Bloody Watercolors.
By: Alien Freak and Xmimi89eR
Rate: M
Story may contain gore/blood/violence/strong language.
Dark ZaDr
Disclaimer: We do not own invader Zim, but we own the story and idea.
English is my second language, my apologies if there any mistakes.
'The once who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do'
-STEVE JOBS-
The sun shined through the window, sneaking into the dark and suffocating room.
It kept rising slightly till the whole room metal objects started to shine.
The boy squeezed his eyes as the light burned his sight, demanding him to wake up.
He sat up with a yawn and gazed blankly at the far wall, he slowly blinked, his mind tried putting things together.
He shifted a hand to get his glasses, they cut his finger slightly when he finally touched it, he ignored it and slid the glasses on his nose.
He blinked.
When did he fall asleep anyway?
He forced his brain to focus.
The memory rushed through his body like waterfalls, making his eyes go wide.
He carefully rested a hand on his shirt, he drew it further down, there was something dry in there, in his shirt, something he did not want to see.
But he had to.
He held his breath and gazed down.
A gasp almost escaped his lips when he saw the dry thick blood on his shirt. The bloody color turned dark brown.
He wiggled his fingers just to feel dry blood pieces fall in his lap.
Any normal human would panic, but not him, he was too tired to panic, to even feel anything.
The only thing he felt was disgust.
He leaned to carefully take his shirt off of him, and tossed it in the corner.
Then walked to the closet to get new clothes to wear.
--
After a quick shower, Dib went downstairs in his fresh clothes, wearing another coat since his other one is ruined.
He put a bandage on his swollen cheek, he thought of buying new glasses, but now was not the time.
His sister wasn't awake yet, he wanted to wait for her but couldn't take another second in his house.
Just before he opens the door, he remembered his pills, he needed them, the last thing he wanted to happen is him killing the whole school.
He turned around and went to his room, the medicine was in the drawer, the bottle was orange, on it something about antipsychotics.
It helped his 'craziness' like his father kept saying.
He got a pill out, using water, he swallowed the white pill down his throat just in time to remember he didn't eat anything,
It didn't really matter.
He hid the pills in his pack, then made it downstairs.
XXX
Dib sat in his chair that was beside the window, like always.
He always gazes outside, ignoring the muffled noises he hears from the class, he was too smart to be here, he could pass any exam they give him without studying, so it was fine.
"Attention class," the fat teacher said as he walked in class, a boy walked beside him.
Normally, no one would care, but the sight of a new student made them whisper.
Some girls peeked at the fact he was a boy.
"We have uh... new student," he said with the most boring tone ever.
The new boy gazed at the other kids, his expressions were dark and blank, anyone could tell he was a bully at some point.
He studied every student's face till his eyes landed on the boy with glasses, they made eye contact, Zim found a smile sneaking on his lips.
It was all a part of his plan, he was in the crazy boy's class, perfect!
Dib gave a confused look, then leaned to rest his cheek on his palm, and gazed at the window.
Zim's smile only grew wider, the boy acted like he didn't do anything, like he didn't kill one of his people, what a crazy, crazy boy...
"This is Zim, Zim if you have anything to say, then speak now, we have time limits here, don't waste my time!" The man snapped the boy's name, an annoyed look on his face.
Zim gave a smile and leaned his weight on his toss, a sign of a 'shy' boy.
"Hello, the name's Zim, just pay no attention to me, and we'll get along just fine." His sweet smile was quickly replaced by dark expressions, he looked at the teacher,
"Eh, you're done?" Usually kids would take an hour to explain their boring life for the class when they're new, "let's see... where should you sit...?"
He pointed at the third line of tables, in the front, "there,"
Zim looked at his new place, it was quite close to his target, yes.
A small thought of him killing the boy sitting beside his target danced in his head, but everything is in time.
He walked to his desk, making last eye contact with the boy, Dib gave another confused look, maybe even a feared look.
Zim just smirked slightly and sat in place.
--
It was lunchtime.
Some girls offered to show him around, but he shrugged them off, he wasn't here to study, pay attention, do homework, make stupid friends, or succeed in anything they gave him.
No.
