A/N: Hey hey everyone! Happy Friday! Super special thanks to everyone who reviewed – you guys helped me finish up this chapter with your awesome, encouraging reviews! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own "That 70's Show" or any of the characters. This story is merely for entertainment purposes, and I am not getting paid in any way, shape, or form.

Previously:

"Steven!" Jackie called after him as tears streamed down her cheeks. He didn't turn around to face her or stop walking. "STEVEN!" There was no response. "Fine! Be like that!"

"Whatever," Hyde mumbled in his Zen-manner.

Jackie sighed, sitting back down on the couch. She choked back tears as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. This could be a good thing.

In fact, really it was a good thing. She would end up hurting Hyde when she was killed. But if they'd broken up beforehand, he wouldn't be as devastated.

And if she could get him to hate her, maybe he wouldn't care at all when she died. Maybe he wouldn't hurt.

So it was decided. She would break up with Hyde before she left.

But how could she manage to do it without dying right then and there? Breaking up with Hyde would shatter her heart into a million pieces. She just got him back.

-((*))—

Chapter 9: Haunted:

"Jackie!" Fez cried as he ran up the stairs to the living room. Jackie jumped in her surprise, but she quickly calmed down. "You cannot go to Chicago! He will just follow you!"

"I'm aware of that," Jackie said, nodding. "That's the idea."

"Jackie! What the hell?" Fez demanded. He was confused. Why did she want her attacker to follow her?

"If he follows me to 'Chicago', then he won't be around you guys. He won't be here to hurt any of you," Jackie explained.

"Jackie, we will be okay," Fez assured her. "It is you we must worry about."

"I'll be fine," Jackie lied. "But how can you be so sure that you will be okay?"

"Trust me-,"

"I was sure that I'd be okay when I went to Chicago in the first place, but I wasn't!"

"That's different-,"

"No it isn't! It's the same idea. I just can't trust that you guys'll be okay unless I leave. Fez, you don't know what this guy's capable of! He can and will kill you guys if I stay here!" Jackie shrieked.

"I know what he is capable of, Jackie!" Fez shouted.

"Then you're not really thinking about it!" Jackie countered. She sprang to her feet and threw down her purse in anger.

"Jackie-," Fez said, reaching up to touch her shoulder.

"Get off me!" she yelled as she ran upstairs.

"Fez was just trying to help!" Fez called, but then he sighed. It was no use. He knew that he had to tell someone. He knew that he couldn't keep this secret anymore. Suddenly, Hyde burst into the room.

"Fez, have you seen Jackie?" he asked. "I took a step outside to cool down and then I heard shouting…"

"Yes, she is upstairs," Fez replied. Hyde made a dash for the stairs and then Fez cried out, "Wait!"

"What, man?" He paused in his place on the third step.

"I have to tell you something," Fez said. If Jackie wasn't going to tell Hyde, then Fez decided that he would. "You see-,"

"Can it wait, Fez?" Hyde requested. "I really have to talk to Jackie, man."

"No, it cannot-," Fez began, but he was interrupted.

"Thanks, man," Hyde called down as he ran up the stairs. Fez sighed, shaking his head. That didn't go as well as he'd hoped. But he wasn't going to give up yet. He couldn't let Jackie leave for Chicago. And he'd do whatever he could to keep her here, even if it meant breaking his promise.

Hyde made his way to Jackie's room and then stood at her door, taking a deep breath before knocking.

"Who is it?" Jackie, obviously crying, asked from the other side of the door. Hyde could imagine her face and he immediately felt guilty for yelling at her before.

"I'm coming in," Hyde replied. He knew that Jackie wouldn't let him in if she knew that it was him at the door. And he had to talk to her.

"Steven!" Jackie sobbed. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "What are you doing here?" Jackie was curled into a ball, sitting on her bed. Her knees were drawn into her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She rested her head on her knees.

"Finding out what the hell's wrong," he replied firmly.

"You know what the hell's wrong," Jackie sighed in response. Even though he didn't. He only knew her excuses – he didn't know the real reason.

"Look, Jacks, I'm sorry that I yelled at you," he said, sitting down on her bed next to her.

