Ib (invader zim)

Ch.10

Chapter Ten

Dib walked down the sidewalk appearing more disturbed than he had since this had started. The lingering taste of Zim's blood seemed to keep him in an almost trance like state as he walked almost unnaturally down the sideswalk. Of course, the boy's unsettling demeanor attracted more stares from the people around him.

People went from being distasteful and scowling at him, to almost frightened and concerned for the boy. He'd been progressing so quickly to lunacy lately that some people believed it was time he saw someone about it.

This thought of going to see someone though seemed to be out of the question in Dib's mind. He knew a doctor would only blame it on schizophrenia or just plain insanity and not even try to believe that something was actually going on. He would only be prescribed some drug to try and rid him of 'the images in his head'.

Perhaps that's what he needed to stay sane though; receive some counseling and a bit of medicine, and he could stay alert and at least somewhat sane from Zim. As long as he could out-sane him, he could outlive him.

As Dib approached his home, he made the decision to call his father in another attempt to get him to listen. He knew what Professor Membrane would say, but he couldn't live like this anymore. Besides, there may be the slight chance that the doctor might believe him, but that was far fetched..

Gaz screamed at the boy as soon as he walked into the door about her mess of a room, paying absolutely no regard to the fact that he was quite marked up and look distressed beyond belief. He didn't seemed to hear her death threats though as he just walked awkwardly into his room, slammed the door behind him and let himself collapse on his bed with a loud groan.

At least one thing he didn't have to worry about was Zim coming to attack him... maybe. The deranged Irken might find a way to get to him anyway, even in such a critical state. After all, he had saved him, and in doing so expanded his torturous life to suffer on further.

Dib wasn't sure if he regretted saving the Irken or if he was somewhat relieved by it. He had the chance to end this once and for all but he chose to save him, even if it only provided him with more psychological scars with more to come from future attacks.

After about ten minutes of laying motionless on the bed, Dib pulled himself up and reached for the phone on his nightstand beside him. He dialed his father's number, but he didn't bother bringing the receiver all the way up to his ear as he wasn't expecting an answer. His father never answered his calls.

And, just as expected, the tone rang on for a while before he reached his automated answering machine. He hardly even checked it, just about as often as he actually answered the phone to his son. There were options though through the phone. "Press one if it is urgent, two for business, three for WORLD CRISIS, press five for emergency..." It continued on as such.

Even though the receiver still wasn't pressed to his ear, he was still able to hear the options. Without a second though, Dib reached over and pressed the number three on the phone beside him since he assumed this would be the only way to get some kind of response.

Surprisingly enough, about five minutes later, an actual voice spoke up. "Hello, yes? This is Professor Membrane speaking!" He spoke, obviously having gotten the memo that there was an emergency.

It took Dib a moment to realize who the faint voice on the other end belonged to and he seemed to snap back to life now, pulling the receiver to his ear now. "D-Dad?" He stuttered.

"..Son?" Membrane spoke up, sounding genuinely surprised by his voice. "Are you miss using the phone again? There are separate lines here for a reason..."