4Bring Me to Life
Chapter One:
Of Games and Wagers
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! THWAP!
Gaz shot up, awakened by the alarm clock and Cyrus smashing the snooze button. He seemed to be in a daze as he moved around the room trying to decide what to do. He looked several times at her without really focusing before he realized she was there. When he did he kind of jumped a bit before remembering who she was.
"Good morning Cyrus," Gaz greeted with a smirk; the teen looked like he had a hangover. He was definitely not a morning person.
"G'mornin'," he mumbled rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "'Ow'd ya sleep?"
"Christ man, have an accent why don't you?" she joked getting up. She looked at him before quickly looking away, a little pink creeping into her cheeks. "Um, Cyrus? You're not wearing any pants." Cyrus looked down and swore at himself groggily before fetching a pair of jean shorts.
"So, how'd you sleep, Gaz?" the teen asked again turning to see her yawn and stretch at the same time. "Cute."
"Funny," she replied sarcastically, "Pretty good actually. You're such a gentleman." The last part was also filled with sarcasm making both of them chuckle.
"Good," he turned away from her and started walking away. "If you want some food you'd better hustle. Actually there's no real rush. I'm just impatient." Gaz followed him up the stairs, which lead to a kitchen of good size. Cyrus motioned for her to take a seat at the counter while he grabbed a pair of bowls and glasses. When he looked to her, he found her looking around cautiously for his mother.
"She's not home," he stated going to the cupboards for cereal, "she leaves early to be with her boyfriend and their friends before going to work."
"That's kind of a lonely way to live," Gaz said watching him, trying to memorize where everything was. "To live without your parents around. Speaking of which what about your dad?" She noticed his back tensed for a split-second before removing a gallon of milk from the fridge and putting it on the counter.
"My dad died a long time ago," he said in a subject-off-limits tone. "Sorry, I do that some times. So, dig in. Oh, here's a spoon." Cyrus walked around the island and sat down next to Gaz. No sooner had they both taken their first bite of food did the doorbell ring.
"Who the hell could it be at six-thirty in the morning?" Gaz asked swallowing her food. Cyrus shrugged as he stood up again and answered the door around the corner. Gaz strained to listen, without leaving her chair, to the voices mumbling but couldn't quite hear everything they said.
"Hello sir…speak…Lord…mind if…come in?" asked the stranger and Cyrus replied saying something she couldn't hear at all, but he came back with an impish grin.
"Hey Gaz, wanna have some fun with some Jehovah's Witnesses?" he asked mischievously and the goth smiled just as wide as he before she stood quickly.
"Tell them I'll be right there." She began to walk toward the stairs when she turned back and messed his hair up vigorously. "Now you can go," she smirked. With that she descended down the stairs as Cyrus returned to his guests.
"Please come in my gentlemen," he said opening the door wide for them. "My friend is getting herself together." He led them to the living room and had them sit on one sofa while he sat in another across from them. "I apologize for my lack of dress."
"It is quite alright my young sir," one said smiling at the young man's pleasant and mature tone. "It is still very early but we are happy we could catch you awake at such an hour."
"You said your friend is a girl," the other began adjusting his tie nervously, "Do you mind if I ask where your parents are?"
"Oh they left a little while ago to work," he lied, sort of. "If you're worried about us being…how should I put this…interpersonal, you don't have to be concerned. We are quite happy being friends." Gaz chose that moment to enter the room, and her state of undress left the two men wide-eyed. She had grabbed the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around herself like a toga, with one arm uncovered and the opposite leg equally exposed. She'd also frazzled her violet hair very well giving her a look like she'd just had a good romp in the hay.
"Sorry for the wait," she said walking in hurriedly, "But I had the darnedest time looking for clean clothes before I found that they'd all been put into the washer. Hello you," she said looking at Cyrus with a grin, and gave him a peck on the cheek before sitting in his lap, lounging back giggling. Despite the slightly awkward position they were in they played their roles very well.
"So, sirs, you can begin now." Cyrus said to the still bug-eyed men. Cyrus waited patiently for their responses while rubbing up and down Gaz's arm. Both of the teens found it extremely amusing how two graying old men, who were supposed to be spreading the word of their god, couldn't keep their eyes off a gothic girl with breasts. The first man gaped like a fish while the second recovered quicker.
"I'm sorry, but we must be going now." He said standing to leave, having to smack his companion out of his daze. "Don't worry sir, we'll let ourselves out. Have a nice day. Ma'am." The two men walked quickly out of the room and the door slammed shut behind them. No sooner had the men left did the pair burst into laughter.
"Did you see their faces?" Cyrus bellowed whipping away tears.
