The entrance to the amusement park’s haunted house stood before you, looming above as if waiting to devour you whole. From deep within, you could hear the creepy music and ambient sounds that were meant to give those who went inside chills. Even from out here, it was working on you. Small kids holding hands with their parents and siblings passed you by, each one a nonverbal reminder that you were being a big baby and that this was ridiculous.
But still your feet wouldn’t move.
You felt bad, honestly. Getting Law to agree to coming with you to the park in the first place, and then convincing him to ride every single ride at least once during the day, was a feat within itself. Managing to get him to admit it was a date, even more so. Now he had to deal with your hesitation when it came to spooky things.
Law sighed from his spot leaning against the opposite wall, gesturing towards the rest of the park behind you. “We don’t have to go inside-”
“I want to go in.” You interrupted stubbornly, fists clenching at your side tightly. “We swore to ride everything.”
Your companion shrugged, head shaking as if to say ‘then why aren’t we going inside?’
His reaction prompted you to take a deep breath, squaring your shoulders, before walking up to the entrance before you could convince yourself to turn back around. Passing him by, you grab his arm and drag him after you.
The interior is darker than outside, and you nearly crash into a wall before his hand on your shoulder catches you just in time. He directs you to the secondary entrance just inside the first, and you’re both plunged into blackness as the doors close with a loud 'thud’ behind you.
The sound makes you jump, a whimper escaping your lips unwillingly.
“What?” You hear him ask behind you, and you reach behind you to grab on to some part of his body.
“Nothing…just…let’s find the way out. It’s dark.”
Your fingers find purchase in his shirt–whether it bothers him or not, he doesn’t say–and as he moves off towards the right, dragging you with him.
Even as your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, you still can’t see anything other than his silhouette and the vague shapes that made up the obstacles in the room. You didn’t like the dark. Most of your time was spent looking over your shoulder in fright.
The sounds of recorded growling played from up and around you, making you tense and jittery. Law suddenly stopped, and your grip tightened on his shirt.
“What…what?”
“You’re scared, aren’t you?” He asks suddenly.
“I’m not scared.” You huff, instantly letting go of his shirt and pushing past your nerves to walk past him in the dark. His low chuckle makes you clench your jaw together.
A light towards the edge of the room promises the direction of the next room.
Fear easing as you expect to see the end of the haunted house, you push past the door-
“Aaah!” You startle in place as the lights turn up a notch, switching from a pale yellow to a multicolored rainbow of carnival colors. Notches in the walls drop to reveal the plastic-y, sharp-toothed faces of the clown figurines that pop out to scare you.
“Clowns scare you?” Law asked, and when you look at him through the swirling rainbow of colored lights, you can see him grinning at you.
“N-no! They don’t! I’m not scared…”
“Right…” His brow raises, but his smile never drops. And with hands in his pockets, he steps past you further into the clown room. You hurry after when it becomes obvious that he is totally fine leaving you behind.
Law saunters through the creepy clown room unfazed, grinning at the way you practically cower behind him the whole way. Your eyes glare at the clowns, distrust telling you that any one of them would jump out and go towards you.
At the end of the curved room is another door, and he stops just in front of it, gesturing with an amused smile. “After you.”
“Um…why don’t you go first.” You suggest timidly.
“Why? Is it because you’re sca-?”
“Sh-shut up! Forget it, I’ll go first…” You scowl, pushing past him with the last of your nerves to open the doorway.
At first, you don’t see anything, but then as your eyes adjust to the darkness of this room again, you spot a mirror in the middle of the room. In the darkness, you can just barely make out your own reflections walking towards it.
“This is a weird room…” You mutter, approaching it cautiously. Law was just a step behind you. A low hum was the only noise you could hear over your shaking breaths. Hugging your arms, you approach the mirror, each step sounding louder in your ears than was normal.
The lights suddenly turned on, and a terrifying face screamed at you from within the mirror.
“AAAHH!” You scream, flinching and spinning in place to run the other way. Law, who was directly behind you, was caught off guard as you jumped head first into his chest. He grunts as he isn’t able to catch himself, and the two of you tumble to the ground in a pile, you on top.
“Ow…” He mutters from beneath you.
After your initial panic, you calm enough to realize what you’d done. Eyes wide, you sit up from your position on Law’s lap, but the action makes him hiss.
“Easy down there…stop moving.” He says, and you bite your lips from embarrassment. This was…a little more intimate than you’d intended to get on the first date.
“Sorry…I just…” Seeing no other way to explain it, you sigh. “I just got scared…I don’t like haunted houses, but I wanted to try it and be brave.”
“It’s alright. Although, you could have just said so from the beginning.” He says with a roll of his eyes. With a bit of awkward maneuvering, you both rise to your feet, and he brushes himself off.
You look away, ashamed for your behavior thus far, but you look back at him in shock when his fingers lace through yours. His face splits into a mischievous grin when he meets your eye.
“Don’t let go. Stick close to me, and there’ll be nothing to be scared of. Got it?”
A blush rising to your face, you nod, fingers tightening around his. Heart soaring at the feeling of his body next to yours, he leads you through the rest of the haunted house.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
