Pearlnet Day 3: AU/Homeworld
The alarm clock announced the time in blinding green letters. Her eyes squeezing shut to block out the painful sensation of looking at the light, its affect made worse by the darkness of her room. 3:17 A.M., it read and she groaned. Moving into her new apartment with Amethyst almost a year ago had been exciting. She'd been happy live in her own place, but after a few months the excitement wore off. Amethyst complained about her moving her stuff, and denied it when Garnet asked her to be a little quieter when she came home from partying. It got stranger one night when the taller woman heard the noises in the living room. She knew Amethyst had already gone to sleep, turning to check that the shorter girl was still sprawled across the floor. The soft snores she made confirmed she was asleep.
A sound like someone hitting the coffee table put Garnet on full alert. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, sliding silently off until she stood crouched in her room. Creeping over to the baseball bat she kept by her dresser at her mum's advice, she picked up her impromptu weapon. She opened her door painstakingly slowly taking care to be as quiet as possible in case there was someone in their home. There weren't any lights on, no sign of a flashlight or cell phone being used for illumination. Garnet moved closer ready to strike if she needed to. Another bump came from the room and she tensed. Peeking around the corner, she saw…nothing. Her brow furrowed. Had she been imagining it?
Just as she began to relax and return to bed, the distinct sound of glass breaking made her whirl back around. They were in the kitchen. Cursing herself for not grabbing her cellphone, the college student picked her way towards the source of the sound bracing herself for what she was about to do. There wouldn't be time to go back for her glasses or phone. She'd have to deal with the disorientation for the moment. Quick as a viper she flicked the light on, her other arm gripping the bat tighter.
Again, nothing. Confused and hurting, she looked around. Did the intruder somehow escape before she turned on the light? The plate Amethyst had used for dinner lay broken on the linoleum. At least she had proof someone had been in the apartment.
"I'm sorry." A soft voice whimpered. Garnet looked up, her neck popping from the sudden movement. She couldn't see anyone.
"Stop hiding and come on out." She winced. Her mom had warned her about making demands like that. "I'm going to call the cops if you don't leave." That seemed better, but not by much.
"Oh, I can't leave." Garnet frowned. "I live here." The disembodied voice continued. It was a pleasant voice, one the woman would have appreciated in any other situation.
"No, I live here. This is mine and Amethyst's apartment, not yours." She replied, trying to keep calm.
There was a pause. The lightbulb flickered, and she made a mental note to ask Amethyst if she'd called the manager about it. It flickered again. "Mine, too. I can't leave." The voice answered. It was feminine, Garnet realized. She sighed. This was giving her a headache and not just from the bright light. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to help." It sounded weaker this time.
"At least stop hiding," Garnet tried. If she couldn't get the person to leave immediately, she deserved to know with whom she was speaking. The lightbulb flickered again and the flickering didn't stop for a long moment. A wave of exhaustion swept over her as if she'd just run for miles. She looked up, her eyes meeting a pair of light blues. The woman standing in front of her had short pink hair, a long nose, and thin lips. She wore a light blue blouse and soft yellow shorts. A thin chain around her neck held a teardrop pendent with a singular pearl. Garnet lowered her gaze to her feet. Except the mysterious woman didn't have any feet. Her legs disappeared just above where her knees should be. That's when Garnet realized something disturbing about her: whoever she was, Garnet could see right through her—literally. "Wh-who are you? What are you?"
The pink-haired girl pouted. "That's rude. My name's Pearl." The name made the curly-haired woman gasp. Before moving in, the manager had told them about the young lady who died there. At the time, neither she nor Amethyst had paid him any mind. He'd also said that the last two tenants had reported strange noises at night and of things being moved around or broken.
"You're the girl that died here," she breathed staring at the ghost.
"Yes," Pearl said snidely, "I'm the girl who died here. And I live here." She bent to pick up the pieces of glass, her fingers passing through the shards without effect. Another set of fingers started to gather the shards as Garnet joined her. Unable to think of anything to say, she cleaned up the glass and dumped it in the trash can. They shared an apartment with a ghost. If it weren't for the broken glass she'd cleaned up and seeing Pearl with her own eyes, she wasn't sure if she would have believed it.
The silence lasted for several long minutes before Pearl broke it. "I really did want to help. The dirty dishes keep getting left there and it's unsanitary. I wanted to wash them for you two." The sheer absurdity of it all made Garnet laugh. She couldn't help it; all the scary ghost stories out there, and she gets the ghost that wants to wash dishes. The ghost frowned at her. If it weren't for how cute she looked Garnet might've been concerned. Her thoughts made her laughter halt. Did she really just think a ghost was cute? A glance at the still pouting apparition confirmed she did. Pearl was cute, and Garnet wondered what she was like before she died.
"We'll put them in the dishwasher if it bothers you that much," she offered. "That way you don't have to look at them." The pink-haired woman seemed to think this over before nodding. Her hands were gone now, and Garnet could see the room behind her more clearly.
"Alright," Pearl agreed. "If you could put soap in as well, I could press the buttons. I'm tired now. Goodnight." Without further warning, she vanished leaving Garnet to stare at the space she'd occupied just seconds before. She turned out the lights and picked up her baseball bat. She returned the bat to its resting place and sank into her bed, her tired mind bringing up Pearl's face as she fell asleep.
A.N. I was really excited for this prompt and spent most of my shift today thinking about it. This idea really stuck, so I'm thinking of continuing it.