Gems Being Dorks

Haunted Houses (Pearl)

//in the spirit of Halloween, I'm going to post this first! There will probably be three parts, unless people want a chapter with Lapis and Peridot. This part is in Pearl's point of view.

Setting: Steven is fifteen now, and decides to take Connie and his moms to a Halloween Carnival. He should've known better than to show them the haunted house though...

Pearl looked around and rubbed her arms; not out of cold, but from nervousness. She had never taken part in the human tradition of 'Halloween', so she didn't know what to expect. Steven told them all to dress up, so she had shown up as a ballerina.
Steven was dressed up as a lion and Connie was dressed up as a hero from a book; at least their costumes were acceptable, unlike most. Most of the girls had skirts that were too short, and most of the boys wore ridiculous masks. Steven got excited when he saw a certain building, pulling Pearl and Connie to it.
"I'll just wait outside." Connie said, pulling away. "I've seen enough of that kinda stuff for a lifetime."
"What kind of stuff?" Pearl asked, then tilted her head. "Steven...?"
Steven nodded at Connie, then grinned at Pearl. "Oh Pearl, you just have to come! It's a" he put on a spooooky voice, "haunted house! OoOoOo!"
Pearl frowned and bent down slightly, her hand on Steven's shoulder. "Aw, Steven, there is no such thing as ghosts."
Steven and Connie both laughed and Pearl was confused, certain that she was missing something. She only noticed that Steven had pulled her inside when the lights suddenly went out.
She blinked and was about to project light from her gem, when the lights came back on. There was a man with blood running down his mouth, and Pearl gasped and turned to Steven. "Steven! Is he okay?! I-"
"Relax Pearl!" Steven smiled. "It's all for fun."
Pearl was reconsidering this 'Halloween' thing. It appeared to be a holiday of self mutilation, and she didn't want Steven to have any part in that. She was about to turn around when she realized that Steven was walking through a door, following the rest of the group. The room they entered was dirty, and Pearl shivered again in disgust, wanting badly to clean it up. There were sections of floor to ceiling chain link fencing, but the enclosures appeared to be empty. Then, the lights began to flicker slowly and turn red, shapes emerging inside the enclosures. Mangled bodies threw themselves at the fence, trying to get free, blood flying from their lips as they snarled. Pearl gasped and took a step back, only barely hearing Steven's comment of, "The zombies are so cool this year!"
She sped walked through the next door as the group moved on. She willed herself to be strong, and imagined what Rose would think of her if she saw her now. That put a bit more confidence in her step; until the next room.
Which wasn't a room at all. It was outside! Pearl smiled at Steven. "What a short, yet exhilarating experience."
"It's not over yet! Get ready to-" The sound of a revving chainsaw approached from behind. "RUUUN!"
Pearl's eyes went wide and she turned around, seeing a running figure approaching. She pulled out her gem weapon, determined to buy Steven some time; and she jumped when Steven grabbed her arm.
"Pearl, no! It's a costume, you know, for fun." He pulled her along and her weapon disappeared. "Hurry before he catches up!"
Only now did she notice that Steven, and most of the others in the group, were laughing as they ran.
'What kind of fun is this?!' She thought incredulously.
When they left the haunted house, Pearl too confused to pay much attention, she stopped Steven.
"Steven, what was the point in doing that if none of it was real?" She asked.
"Well, it's fun to pretend it's real. Even when you know it's not." Steven explained, then grinned. "And the chainsaw actually was real, it just didn't have the blades on it."
Pearl went pale and Steven suddenly looked concerned. "Um, Pearl? Are you okay?"
She ran towards the line to the haunted house, turning to Steven and calling, "I have to go back through! Doesn't he know how dangerous running with a chainsaw is?!"

             Next Halloween

"Pearl, wait up!" Steven called as Pearl made a beeline for the haunted house. This year she was a punk rocker and Steven was dressed as Tiger Millionaire.
"I'm sorry Steven." She let him catch up. "I just want to see what they're doing this year!"
Steven grinned and stood in line with her.

All throughout the haunted house, she marveled at how realistic everything was. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was agape in wonder. She leaned close to a 'surgery patient' who was screaming as her arm was 'sawed off' by a 'mad doctor'. She giggled and went from room to room in this fashion, and when she found herself in a long hallway being chased by a guy in a hockey mask, she laughed loudly as she skipped just out of reach.
"Haha, oh my, Mr. Masked Man! Didn't your mother ever tell you not to run with sharp objects?" She giggled like a school child and ran to catch up to Steven.
She met him outside and grinned widely. "This year was great!"
Steven nodded in agreement and went to meet Connie at the Ferris Wheel. Pearl got back in line, awaiting her next turn.