Zim's house was probably the ugliest house I had ever seen in my entire life. It was a sickly sea green and it was tinier than the homes around it. Pink flamingos sprouted from the ground like flowers and even the security gnomes looked out of place. It really stood out from the rest and only brought more attention to Zim's strangeness.
Bumper stickers flashed by my head as I walked along his fence. They were desperate cries of "I love Earth!" and the like. It was really pathetic how Zim tried to fit in. What was even more pathetic was that no one ever noticed. Or maybe they did, like me, and just didn't care.
I almost felt bad leaving Dib at skool…almost. Even if he was acting strange, he was perfectly capable of walking home on his own. He'd done it many times before.
Turning to walk up to the door I stopped in my tracks. The windows were broken and glass was scattered all over the grass. It looked like something had crashed through the door, as it was hanging on the frame, but only by one hinge. Several of the security gnomes had fallen over, and hadn't even lit up when I entered the yard.
Oh…and there was the giant hole in the ceiling.
This didn't stop me for very long. Dib and Zim probably did this themselves fighting last night. Finally reaching the door, I shoved it open, knocking it off of its last hinge.
Peering around, I noticed that the house looked more like it was completely ransacked than that two people had fought there. Furniture was overturned and pictures had been thrown off of the walls. In the kitchen plates had been thrown and shattered and the doors had been completely ripped off of the cupboards.
All of the lights were burnt out, leaving me bathed in darkness. It didn't make me uneasy in the least. No, the only thing that did that was the fact that no one was there. The ugly little house was completely devoid of life.
There was defiantly something wrong with this picture.
There was a very faint sound though. I hadn't noticed it when I first arrived, but it was definitely there. A faint whimper was coming from a dark corner of the living room. I walked past the TV (which now had a large hole in it) to investigate the matter.
In the darkness I could see a small figure. At first, I had no idea what it was. I very soon realized that it was Zim's pet robot thing.
It seemed to be huddled in the corner, almost as though it were crying. It was hunched over something and was making quiet whimpering sounds.
I nearly jumped when I head Zim's voice. At least, until I noticed the static and realized it was a recording. It was probably his little robot's doing.
" GIR…I thought I told you not to let anyone in the house?"
" Aw…but he looked nice!" The little robot…GIR…whimpered.
GIR was holding something. I tried to peer around him, but all I saw was what looked some of like a green bumblebee with a really big head.
" GIR, HOW can we take over Earth if you keep allowing these filthy humans to enter our base UNDECTED?" GIR moved his little toy around, as though it was yelling at him.
" Aw, I'm sorry master…I know what'll cheer you up!" GIR's voice shook, though he was trying very hard to sound happy, " How about some tacos?"
" No GIR. I will not have you jeopardize the mission AGAIN with tacos."
" Aw…please?"
" NO GIR, I-"
The recording cut off as GIR jumped off of the floor. He spun around gracefully and stared at me with big red eyes. He tilted his head to one side in a quick jerked motion.
" You're the big head boy's sister." He analyzed.
I didn't say anything. It was pretty surprising that he not only recognized me, but also remembered I was Dib's sister. I hadn't expected him to.
His eyes faded back to blue and they wobbled, like he was about to cry. He held out his toy to me, a toy of Zim with far too much stuffing in the head.
" Do you know what happened to my master?" GIR asked, sobbing the whole way, " There were big scary noises and then my master was gone. Did the big head boy take him away?"
I shook my head. Dib had only come home with his wounds.
" I saw'd him." GIR told me before I could ask, " I was hidin' in the garbage hole and when I came out he was just standin' there. And then he ran'd away and Master was gone too."
" …Do you know what happened GIR?" I asked carefully, " Why is the house like this?"
" There were BIG scary noises and Master made me go in the garbage." GIR thought hard, " They were both yellin' and screamin' a lot…and then it stopped."
So the robot didn't actually see anything. It seemed like I'd hit a dead end.
" That was…informative." I lied.
GIR beamed; it seemed to make him feel a little better. There was my good deed for the year.
I turned to head back out the way I'd come in, seeing as I wouldn't find any valuable information there. GIR didn't follow or say goodbye. He just stood and watched me go with glowing blue eyes, as though I were the last person he would ever see.
This whole situation was very weird. Zim was gone and my brother wasn't talking. Of course, I couldn't get any truly useful information from Zim's robot…but that didn't surprise me at all.
The only real clue I had was the damage at Zim's house. What could have caused that though? I had no idea…it made me wonder if I should have listened to Dib a little more when he was actually using his voice.
The skool was on my route home. I wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't turned to glance that way.
Dib was sitting on the steps. Alone.
I was confused. He should have been home by now. As far as I knew, he didn't have detention. There wasn't really any other reason for him to stay after skool.
…Unless maybe he was waiting for me? That didn't seem quite right though.
" What are you stupid doing here, you idiot?" I called out to him, thinking that I might somehow get an answer this time.
He rose when he heard me. Careful even steps down the walkway lead him to me. He tried to look me in the eye but I refused. I couldn't do it, not while he was like this. His eyes were so empty and emotionless like this. So I did the only thing I could do. I headed home, not caring whether he followed or not.
…I couldn't help but look behind me. Just once.
Dib did follow me. Sure, it was in autopilot-even steps, but he was following. His eyes appeared to be glued to his shoes as they moved him foreword. It was extremely hard to watch him like this.
Hopefully this wouldn't be permanent.
We swung open the door to our house, and it was just as I had known it would be. Empty.
I thought I saw something in Dib in that moment. Even if it was just a small twinge of emotion…it was better than nothing.
It was that tiny look he got whenever he came home to an empty house, or when kids threw things at him. It was that look where someone came and stepped on his hopes, crushing them little by little, grinding their smelly feet into his dreams.
The look was gone within seconds though. Dib shuffled his feet across the floor, not noticing that the blood from his wounds still wove in the carpet. Somehow, he managed to slowly pull himself up the stairs, though it looked like each step pained him more than the last.
I sighed. I didn't want to be the one who had to fix this, but it looked like I was going to have to. Otherwise things would never be normal again.
(A/N: Again, thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! Unfortunately though, I'm going to be on vacation for the next week with my family. I'll definitely be back sometime after next Friday though. Please R&R and I'll update as soon as possible. : ) )