"I thought their eyes were going to fall out of their heads!" she said holding her sides from splitting. "Oh God! I love messing with them!"
"I-I-I, loved the whole sheet thing!" he said through his laughter.
"Oldest trick in the bo-bo-book!" Gaz replied pulling herself together.
"Ah, but still the best," he stated settling down. The two realized they hadn't really moved from their previous position and they both felt a little unease from the closeness. "Uh, ahem, well, you might want to get dressed then." Gaz nodded and stood. Before he knew what he was doing, Cyrus slapped her butt playfully, causing her to jump a foot in the air. "Sorry, still in character."
"Sure, and it has nothing to do with the fact I'm the closest you've ever seen to a naked girl in person before," she smirked as she left him sputtering for a comeback.
Time Jump
Cyrus was sitting at the island in the kitchen again when Gaz came back up, dressed in her full attire, collar and all. He smiled to her and took another scoop from his cereal. Gaz took the seat beside him and also began eating. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment before Gaz said something.
"So what are we going to do?" she asked between bites not turning to look at him.
"Up to you," Cyrus replied dumping his bowl into the sink. "We've got video games, music, going outside, meeting some people, really we've got a lot to do when we get around to it."
"Got to do?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Can do," he corrected smirking at her pickiness. "We really don't need to do anything. I'm used to doing mostly nothing."
"Well aren't you the active one. I'm surprised you're not fatter than Bloaty the Pizza Hog," she stated getting up and putting her dishes into the sink.
"Metabolism," he explained with a shrug, "So music and video games?"
"You really know how to treat a girl," she replied rolling her eyes.
"Is that a no to video games and hard rock music I hear coming from Gaz Membrane?" he gasped in fake shock. "Quick, call the papers! The world is coming to an end!"
"Quit it," she said annoyed, punching him in the arm. "I didn't say I wasn't interested just that it shows you don't know much about girls."
"Well if there isn't a 'Guide to the Female Mind for Dummies,' then I think that's a bit outside my range." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the basement. "Come on, I'll show you the best place to set up."
"You never leave that basement do you?" she said following him to the door.
"We'll see if you need convincing on the awesomeness of my basement when we're done." He replied walking down the stairs. She followed him and he moved to one of the blanket walls that covered part of a real wall. "Prepare to be amazed."
Cyrus pulled back the cover to reveal…a door. It was a regular wooden door with a silver door handle that had a key lock on it.
"Wow," she said monotonously, "I'm completely dazzled. Please forgive me if I seem a little too excited but this…it's just too much."
"Right," he said pulling out a large ring of keys from his pocket. He searched through them for a second before finding the correct one and inserting it into the lock.
"Mug a janitor?" Gaz joked still unimpressed. He just smiled and turned the knob.
"Just follow me." He opened the door and they entered an arcade to rule all arcades. There were pinball machines, shooter games, several large TVs with various game consoles, a Dance Dance Revolution Machine, and maybe best of all, a snack bar that looked to be enough to feed a small army of gamers. With semi-loud techno music and that amazing fragrance of pizza, tokens, and hard-earned, high-score sweat, completed the arcade's atmosphere. Cyrus smirked and closed Gaz's mouth, which had popped open without her knowing. "So, got anymore little quips or remarks?"
"Just shut up and let's get playing!" and she took off like a kid in a candy store with a one hundred dollar bill. Cyrus laughed to himself as he grabbed a remote by the door and hit play for the surround sound to blast some rock music. Being sure to close the door, which he'd soundproofed a while ago, he stuffed the device into his pocket along with the keys.
"Cyrus get over here! I want to race you and laugh when you eat my dust!"
"You'll be the one cryin' girl," he said running over to her.
Time Jump
"I'm gonna win!"
"Not a chance marker boy. This one's mine!"
"Come on, turn, turn, turn, turn, oh crap! Cow!"
"And that means I.."
"Truck!"
"Damn!"
"Yes!" Cyrus exclaimed, his car passing the finish line first. Gaz gave the game a, 'why God? Why!?' look. "And that brings the score to…"
"Cyrus 13," the machine said reading off the scores. "Tied for first is Gaz with 13."
"Hey Cyrus," Gaz said changing her car specs around, "How about we make this interesting?"
"How so?" he asked waiting for her to finish up so he could choose the map.
"Loser pays?"
"You don't have any money," he laughed, "Good try though."
"Twenty questions of truth from the loser?" she finished working on her car and Cyrus shuffled through the maps with the steering wheel.
"I know almost everything about you Gaz," he pointed out.
"You just keep telling yourself that. How about loser has to do what the winner wants for the rest of the day?"
"Now that," Cyrus said hitting okay for the canyon map, his best one, "Is a good idea."
