AFTERGHOUL SPECIAL
"Dib, the one whom Darkness you stand against
Yet you beckon it too, this I attest
You're always surrounded by constant doom
Yet you go on, despite all of the gloom
You've won my attention, no mean feat
Shall I take your heart, to be my treat?
Till the end of time, you are my mark
From, the little demon in the dark."
Lucy grinned as she slipped an unmarked envelope into Dib's locker, "It took me all night to write the perfect poem. When Dib reads this, he will have no choice but to fall for me." she thought out loud to herself.
This...this is not healthy behavior.
The creepy girl slipped into the darkness as the final bell of Skool rang and kids started flooding the hallway. Dib came into view easily as many kids avoided him, and he opened up his locker. The boy spotted the envelope.
"What's this?" Dib asked out loud as he picked up the envelope.
"Yes!"
Dib opened the envelope and took out the paper within.
"Yes!"
He began to read the poem.
"Yes!"
"...There's a demon in the Skool and it wants my heart!"
"Dang it!"
"Say what?" Lincoln asked as he wandered into view with Gaz scowling a bit behind him.
"Oh no." Lucy started to shake a bit.
Dib looked over at his sister and her classmate, "Gaz! Lincoln! I know you won't believe this, but there's a demon in the Skool! It sent me this threatening letter!" the erratic boy shoved the letter in their faces.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Lucy hoped that Lincoln wouldn't read it.
"Wow, you're right. We don't believe it." Gaz remarked.
Lincoln squinted his eyes at the text, "Hmm...wait a minute, I think I've seen this handwriting before..."
"Wait!"
The three tweens looked over at Lucy who just jumped out of the shadows with Lincoln recoiling with a short scream, "Lucy?
"Lincoln, I need to ask you something." Lucy grabbed her brother's arm and dragged him away from the Membranes.
When they were far enough to not be eavesdropped on, Lincoln figured it out, "So, you got a crush on Dib?"
The quiet girl's blushing pretty much confirmed it, "I...I...I am having a hard time trying to talk to him. He gives off such a powerful aura that only someone who's been very in tune with the supernatural could have. I felt I could convey my feelings through a poem but uh...I may have given the wrong impression."
The older brother recalled the stories Gaz told him about all the crazy things that had happened to Dib, from following around a mooch of a demon to getting sucked into a horrible dimension inside his head to becoming a toilet scrubber for the Shadowhog. Not to mention all the run-ins with Zim. "Well, you can't help who you like, but I should tell you that being around Dib can be dangerous."
"Because of that alien, Zim?" Lucy suddenly asked.
Lincoln was taken aback, "Wait, you know about that?"
"I...may have seen a few of their fights over the past few weeks. Zim likes to yell that Dib is no match for an Irken Invader and Dib always calls him an alien."
"I see..." Lincoln tapped his chin a bit, wondering how he could help his little sister, "Well, if you promise to be careful, I can try to help you spend time with him without it seeming awkward."
"You can do that?" The quiet goth's voice held a hint of excitement.
"Of course! Just play along with what I say."
"I promise...um, are you gonna tell anyone that-"
The older brother gently patted his sister's shoulder, "Lucy, I told you before didn't I? Your big brother's got your back if you need me to keep quiet about this."
Lucy smiled, "Thank you Lincoln. And I promise to help your relationship with Gaz should you need it."
"Uh...got no idea what you mean by that." Lincoln deflected, "Anyway, let's get back to the subject in-person. You ready?"
Lucy nodded and the two walked back to the Membranes with Dib showing Gaz a weird device that looked like sonar equipment, "So, as I was saying, with this Demon Detecting Device, I'll be able to find the demon targeting me easily!"
Gaz simply stood stoic, tapping her foot impatiently, "Yeah, sure, whatever..."
Lincoln walked up with Lucy right behind his back, "Dib, did you know that my sister Lucy is an expert on demons?"
"She is?" Dib asked, Gaz raised an eyebrow.
Lucy followed up Lincoln's lead while staying behind him a bit, "Er, yes, I've conversed with demons now and again..." this was technically true as the budding medium had spoken to spirits before, though she couldn't be sure if she had ever encountered a demon.
