Previously on Always My Grasshopper

"I know of this haunted house out over on Prescott Street. Actually it's a mansion. Not many people know about it so we'll be the only ones there."

And then…

"Okay fine, but no girly screaming." Hyde said.

Thirty minutes later

The gang pulled up to the dreary mansion. Slowly each member stepped out of the van and look up at the huge home. The sky was dark and filled with clouds. Typical haunted house weather.

"Okay let's go." Jackie stated, leading the way toward the front door. The inside of the house was just what a haunted house should be. Dark, mysterious hallways; long, spiral, creaky stairs; furniture covered by dust covered sheets. Basically, the perfect haunted house.

"Wow this place is soo big." Donna said in awe.

"So do you want to hear the story behind this place?" Jackie asked, with a sly grin. After they all nodded she went on to tell the dreadful story. "So apparently all long time ago there used to be this rich family that lived here, that's a portrait of them." She pointed to the painting above the fireplace

"Anyway, the father and mother were both selfish and their son too. They spent all their time throwing parties and ordering around their employees like they were complete trash. One of these employees was the caretaker of this mansion, Mr. Snider. Now Mr. Snider was probably the nicest person on Earth and his wife was close second. But then his wife got sick, terribly sick. He spent what time he had trying to take care of her. Then one day the family sent him to go get this statue that they had bought in Chicago. He begged them to take care of his wife and to get him to leave they promised they would. But as soon as he was out of sight, they locked the door to his cabin and didn't keep their promise. When Mr. Snider came back, he found his wife dead and he changed. He-,"

"Oooh Did he become the wolf man?" asked Kelso.

"Uh no. He became evil, possessed with this anger toward the family. While the family went on with their life of parties and booze, he sat alone in his cabin plotting his revenge. Then one night, he decided it was time to play out his master plan. Surprisingly, his master plan was to tell everyone at their party that they had killed his wife, but before he could get the words out they took him outside and…" She paused.

"AND WHAT?" Her audience asked, clearly intrigued by her story.

"And they killed him. Stabbed him right in the heart and left by his wife's grave. They told everyone that he must have killed himself. That his grief was too much to bear and they went on with their lives. But two weeks later, they were found dead. Stabbed in the heart, just like Mr. Snider. The police labeled it as a robbery gone horribly wrong, but when the family came in to get the furniture they heard a faint laughing and then they saw him, Mr. Snider, walking the halls with a bloody butcher knife. (AN-sorry that this is so demented, I guess I watched too much CSI NY). They ran out and never came back. The only people who have been here were kids like us and all of them said they heard the laughing right before they saw the man with the bloody knife."

Everyone sat in a scared silence. "Don't worry guys. I've been here several times; I know this house like the back of my hand. Plus I've only heard the laughing. I never got to see Mr. Snider."

"So what do you want to do? Split up and check out the place or stay together?" Hyde asked, hoping that they would split up so he could spend more time alone with Jackie. He wanted to find out more about this place and she seemed liked they best source. Yeah like that's the only reason…shut up! Great now I'm having conversations with myself…that's cause you're crazy, crazy in love, with Jackie…shut your piehole…I wont. Not until you admit you like Jackie…but wait what? You are me. Aren't you?...Yes my grasshopper I am your leader, well actually I'm your heart and I'm telling you that is your brain to admit that you LIKE Jackie…I don't…yes you do…no I DON'T…Hyde and Jackie sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g…not listening…come on you know you wanna, you want Jackie you want Jackie, hey man I can go on forever…okay fine uh heart you win I like Jackie…Good now tell your guts to do something about it…okay then. Hyde shakes his head. That was odd…zip it lover boy.

"NO splitting up. It never works for Scooby Doo and the gang." Said Kelso.

"Kelso, that's just a show and besides think of all the fun things we could do when we're all alone." Laurie said, running her hand along his thigh.

"All in favor of splitting up raise your hand." Hyde stated. Everyone raised their hands. "Alrighty let's go then."

Laurie grabbed Kelso and dragged him off to the right, Maria and Fez went in search of the kitchen, and Donna and Eric shrugged and walked off to the right, leaving Hyde and Jackie alone at last.

"Soo it's just us." Said Jackie, rocking back on her heels.

"Yep."

"What do you want to see?"

"The scariest room you know of."