"You should be," she whimpered. She looked up at him. "Do you think I wanted to go to Chicago? Either time?" She didn't wait for him to reply. "Do you think I want to go up there with Mandy and try to comfort her for who knows how long? You know me! I don't comfort other people! I don't talk about other people! I can only talk about me!" At this, Hyde had to chuckle a little bit. "And besides," she said softly. "I'd rather be here with you." She smiled softly, leaning her head on his shoulder. He grinned back at her. "But you know, I have to do what I have to do, and you have to do what you have to do. It's part of life. When I finish with this, when I finish doing what I have to do, then we can be together… I'll call you every night. I'm going to miss you so much!" Jackie couldn't believe what she was saying. She was supposed to be breaking up with Hyde right now, but instead, she was practically professing her love for him!

She was weak, she knew that, but she had to be – had to be strong. At least for this.

"When do you leave?" Hyde whispered.

"Friday," Jackie decided on the spot. Today was Tuesday. She still had a little bit of time to bid her final goodbyes to everyone. For good.

"And when will you be back?" he asked her softly.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I'm guessing maybe a couple of weeks to a month…" She really couldn't predict when she would die. She just knew that it would be soon.

What was she doing, she wondered? When did the old Jackie Burkhart ever give up like that? When did she ever let people walk all over her like that – especially when it involved life and death? Never.

But she wasn't the old Jackie Burkhart, Not anymore.

"Well," Hyde said, "we should make the best of our time." He grinned crazily. He leaned in and started kissing her and he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. Jackie held her breath, trying not to freak out. Trying not to scare Hyde. Trying to actually enjoy the kiss.

But she couldn't. She was too afraid of everything. Hyde suddenly pulled away.

"Jackie, what's wrong?" he asked. "No offense, but you're not all that… into it. It's like kissing a rock."

"Kissing a rock?" Jackie giggled, even though she knew it was true. "A rock doesn't kiss like this." And then she leaned in, brushing her lips against his lightly before pressing her lips against his yet a second time. This time was a little more passionate, although Jackie still felt a little uncomfortable. Steven would never hurt you. He wouldn't dream of it, she reminded herself mentally. You're in full control. You can stop any time it gets too hard. But this might be goodbye for us. She was able to calm down a little bit more after her quick self pep-talk, though she couldn't help but remember her terrible experience in Chicago.

Hyde kissed her back, reaching for the buttons on her shirt. As he started unfastening them, she suddenly pulled away, fright in her eyes.

"What?" he asked.

"Not here," she whispered. Hyde nodded.

"You're right. This was Laurie's room," he replied, shivering. "My room."

"Steven-,"

"Come on," he said, scooping her up and carrying her in his arms.

"I'm flabby!" she lied. It wasn't true, but it may buy her some time.

"I don't care," Hyde said. "You're beautiful."

"You're beautiful," he snickered.

"Please let me go!" Jackie shrieked as she fought to squirm free. It wasn't much use, though. She was lying on her stomach and the man was weighing her down on her back. "Please! I'll pay!"

"I don't want your money," he growled as he flipped her over. Jackie cried out in pain as her wrist twisted morbidly. She couldn't find her voice to speak for the next couple minutes. She could only scream in terror and pain. He began kissing her neck roughly.

"Let me go!"

"Shut it, beautiful," he sneered as he punched her face, leaving a black eye. She gasped for air – he was crushing her. She couldn't move – she couldn't' breathe. She heard a couple of ribs crack and she screamed again. "Shut your mouth!" He punched her shoulders and everywhere else, it seemed. To Jackie, the pain never ended.

She'd given up squirming by the time he ripped her shirt off. She could only cry and sob.

"Jackie! Jackie!" Hyde shouted as he shook Jackie gently. There were tears rolling down her cheeks and her facial expression was pained.

"Steven!" she cried out, and then she burst into sobs once again.

"Jackie! What the hell happened? What the hell's going on? Do I need to call a doctor?" a panicked Hyde asked, concern far too obvious in his blue eyes.

"What happened?" she asked. She had no idea what had happened. She could still feel the pain from those punches. She could smell the cheap cigarettes. She could feel the weight of his overly muscled body.

