The 31 Days of October

October 5th; Sunday

7:25 a.m

Zim and GIR had walked home the previous night from McMeaties. GIR sang merrily all the way, and Zim attempted to avoid attracting attention to himself, despite GIR's shrieking voice. But that had been last night. Today . . .work.

Zim placed his wig carefully on his head, popped in his contacts, and straightened his little tunic thingy. He stepped out the door and took a deep lungful of the disgusting earth air. The stink of human was evident. Clearly they were already active.

GIR!"

"Mmmmm?"

"STAY HERE TODAY! Just as you have every other day."

"Okay!" GIR was wearing a t-shirt that read 'LICK ME I'M - NO WAIT STOP', and apparently this constituted GIR's right to break it down whenever he saw fit. He began rapping about rabbits and burgers, his own S00P3R-PH4T BEAT going in between words of rapping madness. Zim stepped off of the front step of his house and closed the door quickly, lest a neighbor should see GIR in all of his ghetto-fabulous splendor.

The street was dotted with the neighbors going about their daily activities. A man watered his flowers. A woman mowed her lawn. Dib buried a body in his front la ho ho, no he didn't! That would give away who the killer was! Can't have that!

Zim did not actually pass Dib on his way to do his stuff. Just in case you were in the dark there.

----

Dib and Membrane were at home. Membrane drank coffee from a mug shaped like his own head, and Dib was eating cereal, casting furtive glances over his shoulder as he did so. Gaz could swoop down upon him at any moment in all her fury. She was like lightning . . . his sister was. Must've gotten it from. . . whatever side wasn't their dad's side. Dib was not entirely sure he had a mom. Gaz said he came from a test tube. But she was about two years younger than him. SO.

"Dib, it's almost time for school. Awaken your sister, or I'll throw your research out again."

Dib remained silent and sent an icy glance to his father.

"Do it."

Dib hung his head in shame. "Yes, sir." He pushed his chair away from the table and headed up the stairs sleepily, for it was still early morning. He knocked on her door loudly, waited five minutes, then decided he would risk opening the door just a crack, mind you to see if she was even IN there. Dib pushed the door open a few millimeters and, when her wrath was not visited upon him, he opened the door all the way. The room was empty. Gaz's room was predominated by shades of purple, black, and gray, just as Gaz herself was. It was always in spotless condition, and looked unused, except for the small pile of stuffing that was surrounded by candles and flowers. Dib assumed it was from that stuffed dog of Gaz's and looked around. "Gaaaz. . .?"

Well, she definitely wasn't in here. Her GameSlave 2 wasn't here. Dib frowned slightly then headed back down the stairs. "DAAAD, she's not in her room."

"Impossible! She went outside last night claiming that she was going to drape some small boy in the bush's intestines and other various organs over his own front lawn. Once she finished with that, she said she was going up to bed."

"She's not there."

"SCIENCE, SON! Use your science."

"That doesn't make any s-"

"SHH! Newspaper time!" Membrane carefully placed the news paper he had been reading on the table, folded it into a paper hat, and placed it on his head. "Science!"

Dib sighed and walked outside. He looked around and thought about Membrane's description of Gaz's activities. He walked over to the bushes and looked around for a few minutes, then finally spotted a small piece of paper. He pulled on his rubber gloves (that he kept with him at all times one never knew when there was something paranormal that would have to be investigated), and picked it up, unfolding it carefully. He blinked at what he saw. It was a crayon drawing of himself. He was hanging and apparently had a few knives jammed into his upper abdomen. Zim was looking happy off to the side. Standing next to him was--

"KEEF!" Dib's eyes widened. "He HAD hung around Zim a while back. . . I SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT! I should have KNOWN!!" Dib bagged the scrap of paper after carefully folding it back up again. He ran across the street quickly however, in his haste, failed to notice the car speeding straight at him. His eyes widened (even more) and he took a wild dive, crashing into one of the trash cans at the end of his driveway. The horn of the car blared and Dib grumbled to himself. He stood up and dusted himself off, staring at the retreating car, then looked at the mess of spilled garbage on the driveway. One of the bags had torn open. Perfect.

Dib sighed and began to scoop the trash back into the can and righted the can upward again. He heard a slight thump as he did so, and paused. Trash did not go 'THUMP'. Not unless it was something big. Dib quickly grew curious, what with his huge, inquisitive head and all, and glanced slowly over the side of the trash can. There, amongst the old food and crumpled papers, was Gaz. There were strangle marks all over her neck.

Gaz was dead.