"Final Showdown!" the computer shouted as the two got ready in their bucket seats.
"3!" Cyrus moved his shifter to first gear and Gaz tightened her gloves.
"2!" The two nodded to the other in an almost unfriendly way.
"1!" They tensed and waited.
"Go!" Both of them slammed their foot down on the gas pedal and their cars took off. Gaz had added better acceleration and traction to her car so she had an early lead and a bit of an advantage. Then again, it was Cyrus' game.
As they came to the first turn, shadows appeared on the ground and the two had to avoid falling boulders. Gaz made it easily around the shadows with minimal problem but Cyrus just punched his nitro button and zoomed right under the boulders and Gaz.
"New leader! Cyrus!" the machine called over the music and the cars.
"Not for long!" Gaz yelled as they came to the jumps. Cyrus went over the first large one and just before she did, Gaz hit her nitro and flew over him and several of the other jumps. Unfortunately, hidden in the jumps were nitro refills, of which Cyrus grabbed two.
"New leader! Gaz!"
"Ha! Eat that buddy boy!" she called over the sound of her virtual racecar and the thumping background music. He just smiled as she went around a turn still hot off nitrous and going over the guardrails. "Damn it! No!"
"See yeah!" he replied passing her vehicle just as it respawned and hitting his booster for the straightaway.
"New leader! Cyrus!"
The first lap was finished and the pair arrived at the rockslide area again where they both implied the same techniques, except Cyrus lost his grip on his steering wheel from the sweat on his palms, getting squashed by boulder as a result and Gaz took the lead yet again.
"New leader! Gaz!"
"That's getting so annoying I think I'll just stay in first to avoid hearing it," Gaz said half jokingly.
"Right." Cyrus went through the jumps again, but this time Gaz didn't have her boost so she had to take them one at a time. He made sure to grab another nitrous refill while he remembered.
They crossed the starting line for the second time, Gaz still in the lead and not showing any weakness in her actions. The two of them dodged around all the boulders and turned to the jumps. Cyrus, having played this map before knew the exact time to hit the turbo before the jump and did so, passing Gaz as he went down to the other jumps.
"New leader! Cyrus!"
"Guess you'll have to do whatever I say for the rest of the day Gaz!" he said over the sound of his engine.
"Guess again!" her car came out of the jumps and around the turn, then, she hit the nitrous, passing him just a short distance from the finish line.
"Sorry Gaz," he used his last boost and just before he passed her she replied.
"Sorry Cyrus." She took off like a bat out of hell with her exhaust pipes spitting more fire than a mythological dragon, and crossed the finish line first.
"Winner! Gaz, 14 to 13!" Cyrus couldn't believe it. He never lost on this map! He turned slowly, and seemed to adopt an undesirable twitch on one side of his face, to see Gaz's smug face looking at him.
"You can call me Mistress Gaz or Ma'am if you prefer." She mocked, creation had beaten creator in a fair game. It was worse than the sci-fi movies because she wasn't programmed to be better. She just was.
"Geez Gaz," he snapped, "Never knew you were sure the dominatrix type."
"Hmm, that's odd," she said ignoring him, "I feel thirsty but I don't feel the weight of a Root Beer in my hand."
"I'll get it," he grumbled and sighed from the look he was receiving. "I'll get it, Mistress."
"Good boy." She moved to the couch in front of the overly sized entertainment system. "Feel free to get something for yourself if you want."
"I'll get it," he mumbled under his breath as he went to the giant fridge and grabbed two Root Beers. "But you'll get it later."
Gaz looked through his selection of movies for something that would fit her tastes. She read off their genres as she passed them.
"Action, action, explosions, cars, girls, action," she found a black case and looked at the cover. "Ah, here we go, horror."
"Jeepers Creepers?" he said reading over her shoulder, "Not really that scary."
"Hey! Who's in charge here today?" she asked with a smirk.
"You are," he sighed as she inserted the movie, "I'll be right back."
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked as she sat on the couch, a little high on her own power. Cyrus smiled, knowing just what to say to bring her down a peg or two.
"I haven't gone to the bathroom since you came and I, to put it quite frankly, have to piss and shit." He was satisfied by her cringe, he just had to add to it. "Care to join me? I might need some support."
"Oh God! Just go and get out!" she gagged throwing a pillow at him. "Ugh, I didn't need to hear that! You will be punished later!"
"Whatever, I'm going to make a donation to the throne," he said laughing as she chucked another pillow at him and screamed in disgust.
