DO NOT OWN THAT '70s SHOW NOR THIS MOVIE BASED PLOT. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.
InSanity
Chapter Nine
The blare of Hyde fertilizing the apple orchard vehicularly and Marie strumming her guitar on the front porch of the old Pinciotti house could be heard from the nearby cemetery where Jackie and Eric settled, enjoying the wonderful Saturday weather. Not even the hair-raising tombstone that read 'Donna Pinciotti' could overshadow the picturesqueness of the postcard scene; the red and yellowing of tree leaves and cotton clouds against sky blue.
Jackie pressed her wax paper on the epitaph and firmly applied pressure with her hands, murmuring to herself something her company couldn't comprehend. "I can't believe you would want to come here after that silly ghost story," Eric teased while she peeled it off and rose up. "If anything, this should be the last place you'd want to be."
"Don't get me wrong, it did scare me," her eyes widened briefly, "but at the same time I think it'll be neat to have documentation of this. It's an odd legend and it's something we can share with Fez and Michael one day. We should show this to Hyde too, you know," she said while the brightness of the paper bounced off her face as she scanned the words.
Eric furrowed his brows, looking over her shoulder at the printed epitaph. "You think it's cool now but I already know you're going to ask me to sleep on top of you tonight," he called her chicken. It was his way of protecting her; if anybody were to ever try to harm her, they'd have to get through his body before hers. Jackie's eyes lowered down as she frowned, not arguing with his forecast. "Go on and read it," he nudged her unenthusiastically.
She gripped the paper, sighing before reproducing vocally the written words. "Sacred to the memory of Donna Marie Pinciotti, an Italian. Though the beloved daughter of Bob and Midge Pinciotti, she will be remembered for such elegance, grace, and selflessness so very admired by those familiar. Sunrise February 13, 1860. Sunset July 6, 1879." Jackie shrugged while rolling it into a tube. "Well that was short and simple."
"Sounds like a 'Missing Person' description if you ask me. Then again, her body hadn't turned up—." Eric stopped talking to smile as he bent over Donna's grave, coming back up with a small furry white bunny cupped in his hands that he extended to Jackie who gasped excitedly. Needless to say, he was proud of his observation, hoping it would keep her mind occupied with positivity and provide a sense of comfort when he wasn't available.
Jackie reacted as he thought she would, stroking it's fur softly and watching its nose twitch in response, casting a spell. "Oh, Eric, get a container so we can keep it! Please?"
"Sure thing," Eric held it close against his chest. "I'll get a box from the house and I'll come back for you," he raised his eyebrows warningly while walking backwards, figuring she'd not want to be alone for too long considering the new information they learned earlier this evening.
"I'll be alright. Just hurry before it gets away," she called out to his back and twisted the wax paper in her hands only to be met with boredom following the absence of him. Marie's distant guitar serenade died down too, which led to Jackie speaking to herself for entertainment while glancing down at Donna's grave surrounded by clovers and dandelions once more. "God, I can't believe Andrew stuck us with those creepy pictures," she shook her head at the thought of them hanging in the attic.
Suddenly, a familiar sound filled the air, similar to that of listening to the ocean through a seashell but for Jackie, a sound indicating presence. She slowly looked up with her mouth slightly parted and there ahead, she saw that blonde girl again; the one she saw at the cemetery the first day they moved here, wearing the same simple cream tattered dress and what appeared to be a scarf around her neck, standing with her arms far from her hips and a look of worry upon her pretty rectangular face.
The nervous brunette shut her eyes and opened them, assuming the girl would disappear as she had before but was instead surprised by her motioning to follow with her hand, leading the way with dirty bare feet. Even though her mind said 'no,' Jackie couldn't help but allow her body to gravitate toward the girl, chasing her even when she began to run towards their house and past their apple orchard, eager to know what she wanted to tell or show her.
It wasn't until Jackie was deep in the woods and the girl was missing, however, when she began to worry. "Is this some kind of game of cat and mouse? Is she trying to help or hurt me," she wondered while clutching the paper in her hand for ease. Keeping a lookout for the girl, the trickling of water down below helped calm her nerves and being here for the first time, she couldn't help but peek down. Regrettably, she saw Andrew Coffin there dead and bloody in their cove, floating atop the water by his life vest.
"I swear to God it was the antique dealer! He was lying dead right down there in the water. I saw it, I swear," Jackie cried as Eric walked toward her exhaustedly to give her a hug, his face inscrutable and lacking hope in her mental state. He had told her earlier today to tell him whenever something questionable happened but this was a little bizarre. How could blood go away that quickly in the water and a body disappear within the minute it took her to run to the house to get him and the minute it took for them to run back to the scene together? It all sounded a bit fishy. Resting her head on his shoulder, Jackie tried to convince him. "I know what you think of me but I swear, a blonde girl took me here. She's right there," Jackie pointed hastily with her finger once she saw the figure standing to the left of them in her peripheral.
The sight of the girl's presence and unkempt appearance made Eric flinch, letting go of Jackie to approach the girl who began to walk away from them. "Hey! Excuse me," Eric shouted as she started to jog towards their house to probably go back to the cemetery, moving branches of apples out of her way for an easier escape. "Come back," he called as he started to chase her, fed up with whoever was messing with Jackie.
During the pursue, Jackie followed behind Eric who finally caught up to the girl once they were in front of the house with rows of trees embellished with red fruit behind them. Seeing he had a handful of the girl's arm, she smiled. "Oh my God, you see her! Tell him, tell him you led me to the body," Jackie ordered crazily. The girl shook her head from side to side with a look of confusion which made the brunette angry, needless to say. "Who are you," Jackie shook her fragile body roughly. "Why have you been following me? What do you want from me," she screamed.
"Stop it," Eric yelled once catching onto the girl's sign language and noticing the scarf around her probably wounded neck. "She can't speak."
Jackie let go and took a deep breath, gathering herself but still pitchy in her voice while assuring, "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. When I ask you a question, answer by shaking your head 'yes' or 'no'. Now, listen carefully, did you see the dead body?" The girl shook her head side to side with the same look of confusion as before, making Jackie angry again. "Why are you LYING?"
"What's going on," Hyde asked as he walked up to the party, wiping beads of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand having heard the commotion from inside the house while trying to clean up for dessert.
"She led me to a dead body in the cove, Hyde. Now she's lying about it. Look," Jackie made eye contact with the girl who swallowed loudly from fright of the smothering crowd, "did you see anybody attack the man? Attack? Well, DID YOU?"
Eric's eyes widened as he sternly commanded through clenched teeth, "For Christ sake, Jackie leave her alone!"
In that instance, her face melted. He had never spoken to her in that tone of voice and the way he was looking at her was similar to that of Hyde. She never felt so alone and hurt in her life. "You don't believe me," she whimpered while backing up, looking at both men. "You think I'm crazy. Admit it."
The rustling of branches caused all four heads to turn in the direction behind them, Marie emerging from the trees while she tossed an apple in the air repetitively. As soon as the blonde recognized the redhead, she broke free from Eric's grasp and ran away like a bat out of hell, almost falling in a desperate attempt to flee. "What's happening," Marie asked with one eyebrow raised and a sneaky smile on her lips, not even concerned with the absent girl's reaction.
"Nothing. I was just leaving," Jackie retorted while looking at Eric before running to the house.