The only thing he wanted was his target, he wanted the boy, a new game level for him, he could feel himself smile with excitement, a smile that made some people run away, and made the other whisper.
Dib got his lunch out, including his pills, just in case he had another seizure.
He tried to sneak out without being seen by his bullies, yet, it was another failed attempt, just like always.
"Wooh where do you think you're going?" A boy with blond hair stepped in his way,
"N- nowhere..." he could feel the panic rash in his nerves, that could never be good.
In school, most people knew not to mess with him, because he may lose his mind and harm them, these attempts usually end up for him being in the 'crazy house for boys'
Everyone hates him, and stays away from him, but not this dude.
"Where's you stupid pills for craziness, huh??" He pushed Dib to the lockers.
"Th- they're with m- me..." he looked around for any bottle of water, he needed to take a pill, after what happened yesterday, he won't be able to function properly.
The blond boy liked how he was the only one who's 'brave' enough to talk to the crazy boy.
"Leave me alone..." Dib whispered, he tried his best to keep his temperature.
"And what would you do if i don--" he snapped at the boy's face, just before someone pushed him hard on the floor.
"This," Zim gazed hard at the bully,
"And who the fuck are you!?"
Zim didn't answer as he leaned down and punched the boy on his face, over and over again, blood drew from the bully's face, he tried getting the boy off of him, but he was too strong, too strong for a skinny boy.
"ST- STOP!!" The bully cried, his face turned red then purple as bruises were tattooed on his skin.
Zim smiled, a dark scary expression danced on his face, "I didn't think school would be this fun!!" He laughed, what a game, he was winning without even trying.
"YOU TWO, STOP!" The principal screamed at them, she pushed through the kids as she walked,
Zim jumped away from the body, just to make perfect eye contact with the angry women,
"It wasn't me, the boy who did it ran away." He said as he looked at the other kids, his eyes shining.
"Oh, right, sorry." She said then ordered another student to get the bully to the nurse.
The hallway became empty as students walked outside to eat their lunch, leaving the two boys alone.
Dib looked from left to right as he tried gathering his strength to stand up.
The skinny boy looked down with a big smile on his face, he leaned down to be face to face with the human.
Dib pushed back as he saw how close the other was, he almost yelled at him for being too weird but remembered that he just saved him,
This fact was too weird.
It made him blink and study the pale boy.
"Uhm... th- thanks..." he finally found his voice, he said the words then swallowed, no one would save him for free right? They probably wanted something.
Zim gazed at him with big eyes, then leaned back to stand straight, he held his hands in front of the other, offering help.
Dib was slightly shocked but quickly recovered, he held the hand and stood up.
It was too smooth for a boy's hand.
Too smooth for a human's hand.
He felt sharp nails touch his hand,
He swore he thought the boy had only three fingers,
but he tried ignoring it, he was probably imagining things.
"You're welcome!" He replied happily, still studying the human's face, he didn't let go of his hand.
"I love the way you pretend everything is okay," Zim added, his smile was dark, eyes narrowed and focusing on the boy.
"What pretend?..." Dib was so confused right now, whether it's from the hands or the words.
"Wanna be friends??" He ignored the question as he asked happily, his body almost jumped.
Dib didn't feel comfortable at all, but the question cut all the other thoughts he had.
Friends?
With him?
"Is this some... joke...?" He didn't want to sound mean, but his paranoia won't let him do such a thing.
Zim frowned dramatically, he let his body lean down slightly and move like some noodles, "nooo it's not."
The boy felt guilty, but the whole situation was not in place.
Yet he didn't want to miss his chance.
"Well... sure, you do sound nice...and you just saved me, so..." he murmured his words.
Zim gasped, "really?? Forever??!" He bit his lips as he slightly jumped on toss.
Forever...?
That's... suspicious...
He yet again tried not to think about it, maybe this was the boy's personality,
"Um... yea, I guess..."
He wished he didn't say it, as the look on the other boy's face turned terrifying, he felt like he came out of a horror movie at that moment.
If he wasn't scared, he would have pointed out how sharp his teeth were.
"Perfect!!" Zim said with a strange voice of happiness, he held the boy's hands in the air with his, his smile took half of his face.
Dib swallowed.
"How about we eat lunch together huh?" Zim offered, already leading the way, even though he was new...