"I can't believe I came from a share-the-stench hick!" she screamed as he entered the bathroom. Cyrus chuckled to himself at her words.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX POV Jump XXXXXXXXXXX
'I can't believe that he made me!' I think to myself as I wait for him to leave the bathroom. 'Good thing I'm in charge for today. Oh what to do? Make me dinner? No, he probably can't boil water right. Carry me around everywhere? Hmm…maybe. That might be fun. Maybe I can make him wear some weird costume. That is a must! Now what should I go for? Butler? No that's too old. Anime guy? No, that's lame. French maid? …I'll put that in the maybe section.'
I turn as Cyrus enters the room again and can't help but smile as my thoughts continue.
"What?" he asks sitting down and I put on an innocent look.
"Nothing."
He seems to accept that and turns to the movie. I smile to myself more maliciously as I go back into my evil musings.
'After that he has to do some kind of prank. But on who? He probably has some people in mind but I'll have to trick it out of him. He seems too nice to do it on his own. Crude but nice.'
The movie continues to play but I don't really watch. I'm busy pondering my creator. I have had yet to really ponder his personality fully.
'He seems to be thoughtful, thinking when he's not doing something.' I turn and watch him for a moment. 'Even right now it looks like he's trying to think of something and only going through the motions of watching the movie. He doesn't strike me as a spontaneous guy. He might live in the moment sometimes but he must always think it through quickly before doing anything.'
'He's definitely not the kind of guy I'd go for. Even if he's pretty cute.' I look away from him before I could continue thinking along that track. My mind's been known to go into restricted territory. 'Kinda like me.'
I smile at the thought and turn back to the TV. I've already missed the first quarter, but it doesn't really matter. I mean, who really watches horror movies for storyline anyway?
Time Jump
As the last scene of the movie ended Cyrus and Gaz stood and stretched the kinks out of their bodies. Cyrus looked over at Gaz at the same time that she did to him.
"What?" they both asked together, then laughed lightly.
"You first," Cyrus said lounging back onto the couch.
"Well," Gaz began joining him, "I was wondering if I was ever going to meet any of your friends soon."
"Hmm," he thought for a moment, "I could probably work something out. But was that coming from Gaz or Mistress?"
She fainted actual thought for a second before answering, "Both."
"Then I'll get on it soon," he said standing and offering a hand. "Need some help?"
"No thanks," she smiled. He turned around and not a second later she jumped on him piggy-back style. "This'll do for now. Onward slave!" she pointed in a dramatic way.
"Where to exactly?" he asked shifting her around so he could get a better grip.
"You know what, I don't rightly know. But you'd better get going or you'll be in trouble mister!"
"You have way too much energy to be the Gaz I know from the show." He said moving toward the door.
"And how old was I in the show?" she asked as they existed the game room.
"Ten," he replied stopping to think, "maybe eleven."
"Then, I must have grown out of it." She rationalized. "Now, to the outdoors!"
"Leave the drama to Zim and Dib." Cyrus said going to the back of the basement where another door was.
"Thankfully," she began with a smile, "Neither of them are here so I've got to pick up the slack."
"Wonderful," he opened the door and the two…er…Cyrus walked out still carrying Gaz.
"Not really what I was expecting." She admitted looking around, her chin resting on the top of his head. The backyard was composed of ten square yards of ankle high grass, a single car garage, some trees, and a fire pit.
"Not everything around me is a masterpiece, Gaz." He said standing still and looking up at her.
"Well then how come everything else is perfect?" he looked away before answering.
"Because I haven't told anyone about the whole magic marker thing."
Gaz looked down at him puzzled. She would have been gloating about it and probably would have taken over the world.
"It's kind of a family secret. The men in my family pass the pen down to the next deserving boy after we've had our time with it."
"You know," Gaz said resting her chin on his forehead again, "Sometimes I think you make this stuff up. How long has your family had it?"
"About five generations." He said sitting down surprisingly graceful for someone his size and carrying someone else.
"How'd you do that?" Gaz interrupted being plopped on the ground behind him.
"I have a lot of free time." He explained in a matter-a-fact way. "Stop interrupting. My great-great-great-great-grandfather Thomas was given the pen to him by a gypsy sorceress as a gift for his aid in a fire. It appeared to be a normal feather pen but it brought his artworks to life. Though, I'm the only one who's ever brought a human to life as far as I know. All the other holders were landscape painters and one was even a writer."
"That's it?" Gaz said now lying beside him on her back. "No curse or mystical warning?"
"Not unless you count what she said: 'This pen will show your works made real. But, should its power be abused, a gypsy's curse shall befall this person and all of their family for all time.'"
"You know, if I wasn't supposedly summoned by you I would refer you to a shrink." she said picking grass out of the lawn.
"Thanks," he replied looking over his shoulder at her, "Love the support 'Oh Lady Gaz."
"No problem my dear thrall." Smiling sweetly she looked back at him pointedly. "So about that party."