Zim stood outside the wooden structure and took deep breaths. The house looked exactly like a rundown version of Dib's house, complete with a failing electrified fence in the yard. Which was, odd, certainly they were miles away from any Membrane technology and yet... He thought he could hear voices on the other side of the door, though it was hard to discern the nature of them. Shaking, Zim raised the key he had stolen from Gaz's corpse to the lock. He prayed this wasn't a trap to lead him further back into the town.
The door slowly opened inward, breaking into the darkness with a thick beam of light. Dead leaves scrapped the bottom of the wood floor as the wind pushed against Zim's back. An old record player was playing mournful melodies in another room. Relinquishing his grip on the doorknob and stepped further into the main hallway. The pictures that decorated the walls were tilted or shattered on the floor, leaving lightened shadows on the wall. All the photos had the faces burned into obscurity by smoldering sage. On the floor, buried under broken glass, was a landline phone that had been ripped out of the wall and smashed against a small end table.
As he made his way down the hall, he found a door that had been slammed open so hard enough hole to puncture the drywall with the knob. The brass record player skipped as Zim entered the room. Pages from a battered magazine blanketed the floor, crumpled from being stepped on. A few pillows were on the floor next to an over turned coffee table. Some of the technology Dib had stolen from him over the years were smashed to pieces underneath the coffee table. But, he thought Dib had been incapable of bringing them with him on the trip.
"Careless human." Zim muttered as he walked carefully about the room. It was too much energy to channel his anger into a wonderful performance when no one was watching. He nudged the remains of a lamp on the floor with his boot. In the glossy ceramic he saw the reflection of a torn doorway. Pieces of the door frame had been ripped off with desperate hands, blood sprinkled in among the splinters.
Dib had been here.
A shadowy figure burst through the front door, knocking down objects as it passed. It pushed the living room door open and glared down at a boy. His black cowlick hung limp as he leaned over the coffee table. The boy flipped through a magazine with a bandaged arm, comparing the various pieces of technology to diagrams in the book. The shadow glared at him and ripped it away.
"Again with this nonsense!" It roared "Why are you wasting our time with these toys?" The figure leaned in and glowered. "Every second you waste prolongs our suffering!"
"I'm trying to help-" It pounded a fist against the table.
"Your para-science helps no one other than yourself." The shadow gripped the injured boy by the hair. "This had gone on long enough." He dragged the boy towards the door. "This time I will cleanse you."
"No!" The boy shouted. He gripped feebly at the door frame to stop the inevitable.
Zim walked toward the stairs. Eyeless family portraits smiled back at him in a mocking façade. Books lay scattered on the floor. He continued to walk and begun to climb the stairs. Red dripped from a loose nail on the fifth step and climbed up the steps in a thin streak. Cautiously avoiding the nail, Zim continued his assent, as the runner rug grew more and more charred. Zim's gaze drifted atop the staircase to a blackened door with no handle. The once vivid post that decorated it a charred mess. On the floor below it, a padlock lay in shambles . Slowly he pushed the door open.
The room was covered in ashes. Avoiding a broken beam, Zim made his way to the closet door. A red X was painted over the wood. A few photos poked out at the bottom of the door. The invader lifted one of the photos off of the floor. Someone had cut a person out of the photo. He lifted another; again the photo had no one in it. Nudging the door open all the way a plethora of pictures spilled out. Thousands of photographs had been turned into empty frames. He turned, there in on the far wall a rune had been painted in red.
The boy was slammed roughly into the wall, knocking some books off the shelf as the shadow turned abruptly. Despite the boy's protests the shadow continued to pull the boy up the stairs.
"I will not let my efforts be wasted on your insane obsessions!" It shouted. The boy hit a snag on the stairs. One of the nails on the banister stuck out in an awkward fashion. The dull metal tore at the boy's leg, but still the shadow proceeded. It ripped open the door, a lock in its hand. The boy clung desperately to the railing. However in his injured state it was not enough to cease the process. Once again the figure asked. "Do you believe in aliens?" The boy feebly shook his head, desperate to avoid punishment. "You can't lie to me. I know what you've been up to." He shoved the boy into his own room and stalked after him. He scrambled up and ran for the closet. Placing his body in front of the door as he watched his attacker come into the room.
"Where are they?" It growled.
"No where, I got rid of them!" The boy pleaded. The shadow glared at him and threw him out of the way. It swung open the door and pulled out a handful of pictures.