"O... okay..." Dib followed, he wondered if he was imagining things, and if maybe he should take a pill.
--
They both sat at one of the cafeteria tables.
Dib looked at his food, he poked it slightly, it was weird to be eating with someone,
Zim's eye twitched of the bad smell, he tossed his food aside, gave it a last glance, how could humans eat such a thing!?
He locked his eyes with the boy, who didn't touch his food, Zim didn't blame him really.
Dib could feel eyes on him, he shifted, and looked towards his new 'friend'
Purple eyes...
He would have been shocked to see someone with purple eyes, since there was no such a thing.
He would have also wondered about the teeth, tongue, and the three fingers in each hand.
That wasn't human...
But how could he tell?
He was imagining things.
How could he become a paranormal investigator if he couldn't tell what was real and what was not?
This made him lose hope in the whole dream.
Stupid dream.
"Not much of a talker?"
Zim broke him from his thoughts, the boy snapped and gazed back at his friend, purple eyes gazed back.
"Who-? Well, no, not really..." oh what a lie, he loved talking, if he started, he'd probably never finish, he was annoying and he knew it.
"I've heard..." Zim played with his hair, he almost forgot humans don't have antennae, "...that you like the paranormal!" He smiled, eyes wide with excitement.
Dib didn't know how to respond, the girls must have told him, he was the school joke after all.
What if Zim hated him for being a freak?
Why did he care?
He was alone all his life, it won't matter now.
"Yeah, i do..." he said the truth, looking at anything but the pale boy,
"Neat!" He said happily, "tell me about the things you believe in!" He showed more excitement as he leaned back and forth in his chair,
"Umm..." Dib finally met the new boy's gaze, "do you really want to listen?..." there was no way!
Paranoia screamed 'it's a trap! A joke!'
But his lonely side was the one taking control.
Zim only nodded fast, he sat in place, hands in his lap, showing all interest.
"Well..." he thought for a moment, for something, something that wasn't too weird "I believe in vampires, werewolves, aliens, big-foot..." he counted his fingers, and then paused, watching the boy's expressions change.
"You believe in aliens??" His voice shocked, he leaned down, he hated that a table separated him from the human,
A thought of him claiming the table danced in his head.
"Yea... i find the whole thing interesting,"
"You find aliens interesting?"
"Uh-huh..." maybe he did screw his luck,
That's it! Zim jumped from his place, walking in hands and knees on the table, then jumped beside the human.
Dib looked at him, eyes wide with confusion.
"I find them interesting as well!" He smiled, a slight blush on his cheeks, how nice of a human who would probably get killed by him.
"Y... you do...?"
"Of course!" Zim nodded, a dark smile formed on his face,
let's see if you would like me,
It's not like you have any other chance.
The idea almost made him laugh, how easy.
"Say... what would you do if you saw one?" He asked, trying to look dumb.
Dib thought for a second, this properly won't happen, not because he didn't believe in them, no, he does think they exist, it's just... he wasn't lucky enough.
"I would catch them," he thought out loud.
Oh, i would LOVE to see you try...
"Why? Is this what investigators do?" That was so much fun than he ever thought, he can already imagine the boy's face when he realizes his bestie is an alien.
"Well yes, but no. I want to catch them to prove it to my dad... and maybe everyone else," his hand sneaked to his cheek, he hissed in pain when touched it; yeah he wanted to prove it.
"I see," Zim thought, how interesting!
Silence,
"It sucks..." Dib broke the weird silence between them, he didn't want to start like this, but sure Zim heard the other kids talk about his illness, "...if you want to prove something paranormal... when your mind can't tell what's and what's not..." he ended the statement as a whisper.
"Huh?" Zim was caught from his thoughts when he heard the boy talk,
"Sara told you about it, i have um... something like... an illness, it makes me see things that aren't real, and maybe... makes me do weird things..." he couldn't bring his eyes with the new boy, he had to tell him now,
either Zim would hate him, and that wouldn't be surprising.
Or he would actually...
but that's too much for his own luck to happen.
Dib hid his face with his hands, he waited for a response, but received nothing, he waited more, still nothing.
Maybe Zim just got up and walked away?