"You have? Great! I could use some backup, demons can be jerks."
"He fell for that?" the goth girl wondered in bewilderment.
Gaz groaned a bit, unamused by her brother's naivete.
Lincoln of course never doubted his skills, even if Dib was a little bit dense. He left his gloomy sister's side and gathered his things from his locker, "Good luck you two. I'd love to join in the hunt, but Gaz and I have plans."
"You do?" Dib asked.
Gaz gave a nod, "Mhm."
The white haired boy shut the locker and started to walk away with the purple haired girl, "See you when you get home Lucy!"
As soon as they got out of earshot, Gaz gave Lincoln an annoyed glance, "You left me on stalling Dib duty, you owe me an all-nighter."
"You say that like it's a bad for me."
"You're player two."
"Dang it."
"Those two don't need help." Lucy mused to herself.
"Well then, let's get started!" Dib cheered as he started to fiddle with his device and proceeded with his investigation.
It was at this moment that the pale girl realized this was her chance to be alone with her crush, and followed after him, "W-wait! Why are you moving so fast?"
"We gotta be fast! We have to get this done before the total lockdown happens, or we'll end up stuck overnight like the In-Skool Suspension kids!" Dib pointed at the row of cells holding children.
"It's the nights that are the hardest..." remarked one of the children.
"Wait...were those cells always there?" Lucy's memory was failing her and Dib continued to press on down the winding halls of the Skool. She decided to ignore it for now and head after the object of her obsession.
...
After wandering around the Skool for a bit, Lucy spoke up, "How are we going to find a demon with that device?"
Dib kept his eyes on the radar, "The Demon Detecting Device locks on to the strongest reading in a fifty meter radius, I just need to follow the signal and soon enough..." A large beeping started to sound off from the device, Dib stopped in his tracks and looked around. "Whoa! The Demon Detecting Device is saying something truly evil is in the teacher's lounge!"
The two approached the door to the teacher's lounge, an ominously dark reinforced steel door with a huge "KEEP OUT" sign in the middle. Observing it gave the quiet goth girl shivers a bit. There was indeed something behind it, and whatever it was didn't feel right. As if it didn't belong in their world.
Dib dramatically kicked the door open, and behind it was Mr. Elliot, Gaz and Lincoln's teacher, sitting on a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and a smile. "Why, hey there kids! Up to some after-school activities?"
The paranormal sleuth lowered his leg after the kick. The device was still going haywire inside the teacher's lounge. "Uh...kind of."
"Well, don't get too carried away now! And enjoy your day!"
Dib slowly closed the door and looked at the Demon Detecting Device, "...welp, the Demon Detecting Device was a bust. Probably shouldn't have bought it online." with that, he put the device into a nearby trash can.
"Huh, that teacher seems like the only person in the whole Skool who's happy to be here. Well, aside from Lana." Lucy mused to herself.
The Membrane boy reached into his trench coat, "Looks like I'll have to resort to the old fashion demon hunting ways..." he pulled out a necklace with some sort of crystal attached to it.
"And what is that?" Lucy asked.
"This is a dowsing crystal! And when I put it on-" Dib attempted to put the necklace on, but as soon as he let go of the thread, it hovered away from him and gently wrapped around Lucy's neck.
"What? What's happening?" Lucy asked in her deadpan tone.
Dib quickly explained as he got closer, "Don't panic! It needs spirit power to work...and I guess well, you have a lot more spirit power than me." Lucy started to breathe a bit heavier as Dib lifted the crystal a bit. "As I was saying, this is a dowsing crystal. Basically, it's supposed to detect the most recent otherworldly activity instead of the most powerful one. We just need to give it a moment to charge..."
Suddenly, the crystal lifted out of the boy's hand and began to float in midair. The crystal started to move a bit away from Lucy, as if it were pointing down one direction of the hallway.
"There! That's where we'll find the demon!" Dib started to run down the hallway, then quickly turned around, "Come on! We don't want to lose it!"
Lucy snapped out of her stupor and started to run after him, Dib slowing down to let Lucy take the lead. "Sorry. This all really isn't how I imagined all this to go." she told him.
