

"Zim?" I call out, a sense of dread growing in my stomach. "What... what's so-"

Zim turns around, still laughing, though it's quieted down, and is just plain creepy now. His hands are clenched, his fingers now stiff-looking claws more than anything. Somehow, his teeth seem to have sharpened, though if it happened just now or sometime while he was cooped up, I can't be sure. His antennae are flattened against his head so tightly that I wonder if moving them would interrupt something happening with him.

But the worst are his eyes. The life has been sucked out of them, and they're devoid of any emotion. The bright pink highlights have disappeared, leaving the solid magenta orbs to stare creepily through me. Still cackling, his metal legs slowly lift him off the ground. Again, with those lifeless eyes and demented smile, he stares directly into my eyes.

"I'm back."