This story is so fun to write! BTW thanks, everyone, for all the reviews! They are greatly appreciated!
Now, On to Chapter nine!


Dib crawled on his hands and knees underneath the rack of clothes. Searching for something, anything really to break the door down. So far all he had found were dead bugs, live roaches, broken nails, splinters, and a lot of dust. The closet was cool and dark, just barely lit by his lighter. He got up from his hands and knees and stood tall. Now what was he to do? There was nothing to break down the door. Was he to be trapped inside the closet for the rest of his life? Or at least until someone came and opened the door. But if someone did come would they even be able to open the door? Would it be locked just as the front door had been?

Dib peered around in the dark corners. A soft shine came from the wall. It was the smooth back of a beetle trying to climb its way up the wall. Little by little it made its way up, scaling the walls height. Then the bug slipped and fell to the wooden floor with a soft crash. Dib sighed, he wished he could be a bug, then he would be able to fit underneath the crack of the door. He sighed and fell against the wall, sliding down until he sat with his knees pulled against his chest. The perspiration on his hands caused his finger to slip off the switch of the lighter. He dropped it in surprise when the light went out. The lighter fell to the wooden floor with a thud. Now, there was no light in the closet. Nothing but darkness. Darkness that you never wanted to see because it was as though you stared into nothingness. Anything could come out from anywhere and get him and he wouldn't be able to do anything but do guess work.

Dib panicked and placed his hands to the wooden floor, feeling around for the lighter. He froze. Chills ran through his every limb. Something in the closet moved. It was not a beetle falling off the wall either. Dib breathed slowly so he could make as little noise as possible. There was suddenly no sound. Dib's eyes darted everywhere even though he couldn't see anything. Then he heard a creak. A loose floorboard. A soft, wet footstep. Something was coming near. He swallowed, feeling himself grow beads of sweat on his forehead. Fear was now becoming an overflowing emotion. His heart was pounding so hard he thought that if it weren't for his ribcage it would thump its way out from his body.

THUD!

Dib jumped, a yelp involuntarily coming from his mouth. He panicked, feeling everywhere for the lighter. Then his hands fell onto something wet causing the liquid to splash. Blood. Was his first thought, but the liquid was odorless. It couldn't be blood, could it? Dib ignored the cold, wet liquid on his hands and strained to hear the soft tapping from the other side of the closet. What was it? Was it waiting for him? Was it even there? Dib continued rubbing the floor for his lighter when a piece of wood, a splinter, slipped into the tip of his right index finger. He covered his mouth with his left hand to keep a whimper from escaping and stared through the darkness at the other end. Though it was pitch black in the closet, Dib could swear something even darker moved. He narrowed his eyes to try and see better, but no matter what he did he couldn't see in darkness. He needed his lighter. Then he paused in his search, his body tensed, froze in spot. There, somewhere in the darkness, something was breathing. A raspy breath that sounded as though the thing had trouble breathing. Perhaps even had a collapsed lung, the raspy breathing chilled his nerves. This kind of breathing was not natural; in fact, the very sound gave Dib fears beyond his greatest nightmares. The raspy breath gave a pause, only for a short few seconds, but those seconds were hours to Dib. He was more fearful of being in a room with a soundless enemy than one with breathing difficulties. The breathing started up again and this time, though, it seemed to be louder, closer than it was just a few seconds ago. Dib moved his right arm out, stretching it far. He felt it. The rubbery texture of his lighter. He wrapped his fingers around it and flicked the rough silver switch. A click was heard, but no small flame emerged from the casing.

Click!

Dib swallowed hard. What if the lighter was out of fuel? What if this wasn't even his lighter and something else? What would happen if the light did come on? What would he see hiding in the shadows? Dib shuddered as a thought of sharp, vicious, bloodied fangs glistening in darkness just waiting to tear open flesh and break bones with a single snap of the jaws came to mind. He fingered the object in his hands. It did feel like his lighter, but he was sure he hadn't used it that much. Only when he really needed it. He closed his eyes and switched the cold silver switch.

Click!

Nothing but a blue spark flew up from the lighter.

Click!

