I is back again! Whoo! Yay me! I decided to write chapter 2 today. Myep. Thank you nice reviewer peoples for not dying when reading this. I decided to make this chapter with a sort of insight to Dib's issues. Why? I dunno. I got the new Linkin Park cd. It provides EXTRA angry motivation. I don't think I need a disclaimer in this chapter, since I already mentioned it in the first chapter. So, from now on, let it be known that I own nothing but…no wait…I don't own that either. Hmm…let's just say I own this muffin. *holds up a muffin*

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Dib entered through the door to his house and was greeted by silence. Odd, since when Gaz stayed home because she was "sick," she would often listen to her music loudly, or watch TV downstairs. But there was nothing. Not even the blips of her Gameslave. Only the arcane stillness.

"Gaz! I'm home!" Dib announced, trying to search for some sign of life. He waited downstairs, hoping for a response.

"Whatever," an annoyed voice floated downstairs. Good. That meant Gaz was okay.

'She was probably just sleeping," Dib thought in relief.

Finally able to enjoy his time away from skool, Dib trudged upstairs carrying his backpack. Lucky for him, there was only math homework. He was beginning to think that today was going to be okay after all.

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"Find the area of the regular hexagon," Dib mumbled, surveying his math problem. It was a review from last year's Geometry class. "Ok…it gives me the length of the apothem, and I know the central angle in 60° …soooo, I use cosine to find the length of one triangle in the hexagon…or was it sine?" His mind blanked out, replaced by memories of the day's events. His eyes darted to the crushed remains of his glasses that broke at PE.

Dib felt a headache forming in the back of his head. It was becoming obvious that thinking clearly wasn't going to be easy today. What he needed was a distraction from his memories.

"Music! I need music!" Dib blurted. It was a simple answer. Gaz always listened to music when she wasn't playing her Gameslave. He once asked her why, and she simply replied that it was another way for her to tune out people like him.

The problem was that Dib owned no music. No cds. No tapes. Nothing. He had no time for such frivolous things. His mission was to save the world from aliens and other such paranormal phenomena. Music was not part of the music.

Gaz

Surely she had enough cds. Why wouldn't she lend him one? So, it was settled then. He would go ask to borrow one of her cds, so he could finish his homework and get on with his mundane life.

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"Gaz?" Dib noticed that her bedroom door was opened a small crack. He slowly pushed it open, revealing the deep purple walls that lie in the confines of her room. Light flooded the area, illuminating Gaz, sitting on her violet bed. Her back was turned to Dib.

Her back arched in a cat-like reflex to the other presence in her room. She let out a half growl, half hiss. "Didn't I tell you to knock when you want to come in my room?"

Dib backed away slightly, "I-I'm sorry. Your door was open and-" then he noticed the way Gaz was turned away from him. She was hunched over, almost as if she was hiding something. "Gaz? Are you okay?"

There was a pause. Dib inched closer into her room. "I'm fine. Why do you care? Go away."

There was definitely something wrong. Dib could sense something in her voice. It almost sounded like…fear. He moved nearer to his sister, until he was directly behind her. "Gaz…what are you hiding?"

"Nothing, you moron. Now GO AWA-" but she didn't finish her sentence. Dib had spun her around, so that she faced him.

What he saw would haunt him forever. Gaz was clutching a knife in her hand. Her sleeves had been rolled up, unveiling her pale flesh. On her wrists were small indentations where the knife had begun to pierce her flesh.

Dib knew that if he hadn't walked in at that moment, Gaz would be lying in a crimson puddle, dead.

"Why, Gaz?" he choked out. This was his sister. The one who had been so fearless and strong all her life. Suddenly, without warning, she was about to quit life.

She didn't say anything, but instead dropped the knife to the floor. Dib picked it up. "Just go," she managed to whisper. He was hesitant a first, frightened that she would attempt suicide again. Finally, he decided that she just needed time to sort out her thoughts. So, he slowly retreated from her room.

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Dib sat on his rooftop, looking at the city lights in the distance, and the glimmering stars above. Yet, for once in his life, those stars no longer captured the mesmerizing wonder they once held for him. They were just illusions of beauty. Although they appeared to be sparkling orbs that held the world's dreams, in reality, they were nothing but broken promises.

A cold wind wrapped its fingers around Dib's body, beckoning him to join the night's ethereal splendor. He wished that he could escape into the night, where the rest of the world didn't exist. He could remain cloaked in darkness forever, never having to deal with the torment of mankind.

But in this world, everyone is always looking for an escape. No one is truly happy with his or her lives. Yet, no one does anything to fix it. Dib didn't want to be another lost person, wishing for another life, and living in misery. There was too much in his life to leave behind. He had a world to save. Once that was done, he could die happy.

That's when he remembered the gun kept in the closet.

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Heh. I like the suspense. It angers people. I thought this chapter would be shorter. Oh well. Dib was actually speaking REAL math language. Isn't it scary, since I HATE math? It is evil. My math teacher is a pig farmer/Satan. I betcha you didn't know that.