Amongst The Reeds

Back Where You Began

Okay! Welcome everyone to the climax of the story! A couple more chapters to go before this story is officially complete! Thank you, everyone, for reading this story! I had a lot of fun writing these chapters and I can't believe we're almost at the end. Thanks especially to Esthyradler on Tumblr for not only letting me write this story but for also being my Beta reader. I've said it before, but I have not really watched Invader Zim. I got into the series because of the fanworks. They've been an immense help in making sure the characters and writing make sense and are accurate with the show.

Summary: Zim won't be able to survive this haunting for much longer. The trio try to figure out a way to appease the ghost and, thus, get it to release it's hold on Zim. Nothing works out like they wanted.

Dib stared in horror at the photo and its negative lying untouched on the floor. "B-but how? That should've burned!" He picked them both up. The arms were still wrapped around Zim. The ritual had failed. Suddenly, the room flashed red, and the alarms blared. "INTRUDER ALERT. INTRUDER ALERT. UNIDENTIFIED ENTITY DETECTED IN MASTER'S BEDROOM."

Tak, Gaz, and Dib shared a wide-eyed look before darting to the platform and heading to Zim's room. The alarm halted as they entered. The trio gasped at the sight of Zim, lying limply on the bed. His covers were strewn about, and his pillow had fallen to the floor. Although nothing could be seen inside the room, it was freezing. Dib rushed to Zim's side and flinched at the dark bruising around his neck. His hand shook as he pressed his fingers against the little alien's wrist. "Oh, thank goodness." Dib breathily sighed in relief. There was a pulse, albeit weak. "Zim has weakened considerably since his last checkup. His pak can't keep up with the strain his body is going through."

Tak released her disguise and felt the air with her lekku. "I've never encountered anything like this before. The air feels like I'm walking through sludge. It's utterly revolting." She shuddered as she felt the urge to clean the miasma from her lekku. Gaz turned to the computer in anger, slamming her hands against the console. "You are alien super technology, can't you do anything for him?" She watched as the computer repositioned Zim, so he was lying more comfortably in his bed. "Look... If I can't find the source, I can't do much about this..." She turned back to the screen. "Just... Anything... Please..." Dib looked at his sister in shock. He'd never seen her lose her composure like this. The AI waited a moment before responding, "Fine. Fine..." A robotic eye attached to a long wire appeared out of the wall and stopped right above Zim. It scanned him, then disappeared back into the wall.

"Well, you're right for once. Whatever that entity was, it's sucking the lifeforce from him. Although the pak does act as life support, it can't handle this magnitude of drainage. Lifeforce is different from the energy supplied by the pak. Even if Zim was kept in the charging station, his organs would eventually fail, and the pak would short-circuit." Silence permeated the room as its occupants came to terms with their dire situation.

Dib fixed his glasses in thought as he looked at his notes on the Grey Lady. "I think we should head over to the lake. The article said she drowned looking for her ring. Maybe she'll leave Zim alone if we find it?" Gaz walked back to the platform. "It'll be dark soon, so we should hurry." Tak huffed as she walked over as well. "Just don't expect me to search in the water. I'll kill you all if I get wet." Dib scrunched his brows in determination. "Computer! Contact me if his condition gets worse. Hopefully, this'll be over soon." The fact the AI agreed without any sarcasm bothered him. The unofficial paranormal investigator took one last look at Zim, breaths shallow and brows furrowed in pain, and activated the platform. They had a ring to find.

It felt like forever before they finally arrived at the lake. Tak decided to search near the entrance, while Gaz searched the picnic area, and Dib searched the reeds. Luckily, it was only starting to get dark, so the group still had some light to aid in their search. Dib made a face as he picked through some mud, hoping to catch a glimpse of a ring in the lake bed. He could feel the anxiety in his heart increase the longer he searched without finding it. Half an hour later, he abandoned the section he was at and started searching on the opposite side of the dock.