He peaked out to see, he blinked when he saw that Zim was actually there, staring at him, blankly.
"Aren't you just... going to leave? Or...?" The human asked, studying the other's face.
"Eh?"
"I mean-... aren't you afraid? Like everyone else?..."
"Because of the illness thingy?" He gave the boy a confused expression, humans were weird.
"Y- yeah...?"
Zim laughed, it was dramatic as if he was insulted, "no? Don't be silly!" He waved a hand in the air, then leaned to push Dib's glasses back in place to be even.
The human froze for a moment,
He really doesn't care??
He felt a small blush come to his face, he had a friend! Someone who actually liked aliens, and didn't mind him being ill, was he this lucky?
--
The bell rang and every student went to their classes,
"See ya Dib!" Zim jumped as he ran to his class, he gave his usual expressions: wide eyes and a scary big smile, dark expressions yet it fit him.
Dib waved back.
'I don't remember telling him my name..?'
He probably heard it...
--
Three days went by, the two had become some kind of friends, Dib was the unpopular crazy boy, and Zim was the popular crazy one.
Dib still sees Zim with three fingers and sharp teeth, but he didn't suspect anything, it was probably his illness, it always makes him see things that aren't there.
One time, he thought one of the girls was a vampire, her hair was red and her eyes were also red, he kept following her everywhere, till one time when he had to take his pills in school,
After taking them, everything was back to normal, and the 'vampire' was just a blond girl with brown eyes.
And that made him never forget his pills at home.
Also, to never actually suspect anything.
He was sure that Zim's purple eyes were just blue, or any other color, he didn't want to take his pills, he hated them, and for now, everything looked normal, kinda.
In class, Dib could feel eyes on him, and every time he turned around, he catch Zim staring at him, they would make eye contact, Zim would smile, but never move his gaze.
It was creepy.
But Dib shrugged it off, like he was the normal one.
The boy would talk usually about aliens, Zim seemed to like the whole thing.
The two were sitting on the lunch table like always, chatting, Zim was listening with interest as the boy told him his adventure before the illness infected him.
Something felt wrong at that moment,
Dib looked at the far wall, was it always... red...?
He held his breath.
The ground started to become like liquid, was it lava? Or water?
Everything starts spinning.
He gazed at Zim, the boy had blue skin color now, black eyes.
everyone around them looked like dolls, some had red skin color, some had orange.
The room became small and dark, yet everything was blind colorful, neon lights everywhere.
"Dib?" The boy heard his name, it was far away, he forced his eyes to land on the blue figure in front of him, he looked terrifying.
"I-... i need m' pills..." he healed his head, an attempt to make everything stop spinning, panic tears gathered in his eyes, he fought the insane smile.
Zim's eyes went wide, this is what the computer told him about, the boy was having a seizure.
He looked around, nobody seemed to notice, or care.
So he jump from his place and in front of the crazy boy, he sneaked his hands around him to help him get up.
"Where are they?" Zim asked as he walked them out of the cafeteria, he made his way to the classroom,
"Huh??" Dib was fighting to be let go like a drunk man, something clicked in him, and he jumped from Zim's arms to the floor,
"Hey!" Zim stood in place as Dib gazed at him, something was wrong with his expressions,
Dib laughed as he stood from the floor, his eyes darkly wide.
Zim folded his arms, "stop it." A stupid human won't scare him like that,
But the human smile only grew wider, "i'm gonna catch you, alien!!" He pointed his finger before he started running towards Zim.
"Eh!?" He leaned aside just in time to avoid the crazy human, he stood there, face blank as he gazed,
A crazy smile formed on his face, expressions turning dark,
How funny...
"I bet you can't!" He snapped happily at the boy as he ran from him.
Dib turned around, he shifted fast as one foot held him, and the other pushed forward, he ran faster than any human Zim had ever seen.
All according to plan.
He ran to their class, he laughed as he dodged the boy, smeets play!
He saw the door and rushed inside, making sure to lock it after the human got in.
Dib looked like some kind of an animal, he was shaking and panting, still smiling.
"I like you!" Zim said loud, what a monster against his own people! A perfect pet!
He walked calmly to the boy, the human walked back, "s- stay back alien!! I won't let you control my brain!" He healed his head,
That smile would never leave.