"I don't know. I was carrying you one minute and then suddenly you just started screaming and kicking and freaking out. So I put you back on the bed and you kept screaming and crying. You said something about paying, too…" Hyde said. "Are you okay? Do you need to go to a hospital? Do you know-,"

"It's okay," Jackie assured him. She knew she wasn't okay. As time went on, she was supposed to heal from the rape, but it only seemed to get worse.

Of course, it didn't help that she was still being stalked by this horrible man. She was still in danger from it. Her friends were still in danger from it. She had to keep this secret and she had to tell countless lies to cover up the secret. People were starting to get suspicious and her stalker was getting close to killing her.

She was haunted.

"I don't know what happened," she confessed, "but it was probably okay. Maybe just some post-dramatic stress type thing or something," she trailed off. Then she added desperately, "from the car accident!" Hyde shook his head, sighing.

"And you're sure you're going to be okay to go to Chicago alone like this?"

"I don't have a choice."

"Can we at least get you to a doctor before then?"

"I don't understand why it's necessary-,"

"Please, Jackie," he begged in a hoarse whisper. "I can't lose you." Those words stung her, haunted her, made her want to cry.

Because in the plain truth, he would lose her.

"I'll talk to Mrs. Forman about it when she gets back," Jackie said after a long pause. There were tears in her mismatched eyes. Hyde nodded gratefully.

"Jackie, I should probably let you get some sleep," he told her gently.

"Can I stay with you?" she asked.

"Of course, babe, whatever you want," he replied. Then he cautiously picked her up and walked slowly down the stairs, and then down the stairs again to the basement.

"Thanks, Steven," she whispered as he set her down on his bed. "This doesn't mean sex," she warned. Hyde shook his head.

"Jackie, I'm not Kelso," he said. "I won't pressure you into anything you don't wanna do." Hyde got dressed into his pajamas and then he threw Jackie a shirt. She held it up, examining it and smiling. She loved wearing his clothes. They were loose, comfy, and as an added bonus, they smelled like him. Without even thinking about it, she brought the shirt up to her nose, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes. The feeling of love and safety washed over her. Hyde rolled his eyes, but Jackie could tell that he was amused.

"Sorry," she mumbled, giggling slightly. "You just smell so damn good."

"Thanks, doll," he said with a wink. Jackie felt sick to her stomach when he winked, but she tried her best not to show it. Hyde sat down on the bed next to her, and then he lay down. "You gonna get dressed?"

"Not in here," she replied, getting to her feet.

"Why?" Hyde asked, confused. "You never had a problem with it before. Hell, Jackie, we see each other naked when we're having sex anyway."

"I can't do it," she mumbled as she walked out the door. She didn't know why. She just couldn't strip in front of him. It was strange to explain.

Was it all the scars and cuts and bruises, she wondered? Was she ashamed of them or embarrassed? Or perhaps it was the idea of getting naked for a man? She just didn't have any clue.

She pulled off her clothes quickly and then threw on the shirt. Then she went back into Hyde's room and slipped into the bed with him. He loosely wrapped an arm around her.

"Tell me if you don't like that," he told her, remembering what she'd said about her fear of being confined now. "I can let you go if you want."

"No, no, it's… it's nice," she sighed. There was a small smile on her face. "I don't feel alone if you hold me."

"Goodnight, doll," he whispered.

"Goodnight Puddin' Pop."

-((*))—

In the morning, Hyde went off to work like he usually did, and he was planning to come home at lunch time and surprise Jackie. Then he could take the whole day off and they could spend the rest of the day together.

Hyde knew that he was acting as girly and crap as Eric, but he could really care less. He was in love with Jackie Burkhart. And when you're in love, you do crazy things. Besides, he only had her for a few more days, and he intended to make the most of those days.

"Bye, doll," he said as he kissed her cheek quickly and got up from the table. Jackie smiled like a school-girl in a first romance.

"Bye, Steven."

"Aww," Mrs. Forman said with a big grin on her face. "Young love…" Red snorted, which was a huge mistake. "Red Forman!" she shouted.

"I was… err… choking!" he exclaimed.

"Why don't you ever kiss me like that!" Kitty demanded.

"Kitty, we've been married for a long time," he replied. "We're not young lovers anymore."

"Red Forman, are you calling me old?" a very scary Kitty asked. Red was frozen in fear for a moment before he answered.