Tak grumbled in annoyance as she pushed aside rocks and dirt with her feet. Nothing stood out to her along the road and by the entryway. Her lekku couldn't sense even the barest trace of the Grey Lady's aura this far out. She growled as she walked further away from the others to search amongst some bushes. The alien felt like a dooky. She was basically playing in the dirt. Tak, a proud Irken and invader-to-be. Oh Tallest, she had to look so stupid right now. "We've been at this for an hour already! Let's just give it up!" She shouted at the two humans.

"I'm tired of searching this dooky lake for a dooky ring that we'll never find! Don't you have anything else you could do to get rid of that blasted spirit?" Gaz huffed at Tak as she made her way back to the others, but she kinda agreed with her. "I hate to admit it, but she's right. If the ring is here, we won't be finding it tonight. It's already dark, and the buses aren't going to be running soon." She stopped Dib before he could protest. "What if the ring has already been found? Maybe her family got the ring after she died, and the Grey Lady didn't know? Go home, research this some more, and we'll try again tomorrow."

Dib sighed. He knew Gaz was right. It was already nighttime, and he wanted to check on Zim again anyway. "Fine. We'll head home and resume the search in the morning if needed." The group made their way back to the bus station so they could go home. 'I just hope Zim can make it till morning.'

The ride back was quiet. Dib took a little comfort in knowing that Zim was doing okay since he never heard from the AI. It didn't alleviate all of his worries, though. They were almost at their bus stop when Dib decided to pull the picture from his pocket and see if anything had changed. Before he could look at it, Tak snatched it out of his hands. "If you keep looking at this dooky picture, you're going to get anxious again, and I am not putting up with a jittery meat sack in a stupid metal box." She jumped when Gaz ripped it out of her hands suddenly. The Irken opened her mouth to yell at her but closed it at the unsettled look on Gaz's face.

"Uh, Dib?" Tak peered over her shoulder to look at the photo. The Grey Lady was visible over Zim's shoulder, clutching him possessively to her while staring at the camera. Her red eyes shone from behind a curtain of charcoal hair. Dib felt fear grip him as he jumped to his feet and pulled the rope to signal a stop. Their bus stopped a couple of feet from Zim's house, and the trio raced down the sidewalk. "If the picture changed, then something must've happened!" Dib panted as they turned the corner and ran up to Zim's door. It opened for them automatically.

"Why didn't you call us?" Gaz shouted at the AI as the group hopped onto the platform and zipped down to Zim's room. "You asked me to call if his condition worsened. Frankly, it improved while you three were out. Excuse me for following your instructions." The platform arrived, but they could only stare in horror at the empty bed in the room. Gir crawled out from under the bed and waved happily at them. "Mary! Gaz! Friend! You guys look sweaty. And upset! Are you hungry? I can make waffles!"

Dib ran over and picked the little robot up. "Gir! Where is Zim?" The robot smiled as he said, "With the nice grey lady!" The human dropped the robot in shock. Gaz kneeled in front of Gir as he got back to his feet. "Did you say, 'nice grey lady?'" He nodded. "She's been watching over Master for a while now! It was nice of Friend to help out too!" Tak stood beside Gaz. "You moron! That 'lady' was the ghost. You mean she's been here the whole time, and you never said anything?" Gir laughed at her, which only angered her more.

"Gir said bye to the nice lady when you came over to visit! She's such a good friend to my Master." Dib slammed his hands on the computer console. "HOW LONG AGO DID ZIM LEAVE?" The others looked at Dib in surprise. "Well, I estimate it was about a half-hour ago. He walked out the door." At the computer's response, Dib grabbed Gir and hurried onto the platform. "Gaz! Tak! We need to go now!" They quickly got on and stared as Dib brought them to the Voot Cruiser. "Okay, why are we taking Zim's ship? What's going on? You need to actually inform us of your plans."

Dib brushed off Gaz's snide remark and focused on Gir. "This is very important. You need to take us to the lake right now. If you don't, you'll need to find a new master." Tak grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. "What's happening, you stupid human?" Dib took a deep breath as Gir opened up the ship. "Every story about the Grey Lady ends the same way." He clenched his hands tightly. "Every victim of hers ends up drowned in the lake."