His back hit the wall.
Zim got closer, he was face to face with the human, he leaned to whisper in the boy's ear, "we can't control brains silly..."
He saw the forming blush in his face, he was sweating, and shaking, eyes wide.
Zim drew his hand on the boy's cheek, right on his bandage, the human hissed.
He smiled and snatched the broken glasses off of the human's face, "calm down or you'll never see those,"
The boy squeezed his eyes, then looked at the blurry blue figure.
"Now, where's your pills?" He walked to the boy's desk, and searched his backpack, inside was some weird things,
Bandages, band-aids, a flashlight,... a small knife,
He recognized it.
Then he saw the orange bottle, he got it out with the blue liquid called 'water'
He walked to the boy who was counting something in his hands, shaking more, tears ran his face.
Zim gave an unimpressed look, he shook the bottle in his hand, making the pills goes around inside, he moved his hips from side to side.
"Get up." He ordered,
Dib looked at him, "i -... i c'nt..." he laughed and continued counting.
"Yes, you can!" He smiled and snatched the boy's hand, forcing him to stand, but the human collapsed and fell.
"Worm baby..." he sat down, still holding the boy's hand so he would stop counting, Zim gazed at him, then played slightly with his hair, the ones that landed on his forehead.
"Eat," he shook the pills more,
The boy looked at it, he moved his shaky hand to get the bottle,
Zim freed his other hand and gave him the water,
He looked at his pills, with a shaky hand he opened the bottle and got two pills out, then he swallowed them with his water, almost choking.
He didn't move as he waited for the effects to hit him, slowly, the neon lights disappeared, the floor stopped looking like water and the room stayed still.
Now that he was okay, and everything was okay, he would be able to see what Zim actually looked like.
He looked up, just in time to realize he wasn't wearing his glasses,
"W- Where's my-?" But Zim leaned forward to put the glasses on again, giving the boy a wide smile, showing his teeth,
Dib gazed at him, why didn't he become normal again? He still had three fingers, purple eyes, and god still had those teeth.
He remembered something,
"We can't control brains, silly."
He looked at Zim, focused on him.
"This's not right..." he started, a hand sneaked to touch Zim's sharp fingers.
"I took the pills, why didn't you change?"
"Eh?"
"You still have three fingers... and- and purple eyes..."
Too smart!
"Hey, wanna come to my house after school?" Zim changed the subject, he didn't know this level would end this fast.
Dib blinked, was his words too creepy? Oh of course.
He looked at his bottle of pills. Should he take another pill?
"Yeah...sure," no, he wasn't sure at all. Something was off and he knew it, maybe because it was the first time for him to have a friend? Maybe.
"Neat!" Zim responded, he held the boy's hands and lifted him up on his feet.
"We have classes, come on." He drew circles on the human's hand, he should be honored, Zim never take care of anyone,
Too lucky for your own good, human.
Dib gave him a sad smile, as he walked out of the class, keeping his pills in his pocket.
XXX
"I don't need pills!! I'm fine, can't you see!?"
"I'm doing this for your own good, and no! You're not fine!"
"You just don't want to open your eyes!"
"You need this, an less you want this illness to kill your brain?!"
"I'm not sick!"
"Yes you are! You thought your sister was a walking dead! You saw the dog as a red cat! And you watched a French movie thinking they were talking in English!"
"I... i was exhausted!"
"Son... you're exhausted because you need medical help,"
"No!"
"If my scanner is correct, then you have psychosis..."
"The hell is that supposed to mean!?"
"You see things that aren't real, you imagine them, hallucinating them."
"I know what i see!"
"Son..."
"If that was true-"
"Please-"
"Then it's all because of YOU!!" something snapped in his head, he could see his father start to melt.
"LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE!"
"I d'nt havto listening- yo shou'd!..." just when the words left his mouth, Dib collapsed on the floor, everything started to spin, he could hear his father's muffled voice, sweat ran through his face, pain, horrible pain in his head,
He held his head and screamed, hot and wet tears ran down his cheeks, mixing with the sweat, making his face go red, he held anything close to him,
The floor turned like waves, making him think he was drowning, he coughed, a crazy smile formed on his face, he laughed as he heard a car stops in front of their house, an ambulance parked faster than any car, two men rushed inside, his father helped.
