Hello, everyone! Here's a new chapter from Gaz's perspective. I'm a little nervous about how I've been writing Gaz. I had a friend help me out and she said that it's okay, so...here's hoping!

Chapter Eight: Gaz

I slipped my headphones on and logged into one of my online games. "Anyone out there?" I asked into the microphone that was attached to the headset.

"Hey, Gaz!" one voice greeted through the speakers in my headset.

"Where've you been?" questioned the young voice of Jeremy.

"Yeah, it's been, like, a whole day," the feminine voice of Sam pointed out.

"Sorry, guys," I muttered. "My dad and I were visiting my brother."

The other voices were silent for a moment.

"How was he?" the first, deep voice that belonged to Ron asked.

"He was alright at first…" I trailed off, remembering how the doctors dragged him off. He screamed so loudly, and he looked like an animal being taken to slaughter.

"Anything we can do?" Sam wondered.

"Actually, yeah. There is," I answered. "I took a look around the rest of the hospital, and I found Dib's room and his file."

"And?" Jeremy urged.

"And it's encoded," I said. "I want to know what they're doing there. Let's meet up and work it out."

"Why can't we do it online?" Jeremy complained.

I didn't know why I was so nervous about doing it online. It's what I would be more comfortable doing, too, I'm not really good with people, but I still couldn't get over this anxiety that has been gnawing away at me since I found the blood in Dib's room. "I just think it would be better. My dad is saying that I need to go outside more," I lied.

"Yeah, my mom is saying that, too," Jeremy agreed.

"Sure," Ron added. "We can meet up. Just tell us when and where."

"Uh, how about after we finish this boss battle?" Sam joked, getting me to smirk and focus on the game.

The next day was Saturday, and I met up with my gaming friends at the park, four copies of the document I photographed in hand.

"Hey, Gaz!" called a voice that I easily recognized.

I glanced towards it to find my friend, Jeremy, sitting with Ron and Sam. I jogged up to them and sat down at their picnic table next to Sam. Ron was older than Sam, Jeremy and I-in his teens-but that didn't stop us four from hanging out every now and then.

"So what's going on with Dib?" Sam wondered.

"I don't know," I muttered. "I told you that I found his hospital room, but I didn't tell you what I found there."

"What did you find?" Ron asked.

"There was blood on the floor and on his mattress, and there were handcuffs attached to the guardrails of the bed," I said, straining to keep my voice steady.

Jeremy sat bolt-right up. "You-you're not going to show us any pictures of blood are you?"

"No, I didn't take any pictures of that," I reassured, remembering his phobia.

"Why would there be blood on the floor?" Sam asked. "Are they hurting him?"

Dib was a nuisance, and I threatened him a lot, but he's still my brother. I'd never do any physical damage to him, and the thought of him bleeding that much…

"Why don't you show us that file of his, and then we work it out?" Ron suggested.

I nodded and brought out the four folded copies of the document.

"So, we're going analog today?" Sam quipped.

I rolled my eyes and unfolded the papers, passing copies to each of them.

"Wow," Jeremy gasped. "You weren't kidding when you said that it was encoded."

"There doesn't look to be any rhyme or reason to these symbols at all," Ron pointed out.

"Yeah, this might take a few days to decode it out entirely," Sam added, her eyebrows creased in concentration as she studied the papers. "Even with all of us working on it."

"I'm not willing to open the circle any wider with this," I cautioned. "We can work it out."

A few days passed. We met up at the park after school every day, comparing notes and findings. Little by little, the symbols started to make sense. On Friday of that week, we met up at the park again. I was simultaneously excited and scared. I needed to know what they were doing to Dib, but I was also afraid that it would be too terrible to dwell on.

I spotted Ron's tall, thin form from across the grass and ran up to his table, finding Jeremy there. I sat next to Ron, and a minute later, Sam joined us, taking a seat beside Jeremy. The four of us took our copies of the encoded document and our notes from our bags and spread them across the table. "Looks like we're almost done," Sam pointed out, a dulled spark of hope in her voice, "but I'm not sure if I like what it says so far."

The part of the document that we had decoded had said something about Dib responding slowly, but promisingly, to his course of treatment. It talked about shock prods and a complete sensory deprivation tank. I looked up the effects of sensory deprivation, and it was harmless if it was done for only a small amount of time, but if it was done for multiple hours, things started to get a little questionable. There were hallucinations and senselessness that were so intense that they could break a person's mind. "Let's keep going," I urged. "We're almost finished with it."

We spent the next few hours decoding the remainder of the document, and the more I read it, the more I was put on edge. It talked more and more of what they were doing to Dib, and by the time the decoding was completed, it had graphic descriptions of drugs and torture that they were subjecting Dib to. It said that their goal was to wipe out any desire to indulge in the supernatural as well as destroy thoughts of it.

That...that was Dib's entire personality. His entire life. If they took that away from him…Dib's indulgence in Mysterious Mysteries was irritating, but usually, I could ignoring by going into my room and playing a game until he was done. What would Dib be if he couldn't watch that anymore or go after Zim?

I had to get him out of there. According to the document, if they continued like this, they would either kill Dib or break him beyond recognition. No one can hold out forever.

I quickly gathered up my papers and carelessly shoved them into my bag.

"Hey, Gaz," Ron called, worry etched in his voice. "You gotta calm down and think rationally."

I ignored him and zipped up my bag, swinging it over my shoulder.

"Gaz, he's right," Sam agreed. "You need to slow down for a second."

I started to march away from them when Jeremy jumped in front of me, forcing me to a stop. "You need to stop. You can't just go marching in there. Do you know what could happen if you got caught? They might commit to the hospital you, too."

I had considered the possibility, but I was too angry with the people who were "treating" Dib to think rationally. I shoved Jeremy out of the way and practically ran back to my house.

I dropped my school bag on the floor of my bedroom and emptied out the excess weight of school books and note books. I packed a pair of walkie talkies into my bag in case Dib and I got separated and a retractable bo staff, that I hardly used, for a weapon along with a lock-pick. Then I went to my closet and grabbed a ski mask and pulled it over my face. Just because I didn't really care if I got caught, doesn't mean I wanted to.

Dad was at one of his extended meetings, so he wasn't home to wonder where I was going. I left the house and started the trek to the Crazy House for Boys. It wasn't that far away by car, but walking made the journey take almost a half hour. The sun was already setting by the time my friends and I were finished with the code, so by the time I got to the Crazy House, it was already dark out.

I quickly dove behind one of the vans that they took Dib away in, watching the cameras as they rotated. After a minute of studying them, I found that there was a very brief blind spot at the front door. I rushed to the door, taking my lock-pick out of my bag as I went. I inserted the pick into the keyhole and quickly unlocked the door. I opened it up and ducked inside, rushing to close the door again.

I took a moment to slow my heart down from the anxiety of picking the lock before slowly creeping forward, clinging to the wall. It was even darker in the hospital at night. I could barely see the cameras. They probably had night vision, so it was a good thing I had my face covered.

Eventually, I made it to the elevator and pressed the button to call it. The elevator dinged after a second or two, and the silver doors slid open. I slipped inside and hit the button for the treatment level, getting the elevator doors to close. Once the door opened again, I was on Dib's level again. I took a breath to prep myself for what I might find in Dib's room and stepped out of the elevator.

Hope you guys liked it! The next chapter is super action-packed! Hope to see you next time!