"Yeah, paranormal investigation shows tend to get it wrong a lot, it isn't all night vision cameras and sneaking around, it's a lot of legwork with trial and error!"
"Sigh..."
The crystal guided the two down the massive maze of a hallway the Skool had until finally it led the children to the guidance counselor's office. Dib narrowed his eyes at the nameplate that still read "Mr. Dwicky" and groaned, "It had to be in here."
Lucy caught on to the boy's tone, "Is there something wrong?"
"No. Let's just get this over with." Dib opened the door and the room was empty aside from the furniture.
Lucy could feel some sort of presence in the room, not as powerful as the one in the teacher's lounge though. "So...where is it?"
Dib tapped his chin, "It's probably in another dimension, we'll have to summon it and trap it in ours."
Lucy almost couldn't believe what she was hearing, even she hadn't gone far enough to actually summon something, "Okay. How do we do that?"
"Leave that to me!" Dib reached into his trench coat yet again and took out five candles and some chalk, he proceeded to draw a summoning circle on the floor in the middle of the guidance counselor's office.
"...you have a lot of stuff in that coat of yours." Lucy flatly said, trying to break the tense silence.
The boy smiled, "Thanks! I formed a pocket dimension inside it in order to keep all my gear on me! Though I did lose a bunch of stuff in it..."
Ah, so that's where the hams come from.
Anyway, the boy placed the candles around the circle and then proceeded to light each one as the girl watched. Suddenly, the room started to shake a bit, and the fluorescent lights started to go off and then on again. The floor cracked open and from the crack came a large shadowy figure with fire where its eyes were supposed to be, the fire looked down upon the two children. "Human children, it is very foolish to create a summoning circle in a miserable place such as this. What purpose have you called me here?" It spoke with a very unemotional and deep voice.
Lucy's jaw was nearly unhinged, as she took in the sight. Behind her bangs, her eyes had stars in them. She was utterly speechless at the marvel that was right in front of her. Dib however didn't break his composure, he pulled out the paper he had kept in another pocket of his trench coat and showed it to the otherworldly being, "I'm calling you out, demon! I know you're the one who threatened to take my heart!"
The demon grabbed the paper, then took out some reading glasses and placed them upon the flames that were in its eye sockets. It studied the writing for a few minutes. "...no demon wrote this. This is clearly a human's writing. Also it is not a threat, it is a love letter."
"Huh?" Dib was more confused now than ever.
Lucy started to shake a bit, the awe having left its course.
"Uh, okay, can I have it back then?"
"No. Raw human emotion like this is quite a delicacy, and I am hungry after being summoned." With that, the demon ate the love letter within a few bites. "Yum, cellulose." the being said retaining its deadpan expression.
The goth was a bit torn but relieved that the blasted letter was now gone.
"May I go now? I have an audience with the Yellow King."
"Yeah sure, go ahead." Dib erased the summoning circle and the demon faded out from their reality. The boy shook his head, "...I'm so confused. Who would send me a love letter? Everyone thinks I'm a freak! Well, everyone I've tried to talk with I guess..."
Lucy turned away from him to keep her embarrassment from showing. Perhaps if she had said something earlier, none of this wild goose chase would never have happened in the first place. But then again, she was too embarrassed to say anything then, and right now she definitely couldn't say anything to her crush.
Dib then had an epiphany, "Oh wait...maybe it was all just an accident? Yeah. Someone must have accidentally put that love letter into my locker, mistaking it for someone else's. No way anyone would write something like that to me."
This is when the goth girl absolutely had to say something, "You shouldn't say that...um...everyone has someone they like. There has to be someone who liked you enough to send you that..."
"You really think so, Lucy?" Dib asked, finally addressing her.
The sullen girl nodded.
"Huh...well, thanks. Still got no idea who actually would..."
"Sigh..." Lucy pulled off the necklace with the dowsing crystal, "Do you want this back?"
Dib shook his head, "Nah, you can keep it. I think it'll work better for you than it did for me."
The goth blushed a little, "Oh, thank you..." she let go of the necklace and let it wrap gently around her neck again.
Dib started to leave the office,"Okay, we're done here. Come on, I'll take you home."
Lucy nodded and followed, one hand playing with the crystal a bit. It glowed a little in her hand.