DISCLAIMER: I do not own Invader Zim or any of the songs. I am not claiming that I do…
---
Chapter 11: Shadows Emerge.
Ember slowly opened her eyes. She looked around the barely lit room.
Zim was gone. He must have sneaked out after she had fallen asleep. She didn't mind; she thought about getting up to go see what he was doing.
She reached for the light and turned it on.
However, as soon as the light was turned on…it flickered and shut off, leaving the room once again in almost complete darkness.
Ember thought it was strange; but she just figured that the bulb had simple burned out.
She got up and took small steps for the door, careful to not trip. As soon as she got close enough, the door slid open; allowing light to flood into the room.
Ember found Zim in the lab; asleep on one of the many keyboards.
She smiled and walked up to him.
"Hey…Zim." She whispered in his antenna as she placed a hand on his shoulder. Then took a step back as he awoke.
"Huh?! What?" He said, startled.
Ember giggled and he turned around.
He sighed with relief and said, "Don't do that! I thought you were the Dib Human!"
"Awww…you're no fun, Zim!" Ember said while trying to contain her laughter.
"Well, at least you're out of bed. By that I take you're feeling better?"
"Yeah…What time is it anyway?"
"Umm…I think about 2:30 pm. Why?"
"Just wondering…" Ember turned to go back to the elevator. It appeared to her that Zim was trying to finish something, since he had already began typing.
As she got near the elevator; Ember stopped and looked back at Zim. "Hey…Zim?"
"Yeah?" He answered; still not taking his eyes off the monitor.
"I'm…sorry about being mad at you…"
That got Zim's attention. He took his hands away from the keyboard and turned to look at her.
"Ember…you had every right to be mad at me." He said in a gentle tone.
"No Zim, I didn't. You took the time to save me even though it was a major risk. And I shouldn't have cared about how long it took…I'm sorry." She looked down at the ground.
Zim walked towards her and put an arm around her shoulders.
"You don't have to apologize to me Ember. Let's just stop telling each other we're sorry; you're safe and that's all that really matters, okay?"
"Okay…" Ember's eyes didn't leave the floor.
"Oh…come on! Give me a smile!"
Ember looked up and gave Zim the smile he wanted. "Okay…happy?"
"That'll do…for now." Zim laughed a bit. He took his arm off of Ember's shoulders.
"Whatever. Uhh…I'm still feeling a bit sleepy, so I'm gonna go lay down a while." Ember walked into the elevator. She turned and gave Zim a real smile.
---
Ember walked into her room. She had completely forgotten to tell Zim about the lamp, but he was so busy that she didn't want to bother him.
As the door slid closed behind her, Ember got a feeling that something just wasn't right.
She sat on her bed and lay down. She started to get a headache and began to feel weak.
A noise came from the darkest corner of the room. It sounded like heavy breathing and a slight growl.
Ember stared at that corner. It was the same corner where that shadowy figure would always emerge. She saw it come out of the shadows and walk, dragging its hand along the wall next to it as it went along.
It stopped right in front of the bed and looked Ember right in the eyes…or appeared to.
"I've had enough! I cannot stand your little, pathetic happiness any longer!" It yelled. Its voice was suddenly all too familiar to Ember.
She put her arms over her head. An instinct that she was very used to.
The figure laughed; then walked backwards towards the wall and vanished through it.
Ember looked up; she put her arms down…a mistake.
Suddenly, she saw what looked like black lightning appear and spread all along the wall where the thing disappeared. She saw a large wave of black energy come at her from the wall, close to the ceiling.
Ember felt herself being choked. She couldn't breathe.
Ember kicked and thrashed; she tried to grab and scratch at hands that weren't there.
She heard the door slide open and could see from the corners of her eyes, Zim standing in the doorway.
He ran to her side.
"Ember?! What's wrong…what are you doing?!" He obviously couldn't see anything…he also didn't know about the shadow figure. She should have told him…
She could feel herself beginning to stop struggling, like she was giving up.
'No…never again!' She thought as she began to struggle more and more.
Finally, she no longer felt cold hands on her throat. She gasped and choked for air as she sat up.
"What's going on?!" Zim yelled, completely confused.
