I really should be doing my biology project…..but I got a week, so why not start chapter 6?
(Never thought I'd get this far…)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Invader Zim, the characters (except Ember), or the songs.
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Chapter 6: A Dark evening.
Ember slowly crept in, trying to be as quiet as possible. Her father was sitting on the couch in the living room, guzzling down a beer and watching some wrestling show.
'He probably hasn't even noticed I'm not here' Ember thought while trying to sneak up the stairs. She made it up the first 2 steps when she heard….
"Where do you think you're going?!" her father yelled, never taking his eyes off the TV. Ember turned around and said "I was doing extra skool work….and lost track of time." Ember looked towards the ground and stepped off the first step she was on.
Her father took one final sip of his beer before getting up and making his way over to Ember. She stayed where she was, her eyes never left the floor. He came up right to her face, still holding the beer can.
"You come home when you're supposed to come home!" he yelled before punching her hard on the left side of her face.
Ember took it, she stumbled a little, but stood her ground. Her face was stinging, but she could take it. Her father grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her closer to him and whispered in an eerie tone "I Hate You!" He then held her wrist even tighter, and then swung her away from him.
Ember slammed into the door on the other side of the room. She turned around and glared at her father, who was glaring right back. She flew away from the door behind her and made a dash for the staircase.
She almost made it to the top, but was then grabbed by the ankle and dragged down on her stomach. Banging her chin hard on each step; her father dragged her all the way back down. He kicked her hard in the stomach when she finally landed, lying on the ground.
She got pulled up roughly by the hood of her jacket and held tight. "Guess what! I got a week off! So don't think you can sneak past me and give me crap for an excuse! Try to trick me like that again…and I'll do something much worse!"
Her father was almost chocking her; he finally let Ember go. "Get out of my sight you good for nothing whore!" She dropped to the ground, breathing hard and walked slowly up the staircase after grabbing her backpack. She was watched by her father, who had a sly and sick-happy smile on his face.
Ember could hear the creaking sounds of her father walking back to the couch, and the sloppy slurping sounds he made while drinking a new can of beer.
She got into her room, and shut the door calmly. Tossing her backpack to the side of her room, she checked her pocket to make sure her Zune was still there. It was. She tossed that over to her bed, watching as it made it to the side then slide off, making a small thud as it made contact with the floor.
Ember didn't care, she looked back at the cold, wooden floor; she sat down against the door and hugged her knees. She rested her forehead on her kneecaps and started to let the tears fall, streaming down her face.
She cried her eyes out; ignoring the pain when the tears made contact with the bruises starting to take form along her jaw line and chin and left side of her face.
She hugged herself tighter, trying to make herself stop. An image started to replace the thought of fear and pain in her mind.
It cleared, and the thought and image of Zim came to her thoughts. The image of those beautiful red eyes and the thought of him being the friend she's always wished and hoped for. She got up and went to her bed.
Ember sat down and looked out at the stars, trying to count them, but lost track. She took her eyes off them to reach down and pick up her Zune. She looked at the screen, and the images of the stars shining up to her through the screen.
She put in under her pillow, and rested her head on the other end of the pillow. Before she finally closed her eyes to get some much needed sleep; she smiled, thinking of Zim.
Morning came, and the sun shined itself brightly through the window, Ember woke up and sat up. She instantly regretted it, there was a huge bruise on her stomach, where her father kicked her the night before.
She carefully got on her feet; grabbed her Zune and backpack, and then, slowly opened her bedroom door. She heard nothing, except slight snoring sounds coming from her father's room at the end of the hall.
She crept down the stairs and out the door, she made yet another journey to that awful place they call a skool. She looked through the songs on her Zune, stepping in and through the puddles leftover from yesterday's storm.
She was about to pick a song when she heard something. "Ember human!" she heard. Ember looked up and saw Zim standing near the street corner. She looked around and realized she had gotten farther then she realized, but was glad to have made it in time to walk with Zim.
He waited as she sprinted across the street and up to him; however, she had her hood on, trying to hide her injuries. "You forgot this yesterday." He said then handed her the umbrella they used the day before.
"Oh…thanks." She said, taking the closed umbrella from Zim and zipping it away in her backpack. The two walked the rest of the way in silence. Ember felt more comfortable around Zim; however, she felt shy.
They made their way up the steps and through the heavy doors of the skool, then found themselves in Ms. Bitters' classroom, right at the final ring of the bell. Zim took his seat, but he locked eyes with Ember one last time, before Ember looked away.
She walked away from Zim's desk, but Zita caught her. She walked up behind her and grabbed Ember's hood, which was still up.
"Hey! Don't you know that you're not allowed to wear hoods in class?!" She sneered, then pulled the hood down.
Ember turned around and pushed Zita away. She tried to pull her hood back up, but it was too late…everyone had seen her bruises. They were spread all along her jaw line, a lot under and on her chin. But the most noticeable was a huge one on her left cheek, right in the spot where she got punched.
Every student stopped talking and stared at Ember, they were silent. Then Brian shouted "Hey Ember….I guess Torque got you good!" he yelled then busted up laughing. The laughter echoed throughout the classroom, every student was laughing and a few were pointing.
Ms. Bitters was nowhere to be seen; Ember looked over at Zim, a few tears in her eyes. Zim had a horrified look on his face, with unmistakable traces of concern in his eyes.
Tears started to stream down Ember's face, she ran out the door and into the silent hallways. Zim watched her, and then gave a hateful glare at the students behind him. Especially to Zita, who was now sitting in her seat, obviously proud of herself.
He got up, and without saying a word, ran after Ember. The sounds of the laughter echoed through the halls, chasing after him…making his skin crawl.
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Hopefully I didn't disturb you a lot….I told you I was messed up…
And for those of you who thought Zim was out of character….I admit he was….but I like it.