"Got rid of them hunh?" It scoffed. The shadow pulled out a pair of scissors.
"No!" He reached for the pictures. The shadow kicked the injured boy to the side and punctured his shoulder with a long thin needle. The shadow piled papers and cut out figures in the center of the room. It struck a match and dropped it onto the glistening pile.
"This is for your own good." The fire made the freshly painted symbol of a lotus trapped inside three overlapping rings gleamed. In each hand It took a hold of the limp boy's body and dragged him out of the flaming room.
Zim stared at the charred papers in the center of the room.
"What happened here?" Zim asked.
"I should ask you the same thing." A voice called behind him. Zim switched on the defensive and whipped around. Dib's father stood in the doorway of his son's room, calm and aloof as always.
"How dare you sneak up on the Almighty Zim!" he growled. The scientist's eyes dulled briefly before shaking his head.
"Zim?" He shifted to a warm smile. "You're my son's little foreign friend right?" Zim relaxed slightly. It made sense someone would have come looking for them by now. As confusingly daft as the man was, he did seem to occasionally take a passing interest in his son.
"And you're the Dib's parental unit, no?" Membrane nodded. Zim looked him up and down. He wore a clean lab coat and blue goggles. "You're not a monster like the others." Zim observed, poking the man's side. The scientist sighed. "You're not hiding rot or ickies anywhere are you?" Zim began to circle the human. "No fake eyes or monkey shrimp?" Membrane chuckled.
"No, I am normal." Zim eyed him as he pat the invader on the head. "You've been through quite an ordeal haven't you? The other children weren't nearly as dirty. You barely look human."
"Zim is a normal human worm baby!" He hissed, swatting away the gloved hands.
"Of course you are." Membrane dismissed. "So… What are you doing all the way out here?" Zim dropped his guard.
"I'm looking for the Dib." Zim confessed. "He has been leaving his Dibness everywhere, but I haven't found him." Membrane gave Zim a inquisitive look.
"What a kind child."
"No!" Zim faltered, "Yes? ...It's complicated. Just take Zim to him!" There was an awkward pause.
"All of the well people have been evacuated to the church for decontamination, my son his with them." Zim took a step back.
"Then why are you here?"
"I got a call from my wife that said we may have missed a boy with a skin condition during the rescue attempts."
"… the she-human from the hospital." Zim muttered.
"We need to get out of here." Membrane declared. "It's a sign of the times when you can't feel safe in your own home." He shook his head. Zim began to walk down the stairs. "If you're heading to the church I could give you a ride." A rare chance to not have to walk. Maybe he could hold the human at gun point and make him take Zim directly to his base! ...except he didn't know the human coordinates that would direct the human to the correct location. That information belonged solely to Dib.
"…fine."
He looked out of the window of the car, the worn buildings flashed past. Zim turned and looked at Membrane.
"You're intelligence is above average human, right?" He asked. Membrane nodded, focused on the road. "So you're not completely stupid?"
"Is there something you wanted to ask me child? I know lots of things." Membrane straitened. "I am after all A SCIENTIST!"
"…right." Zim shook his head. "Earth has always been a wretched pit of filth, but this place is especially infested. Do you know what's going on here?" Membrane froze, a silence filled the car.
"No, not really." He glanced over at Zim's downtrodden face. "Fear not child, I have a plan."
"That's what Zim thought." Zim shook his head, he could care less what happened to this town after he took Dib out of it.
"Actually," Membrane confessed. "I do have a theory." Zim perked. "We are becoming victims of mass psychogenic hysteria."
"What?" Zim scoffed. "That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!"
"What I mean child, is someone else's perception of the world is being forced onto the populace. We are seeing what they see in people, and directing the behavior of the lesser minded with these subliminal messages. The only way to stop it is to stop the messenger." Zim crossed his arms.
"Oh and who exactly is this stink beast?" Membranes gaze grew cold.
"That is not of your concern." The alien shook his head and looked back out the window. The church was in sight. A wide building built into a depression in the forest floor. The road down was steep and Zim could see rows of different cars parked along the building's side and in between the trees.
Cliff hanger! Sorry, but it had to be done. Is Zim gonna find Dib? Or will said nemesis be missing yet again? You will find out, but first rate the chapter 1 for mild, 4 for horror.
1*2*3*4