"L't goo!!" He yelled as they held him tight, the boy kicked and bunched blindly, squeezing his eyes shut, everything hurts now.
"...we're only helping you!" A muffled voice talked to him, it was far away, too hard to make out.
They became some shadow figures, they moved like thick liquid, holding him, he screamed, cried, and begged.
But they wouldn't listen.
--
He opened his eyes, everything around was blindly white, he tried to move his arms but something held them, he tried again, his eyes snapped open when he couldn't.
Whatever he was sitting on was soft in a hard way, it seemed terrifyingly familiar,
He focused his gaze, everywhere he looked was just whiteness.
He panicked and looked at his body,
He was wearing something white, yet he could tell it wasn't that clean,
"A straight jacket!?"
He moved more, trying to free himself from the suffocating clothe.
He looked at the white door,
Quickly, he jumped as hard as he could to stand and ran to the door,
"Hey! Open up!!" He screamed,
He could hear his voice, it didn't echo at all, the room was too quiet, when he listened, he heard his heart, and maybe even all his organs doing their job.
His breath was loud, every move was heard, he felt like he was in a box,
A white box, soundproof, he could never hurt himself in a place like this, that was their point.
He screamed more and more, calling the doctors, his father, the guards, anyone!
Yet it was pointless.
"I'm not crazy..." it was meant to be loud, but it came as a whisper.
He walked backward till his back hit the soft wall, he gazed blankly at the door,
His legs gave up and made him set in the far corner, he didn't even have to energy to hug himself, tears gathered in his unblinking eyes, he start to shaking.
"I'm not crazy..." he breathed his words out, head resting on the wall, numb limbs around him, they didn't feel like his own.
Tears ran down, he looked from the door to the ground, they were the same color and shape.
He never blinked, but kept counting, he didn't exactly know what he was counting, but he did, maybe it was a way to get his mind away from the harsh reality, or maybe to make sure he was still able to think at all.
It didn't matter.
He was alone.
He was always alone.
XXX
A hand tabbed his shoulder making him snap from his dreams, he panted and looked around, his hands moved around his chest, they squeezed his clothes, they were just clothes, there was no straight jacket, it was all just a dream...
"It's just a dream..." he huffed, hand resting on his heart, trying to get himself under control.
"You fell asleep at the middle of the lesson,"
Dib turned around at the familiar voice, Zim looked back at him, giving him an unimpressed look.
"Oh-..."
He rubbed his wrist,
"It was our last lesson right?" He asked, since when he was asleep anyway?
"Uh-huh, five minutes ago," Zim shifted his weight on his leg, and looked through the window, the playground was half empty,
"Huh..." The boy got his books in his pack and zipped it close,
Zim smiled, "we're going to my house, now," he danced as he walked to the door,
"N- now? I have to walk my sister home-..." he also stood up, followed the happy boy.
"We can both walk her home, theeen you'll go with me!" He said, giving him the easiest solution.
"Well, that's an idea, but i dunno if our house is close together-"
"No, they're close enough," Zim answered him as if he knew the boy for years,
Dib wanted to ask how did he know that, but stopped at the last second, he sounded like he didn't want to go, even though he did want to see his friend's house, he wasn't that rude.
"Sure..." he said under his breath as he and Zim walked to the exit,
His sister was waiting there, focusing on her game, she looked slightly pissed off.
"Ugh, I thought you'll never come." She stood from the cold stairs and walked ahead of the boys.
"S- sorry..." Dib tried catching with her pace.
The three walked in silence, the way home wasn't too far.
Dib kept rubbing his wrist, where his cut was, he hoped it wasn't bleeding.
Zim seemed to notice, but didn't say anything about it.
Fool-boy, you don't know what you just got yourself into.
Zim played with his hair, a smirk formed on his face, he slid his hand in his jacket to avoid choking the boy and his sister.
But you'll find out soon...
He turned his face away, the smirk only grew, oh this is gonna be interesting!
Very interesting.
END OF THIS CHAPTER!!
Alien Freak: we're taking things so fast cuz why not!
Hope this caught your attention :))
This is alien freak, signing off.