Ember had a hand on her throat as she took huge breaths of air. "I'll…tell you…later." Ember was about to look at Zim when she saw that same black energy form into a figure near the wall.
It came close to the bed.
Ember pointed and shouted at Zim. "There! Don't you see him?!"
Zim turned to where Ember was pointing. He turned back with a worried look on his face.
"I don't see anything…Are you sure you're okay?"
Ember didn't answer. Her eyes were locked on the figure that was slowly making its way to the other side of the bed. The side where Zim couldn't protect her…even if he wasn't doing it on purpose.
It reached out and made to grab her neck once more. Ember flinched and felt herself freeze.
Suddenly, a bright light came from the wall near where the shadow figure stood. It turned and looked at the light.
That bright light formed into another figure. This one looked like a woman.
The shadow stepped away from Ember and walked towards the bright figure. Then stepped away from it as if hurt by the light.
Ember stared at the light…she knew who it was.
"Mom?" Ember whispered towards the light.
"Huh?" Zim was now completely confused. He looked where Ember was looking, yet he saw nothing. Just a wall with a Japanese Dragon painted on it.
The light figure nodded. It's pure, light purple eyes stared lovingly at Ember. It suddenly turned its attention on the shadow.
It held out its palm out towards the shadow. A powerful ball of light appeared and struck the shadow, sending it screeching in pain.
The shadow figure disappeared. A silence filled the room.
A song started to play, even though no one had touched the radio.
May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when it's time to go home
May you always have plenty
Your glass never empty
And know in your belly
You're never alone
The light figure walked towards Ember.
Ember watched as her mother came up to her and put a loving hand on her cheek.
May your tears come from laughing
You find friends worth having
With every year passing
They mean more than gold
May you win but stay humble
Smile more than grumble
And know when you stumble
You're never alone
Ember couldn't speak. She felt as her mother's hand went from her cheek to gently stroking her hair like any mother would do.
She saw that caring smile on her face.
Never alone
Never alone
I¹ll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you¹re never alone
"I…I love you…" Ember whispered; finally finding her voice. She had always wanted to say that to a person other than Zim.
"I love you too." Her mother said. Her voice, unlike her father's was loving and gentle.
Well I have to be honest
As much as I wanted
I'm not gonna promise the cold winds won¹t blow
So when hard times have found you
And your fears surround you
Wrap my love around you
You're never alone
"Ember…who are you talking to?" Zim asked. He was a little creeped out by seeing his friend talking to herself.
Ember's mother looked over at Zim.
"Is that him?" She asked.
Ember turned to look at Zim. "Yeah." She whispered back.
Her mother smiled at Zim, then looked back down at Ember.
"Never let him go…I can already tell that he truly loves you." She stroked Ember's hair one more time before she faded away.
Never alone
Never alone
I¹ll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you¹re never alone
May the angels protect you
Trouble neglect you
And heaven accept you when it's time to go home
Ember smiled. The feeling of her mother's gentle hand lingered. She brought her hand to her neck and gasped at what she felt.
And when hard times have found you
And your fear surrounds you
Wrap my love around you
You¹re never alone
"What?!" Zim asked. He ran to the other side of the bed, afraid that Ember was hurt.
Never alone
Never alone
I¹ll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you¹re never alone
Ember fingered a small pendant that was around her neck. It had the engraving of a wolf with the word, "Spirit" engraved on the back.
((Think about the Wolf Spirit symbol from Balto 2. The one that was on top of the totem pole…And if you haven't seen Balto 2, just think of a white wolf head with paws…))
"What the…That wasn't there before! Was it?" Zim asked. He stared at the necklace.
My love will follow you stay with you
Baby you're never alone
"It was my mother's…I remember seeing it in one of the pictures. But, I thought she was buried with it on…" Ember looked up at Zim.
"Oh...and Mom says hi..." She whispered at Zim
They both smiled. Listening to the song as it ended and faded away.
---
This is not the end…yet. 1 more chapter! But don't worry…there'll be another sequel.
The song in this chapter wasn't originally supposed to be in this chapter…it wasn't even supposed to be in this story. But I couldn't find the lyrics to the original song, "Guardian Angel" by Juliana. But I think this one works too…"Never Alone" by Jim Brickman.