"No, of course no-," he began, but his wife interrupted him.

"And by that, you mean you're going to take me out for a romantic day," Kitty said with a very scary glare. "Right?" Red caught on quickly.

"Of course, dear!" he said. Then he muttered under his breath, "damn menopause."

"I heard that, Red!"

"I said… damn metal rods!" he told her. "At the store-,"

"Save it."

"Okay."

"Well," Kitty announced, standing up. "I am going to go get ready for this wonderful day!" Kitty skipped off, humming brightly. Red sighed and Jackie laughed.

"Dad, you should know by now to do whatever Mom wants and do not question," Eric said, shaking his head. "I learned that really quick with Donna."

"I'm sure you did, dumbass," Red said.

"Well, I'm going to head over to Donna's," Eric said, getting to his feet.

"Bye," Jackie told him. No mean nicknames, no burns, just a simple friendly goodbye. Eric was weirded out by this.

"… okay," Eric said slowly. Then he turned around and just walked away.

"RED!" Kitty shouted from the living room. "I'm ready to go now!"

"Already?" Red asked, dumbfounded.

"Of course, silly! I wanted to start our romantic day as soon as possible," she explained with a signature laugh. "Let's go to breakfast, then we can go to the park, and then we can go see a movie, and then-,"

Jackie and Red both stopped listening: Jackie, because there were other things on her mind, and Red because he didn't want to have another heart attack.

"Let's go, Kitty," he said, getting to his feet and escorting his wife out to the car.

"Bye, guys!" Jackie called. And it was then that she realized that she was here alone – for the first time since she'd come. Someone had always been home – whether it was Eric, Donna, Kitty, Red, Hyde, Fez, Kelso or the occasional Leo.

But today it was only her.

"Oh well," Jackie said to herself. "I won't be alone all day. Steven will be home at five, and Eric and Donna are bound to stop by before then." She wasn't sure about Kelso, Leo or Fez. Leo rarely came over – he was usually too lost or delusional to know where he was going at all. Kelso and Fez dropped by a lot. And since Kelso had temporarily moved back into Fez's apartment during his stay here in Point Place, Kelso and Fez always came together.

She spend her morning doing the dishes, calling Mandy (but she wasn't home), and watching a little bit of TV. Every once in a while, she'd look out the windows to check to make sure 'Josh' wasn't there.

At 12:13, the phone rang and Jackie made a mad dash to get it.

"Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Jackie?" Mandy guessed.

"No, it's the Easter Bunny," Jackie said sarcastically.

"Just making sure it wasn't Mrs. Forman or anyone else," Mandy explained. "So what's going on, Jackie? I heard my phone ring earlier today but I couldn't get to the phone right away. I assumed it was you because you're the only person who calls during the day."

"Yeah it was me," Jackie said, nodding. "Mandy, I'm leaving Point Place."

"What?"

"I have to, Mandy. He may hurt Steven and the Formans and Fez and Michael and Donna."

"Come up here, then," Mandy told her.

"I can't, Mandy. Then he'll go after you, too."

Hyde walked in the front door at that moment, and although he'd planned on surprising Jackie with his coming home early, he could hear that she was on the phone. He would just wait until she got off the phone to surprise her.

"Mandy, I'm going to fucking die anyway!" Jackie shouted. "I don't see any point in calling the police! I'm going to be haunted for the rest of my life!"

Hyde was beyond confused. Did Jackie say she was going to die? Did she say something about calling the police? What was going on? Hyde felt a wave of fear pass over him.

Something wasn't right here. It hadn't been right all along. He knew there was something wrong – something more than a car accident. So without thinking, he snuck to the other side of the house and picked up the other phone.

He knew he was being invasive and he knew that he wasn't being a good boyfriend by doing this, but he couldn't help it. Jackie had been acting strange lately, and her explanations didn't add up. Maybe he would get a couple more answers this way than he could get otherwise.

To be Continued…

A/N: Looks like Hyde's about to find out some shocking news, my friends. What exactly will be said during this phone conversation? How will he react to the news he receives? BIG chapter coming up next so stay tuned!

PS: Reviews rock! XD

-Peace&Love—

Best Wishes,

FuzzySlipper19