A/N: Sorry for not updating soon! I had severe writer's block. A writer, real-life friend of mine helped me out with an idea, so all of you thank him. He doesn't write fanfiction, so just say thank you to Richie in your reviews, and I'm sure he'll be just fine.

To avoid further confusion, this chapter will be slightly different from the past eight. The parts that describe the past (the words in italic) will be told from Gaz's point of view. Sorry if you don't like it that way; it will most probably be back to normal next time I update.

Oh, yeah, and Happy Christmas.

"Clutching my cure, I tightly lock the door. I try to catch my breath again. I hurt mu--"

SLAM!

I smacked my annoying alarm clock off and rolled over. I was not going to get up today.

Why?

Because I simply did not feel like it.

I closed my eyes and started to go back to sleep.

"GAZ! GET UP!"

I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head. I was NOT going to get up. No one was going to make me, anyway—

"GAZ! You're going to be late!"

"SO?!" was my muffled reply. "No one cares!"

"I do!"

Against my will, I exhaustedly placed my two feet on the ground and forced myself to get ready. As I reluctantly made my way to the bathroom, I noticed something.

There was no annoying deep voice ranting on and on about stupid nonexistent figures. There was no one hogging the bathroom. There was no one telling me to move out of the way so I would snap back angrily at him.

Dib was missing.

"Dib?" I called out, trying to sound somewhat bitter.

No response.

"I swear, Dib, if you don't come here, I am going to—"

"No use doing that, Gaz," Kya said to me. "He's not here."

"Where the heck is he then?" I asked, staring intensely at her.

Kya narrowed her eyes. "I'll only tell you if you stop acting like that to me."

"Well, I don't need to know, then," I told her, irritated, and with no will to be near her.

She shook her head. I ignored her and trudged toward the door.

"Gaz, it's too cold to walk to skool today, plus—"

SLAM!

I shut the door and hurried around the corner so Kya would not bother me any longer. I swear that woman drove me crazy. If there was only one person in the world that I would have wanted to go away forever and never return, it would have been her.

As I walked down the street alone, I was disturbed by the quietness around me. I was not used to this at all. On normal occasions, Dib would go on and on about useless crap that I did not care about.

I folded my arms across my chest and continued to walk. I lowered my head, as usual, because I hate making eye contact with people, unless, of course, I am trying to freak them out.

I ignored the early joggers, and the barking dogs that follow them on their leashes. I did not look at the elementary skool kids, who were chasing each other around on the sidewalk, and into the street.

As I strolled down the familiar pathway, the joggers, dogs, and children were no where in sight, thank God. They were all walking the opposite direction, so I would not have to deal with them twice in one walk.

Then I heard something. It sounded like some kind of ranting. I came to a halt and listened.

Sure enough, someone was talking. The strange thing was that there was only one voice. Could be because of a phone, I guess, I thought, still standing there.

Normally, I would have continued on my way. I would have not regretted walking away. For some reason, curiosity took over, so I silently crept towards the noise.

"…go…reasonable…come on…" It was all I could catch of the voice, so I headed closer.

"I have to go to skool. Leave me alone while I'm there, okay?!"

I stopped, realizing who it was.

It was Dib again, with his creepy voices. Rolling my eyes and sighing with frustration, I ventured towards his voice quickly.

I saw him come into view, as I crept quietly towards him. I saw him sigh and wipe the sweat off his face.

Dib was REALLY insane.

Heck, I never seriously thought he was crazy. I just said things like that to make fun of him. But this…this was for REAL.

I trudged toward unsuspecting Dib and slapped him in the shoulder. He yelled in surprise, and then quieted when he saw I was the one who hit him.

"What are--?"

"Shh!" I interrupted him, and then whispered, "What the heck are you doing here?"

Dib offered no response, but instead laughed nervously. I shook my head.

"I'm not going to say it again Dib," I began spitefully. "YOU…NEED…HELP." Not caring, I resumed on the path to skool as Dib stumbled behind me.

"I'm fine. I don't need help," Dib stated, like it was obvious. I grumbled under my breath.

"Hah. Very funny," I said sarcastically. "You're pretty stupid if you won't admit that you're crazy."

Dib glared at me and I ignored him. "Well, you're pretty stupid to get into my business," he replied.

I almost stopped in surprise. Dib NEVER talked back to me. Usually, he would have quieted himself and continued on his way.

Apparently, this wasn't a normal circumstance.

To try to put him back into his place, I shoved him into a pole. I started to resume walking, but I felt hands grab me and push me against that same pole.

It was Dib.

"What the--?"

My voice was cut off by his hands encircling my neck and practically squeezing it. I had never choked him this hard in my life. I tried to loosen his hands off of my neck, but as I tried, I noticed something.

Dib was not himself. Instead of that supposed "savior of Earth" he had named himself, he had this evil, threatening look in his eyes. To be honest, it scared me a little. Just a little, though, nothing more.

As a few seconds went by I noticed the importance of air. I tried to tell Dib to let go, but he wouldn't. Out of desperation, I kicked him as hard as I could in the leg. He let go, allowing me to gasp for air and run away. He cursed and held onto his bruised leg.

Did my brother try to choke me? I shuddered, wondering what would have happened to me if he held on longer.

As I ran into the skool, shocked and disturbed, I decided to leave Dib alone.

When lunch came around, I sat down in my usual spot, and Dib sat next to me. Both of us acted like nothing had happened. I didn't look at him, as usual. He didn't speak, which was unusual.

After skool, I headed home without him and turned on the television. I was grateful Kya wasn't home. I didn't need her to bug me today. After about fifteen minutes of flipping through the channels, Kya came home and insisted on watching Dr. Phil. I rolled my eyes and headed up the stairs to play Vampire Piggy Hunter III. That game always made me feel good, for some reason. I liked killing all of those vampire piggies. It took my mind off of everything.

I heard Dib come home, along with his boots stomping on the stairs. Then I heard Kya say something about how he should watch this special episode in which Dr. Phil is helping out corrupted teenagers. I heard Dib groan.

While playing the game I had beaten fifteen times, I began to think about who Dib really was now compared to when he was twelve.

In four years he had changed from an alien-hunter to a revenge-seeker. Every day he seemed to be growing apart from his paranormal interests. Now his life seemed to be ruled by hate.

He was becoming worse than me. Of course, I hated people, but I never did anything about it. Now he seemed more evil than so-called "bad."

I let it slip my mind. He couldn't do anything REALLY dangerous. He's Dib, the pathetic wimp of the family.

…right?

A/N: End of chapter. Yay. Wasn't this just screaming seasonal?

Just in case you didn't know, the lyrics coming out of Gaz's alarm clock radio were from Linkin Park's "Breaking the Habit." I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review if you wish!