Dib heard papers fall. Somewhere in the darkness the thing was moving. Dib switched the lighter again and finally the blue spark grew into a flame. Orange and bright for Dib, as he had been in darkness for a long time. Seemingly hours for Dib, but then again, fear always makes time move slowly. It could've been just a few minutes in the dark closet. Then again, Dib didn't care. He only cared about getting out of here, saving his sister, and proving of Zim's alien existence. His eyes finally adjusted to the little light and he peered around. Nothing was there. He saw a stack of papers, just two feet away from him, lying on the floor. They were obviously knocked over. It wasn't his imagination. Something was in there with him. Something evil, and that something may just be in there with him still. Waiting for a perfect moment to strike. A predator stalking its prey. Dib frowned as he scanned the papers on the floor. They weren't just any papers. The papers were actually cutouts of articles in newspapers. Articles about murder, missing kids, robbery, suicides, and weapons. There was a crash to the left of him. He jumped, turned swiftly, aiming the small flame to his left. He saw a pen roll towards him. A small, thin black pen with it's cap missing. His eyes followed the path that the pen came from and wanted to scream. There was writing on the floor. He knew it wasn't good, but he walked closer and placed the light inches above the writing. He read:

"Three dead and two to go."

His insides went seemingly dry and his stomach churned. Three down. Two to go. Three down would mean that either Gaz or Zim had been killed. Dib felt his eyes burn as tears welled up. He stood abruptly and backed away until he was up against the door. His sister couldn't be dead. She was always able to get out of every situation, she was practically undefeatable. She couldn't be killed. He couldn't imagine any of those two being dead. Gaz seemed to be undefeatable and Zim…well, Zim was just Zim. He couldn't be gone from Earth. Life wouldn't be right without Zim there to ruin things. Dib was suddenly aware of the raspy breathing once more. It was farther away, but it still made him feel fear beyond imaginable belief. He aimed the flame around to see everything once more. To get a feel for the walk in closet he was locked in. Then, the only light in the room, his lighter, went out.

Click!

Blood was everywhere. Blood stained the white walls. A musky odor flowed through the air, it was sickening. The thing had left after the kill. It had not been Dib after all. The thick, red blood gushed from the large wound on the stomach of the lifeless body. It was pale, and the lips were turning blue. The nails were turning black. The smell of blood and death made him gag. Zim stood, wide ruby eyes staring in fear at every corner of the kitchen. No matter where he looked there was blood. Blood clung to the ceiling, the walls, and created large puddles on the checkered black and white floor. Zim's black wig lay in a mess on the floor in a large body of blood. Gaz, Dib's little sister, lay motionless on the floor. Zim could not believe it. Gaz was dead. The girl who seemed to be more powerful than an army was dead. Lying in a bloody mess on the floor of a bloody kitchen.

Zim walked closer to the body. He had seen everything. He had been standing in front of Gaz when the thing attacked, but Gaz, in a final move, had knocked Zim's legs from underneath him. Tripping him to the floor with just seconds to spare. The fangs had sunk deep into her stomach and her scream, as deafening as it was, echoed through the house. The thing had drunk some blood and then tore flesh, and ripped the organs and guts from Gaz's stomach. Blood had splattered everywhere from the violent thrashing of Gaz and the thing eating her alive. Zim shuddered at the flashback and looked at Gaz. Her stomach, flowing with blood, was empty of organs.

Zim backed away from the corpse feeling a wave of nausea coming over him. He was about to make his way out of the kitchen when he saw the pantry door was still open. He balanced the pros and cons of going inside and despite the large amount of cons, Zim made his way inside. He flicked the light on inside and looked around. Peanut butter, jelly, bread, soups, and more foods were lined on the large shelves. Nothing out of the ordinary was inside until he saw a shine from behind one of the cans of soup. He walked over and moved the can to reveal a silver doorknob on the wall. But was this really a wall? Zim grasped the knob, turned, and pulled. The entire wall moved…it was a hidden door. Zim was curious and fearful at the same time as he entered the secret room of the pantry. It was dark inside, but he felt around the cement walls for a switch. He found one and turned on the lights. Well, light. There was a single bulb suspended from a wire from the cracked cement ceiling. Zim frowned. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. A room made of nothing but thick cement. That could only mean this was meant to be a soundproof room. No one could be heard from the inside. Nothing was inside the room, nothing except cobwebs in the corners of the ceilings and small black bugs crawling over a pale stick covered in red. Zim narrowed his eyes. That was no stick. Then, amidst the black bugs, Zim saw a long, thin arm. Very thin arm. There was barely any skin left on it, and you could see, in some parts, the white of the bone protruding through the skins surface. Zim gave a soft yelp, backing away, out of the room. In the pantry, Zim shut the secret door. Left the food storage room and ran out. He slipped on blood. He fell flat on his back, yelping, and looked up. Something red was dripping from the ceiling. Zim's first thought was blood. When the liquid fell, landing on Zim's cheek, he knew he was right. His thought was confirmed. It was blood.


What happens next? Whose blood is that? Is Dib dead? OMG, so many unanswered questions, LOL. I hope that was enjoyable!
I will post chapter 10 soon...