Dead Screams
part five"Get the fucking door already!" Nye shouted above the pounding music that was continually interrupted by the doorbell chiming and a few pounds at the door. The rooms were mad with energy and excitement. The proud chosen attendants of the Pi Alpha Phi party swiveled like snakes, offering their bodies to the lords of the frat house. No one even pretended to hear the set of bells ringing as Nye stomped over to the entryway. "Such a big fucking deal. I ain't your fucking butler, Max!"
The said party-er raised his hand in the air, his middle finger raised as he ground into a petite blonde on the dance floor.
"Fuck this." Nye unlocked the many locks and pulled the large white door open. "Yeah?"
"Heya, Nye." Jax smiled, putting his hand out. The two exchanged a slap/punch handshake while Nye's exterior softened.
"Great you guys could come." He moved aside, holding the door open while the others filed in. First Jax, looking some gothic cheerleader in his bright blue and gold crop top, then Dib in customary black, though all of it skin tight. Just as he began to shut the door, it was flung back into his face. "The fuck?!"
The hand on the door was green, followed by a face that glared under untidy black hair as Zim walked into the frat house.
/He really came,/ Nye thought with a smirk. "Why hello, Zim. So glad you could come." His voice dripped with acid-like sweetness, so far south from his normal speech and vocabulary usage.
Zim narrowed his blue eyes in a scowl. "I only came because Dib insisted I come."
"What, are you his momma now?" Nye laughed at himself, slamming the door shut and almost hitting Zim with it. "You make me funny. I like that. Why don't you follow me around for the night? I could use the laughs."
The green skinned youth turned around, stalking off in the direction he'd seen Jax and Dib go. A hand on his shoulder stopped his pursuit.
"Maybe you didn't understand me. I'll try to speak slower so you can catch it this time." Nye spun him around, knocking him into a wall. "I want you to follow me. You look like you've got a lot to say and I'm tired of listening to these fuckers."
Zim pushed the older boy away. "I've got plenty to say to you."
"Then say it." Nye looked around with discontent. "But not in here. Business such as ours is best served outside. I don't feel like having to shout over music or hear around it, for that matter." He directed the Irkin with his head. "This way."
Zim looked back over his shoulder, trying to spy Dib in the crowd. He was nowhere to be seen. Resigned, and rather eager to speak his mind to the college junior, he quickly fell behind Nye as he guided him out the back door and onto the patio. Unlike the inside of the house, which was trashed and crowded, the outside was calm and clear, like the large pool that rippled with the vibrations of the music. Little floating swim gear bounced to the same re-mixed beat as the ravers.
"So, should I start or let you pull that fucking stick out your ass so I can beat you with it?"
Zim glared at Nye, wishing it had the same effect on this human as it did on others. Nye just smiled, looking cocky and smug.
"Why don't I get the ball rolling." Nye paced around Zim, looking at and through him. "You're worried about Dib."
Green fists clenched at Zim's side. "With a friend like you, who wouldn't be?"
"And what's wrong with me?"
"You're killing him."
Nye put a surprised look on his face that screamed fake. "I am? How so?"
"By convincing him that all this will make the hurting go away."
"It's just a little fun."
"Fun?" Zim grabbed the human's collar, yanking him close. "You think throwing his guts up, laying in bed with hangovers and being dragged home high are fun for him?"
Nye pushed himself away, anger building up at Zim's presumptuousness. "Are you still upset about last night?"
Zim grunted. It was as good a "yes" as any words could supply.
"It was unfortunate, Zim, but those kind of things happen."
"Not to smart people. Things like that happen when hurt people think the answers are at the bottom of the bottle."
Nye's smugness answered Zim's question before he even asked it.
"He never told you about what happened, did he?"
Nye shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about. Probably isn't important to him. I think you're blowing things out of proportion."
"His sister died last year."
Nye's calm exterior cracked just a bit, a little human empathy peeking out.
"His sister, Gaz, got into a bad crowd, picked the wrong kind of friends. She died of a drug overdose. Heroine." Zim ground his teeth together. "Dib and she were the only family they had, so when she died, he was alone. Needless to say, he didn't take it very well. He missed his own graduation because he was being hospitalized for alcohol poisoning."
Nye's eyes glittered. "So you’re trying to protect him from the same mistake his sister made?" He clapped his hands. "How very fucking noble of you."
The Irkin growled. "Like a filthy human like you would understand nobility anyway!"
Nye smiled, circling Zim again. "Perhaps nobility isn't the real objection here, Zim. I'm beginning to think that maybe you have your own alternative motives."
"None as evil as yours."
"No?" Nye walked up Zim's back with his fingertips. "Any motive that leads to self-gratification can be seen as evil in another's eyes. What I give Dib is at face value. You work in the shadows, don't you? I bet you have your own secrets. You've known Dib since fourth grade, is it? And even though you swear to hate each other, here you are, living together, going to a party together, you yelling at me about how to treat him properly." Nye smiled, getting right in Zim's face. "I think the real threat to Dib is you."
"Bastard."
"Emotional wounds hurt so much deeper than physical ones." Nye went through his back pants pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and pressing it to his lips. "I wonder what it'll do to Dib to know his greatest enemy's trying to get into his pants." The cigarette bounced up and down as he spoke. "That's definitely going to fuck something up." He blew smoke in the Irkin's face, watching him swat it away. "Too bad it's probably not going to be you."
Zim's fist glanced his jaw. Nye stepped back, holding his cigarette far away from his body as Zim advanced and swung at him.
"Guess I was right, eh?"
"Wretched human! Why won't you just leave things alone?!" Zim shouted, kicking at Nye's feet and successfully landing the human on his back.
Nye looked at his hand, his cigarette broken. "Well, ain't that a pity? Another broken fag." He turned his attention towards Zim, who stood over him, seething. "You know what, Zim? I think you need to cool off."
Nye's feet connected with Zim, sending the Irkin backwards. As he twisted in the air, he noticed his startled reflection staring back at him. He'd never noticed they'd wandered towards the pool.
There was a loud, sizzling splash.