"Aww…okay…that would be the cabin. That was the first place I heard the laughing. What's worse is that I was alone when I heard it, so I ran away quickly. I've always wanted to go back, but definitely not alone."

"Then his cabin it is. Lead the way, grasshopper."

She grabbed his arm and led him toward the back door. I wander if he likes me. He sure is acting like it. I'm soooo glad he suggested splitting up. It wouldn't be as fun with the others. I really like him. I wish he'd just say something. As they reached the door Hyde stepped forward and opened the door for her. Awww he's sooooo sweet. And handsome, very handsome, and muscular….okay I need to stop thinking about him…but his arms are so strong…okay Jackie focus…ghost…yes focus on the ghost…and the cabin…okay I'm good…for now.

"Okay the cabin is just down this path." Jackie stated, walking out into the windy weather. They walk down the path, surveying their surroundings cautiously. It didn't take long to reach the cabin. Jackie opened the door and froze, remembering the last time she had been in the cabin.

"It's okay, Jacks. I'm here, remember. If you need to, just hold on to me. I'm rock solid." Hyde said, quelling her fears. She smiled and continued into the cabin. They looked around the room. It was a cute little home, a small sofa, bed, and kitchenette. There wasn't much to it. "Okay, see this isn't bad. Small but nice. Not scary."

"Right. Not scary at all." Jackie said, relieved. She started to move around the room. When heading past a table, she bumped into the corner, knocking something off. As she reached down to pick it up, she heard it. "Steven, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hyde said, looking over at her from the kitchenette. She heard it again and ran towards him, grabbing his arm.

"There it is again."

"Jackie it's probably just the wind." Hyde said, relishing in the fact that she was in such a close proximity to him. As he started to get caught up in the moment, he heard it too. It started out as a dull laugh but grew louder with every passing second.

"The wind doesn't laugh Steven." Jackie said, looking up at him with frightened eyes.

"Okay, I think we've seen enough. Let's get out of here okay?" Hyde suggested, pulling her towards the door as the laughing got louder.

"Steven it's getting closer." She exclaimed.

"Okay run!" They ran for the back door of the mansion. As soon as they were inside, they stopped to catch their breath.

"That was scary." Jackie exclaimed.

"For you, maybe. I only ran because I wanted to get you out of there." Hyde said, hiding is fear behind his Zen.

"Oh right. Hide behind your Zen. I saw the fear in your eyes. Dumbass." Jackie said, walking away. Hyde stood there shocked for a moment, then laughed as he watched her hips sway. He bit his lip and followed after her.

"So let's find the others and see if they have seen or heard anything."

"Okay. What's that?" Hyde said, pointing to the book in her hand.

"Huh? Oh, I don't know. I picked it up earlier when I ran into the table. It looks like a journal. Wait! Do you think this is Mr. Snider's journal, do you?"

They opened it up skimming over the pages. It was Mr. Snider's journal. Its pages were filled of his love, his grief, his anger. They read over a few pages until they reached the end.

"Oh my God. Steven, this was his plan. He wanted to die. HE set them up."

"I know Jackie, I CAN read, you know. Wait then how did the family die? Was it really a robbery gone wrong?"

"Maybe but uh Steven, I think he missed one minor detail. While he wanted to be with his wife, he also wanted to punish the family for killing his wife. His desire for revenge may have made him a ghost. You know ghosts stay on this earth if they have unfinished business left to do."

"That is if we believe in ghosts."

"I do, hel-lo the laughing."

"Okay good point. Why don't we go find our friends now."

"Oh yeah. Let's go."

They started down toward the kitchen. There were sounds coming from the behind the door.

"Are they?...EWWWWWW!" They ran from the kitchen just as fast as they had from the cabin. Fifteen minutes later, they were back in the living room. "I think we are the only one's not doing it right now." I wish we were. Both of them thought at the same time. They sat down and once again the room was filled with silence. Jackie snuck a glance at Hyde only to find him glancing back at her, then he looked away quickly. Finally Jackie had gotten tired of waiting for him to make the first move.

"Steven, that's it. I've had enough of this."

"Enough of what?"

"Enough of you not making a move!"

"What?"

"Uhg, you are so stupid. Look I like you…a lot, you're the only one who has been truly there for me in my entire life, besides Elsa and her family, and well okay so I haven't stopped liking you okay, actually I lied on our Veteran's Day date. I said I didn't feel anything but I did. I felt fireworks and bells, I know it's cliché but it's true. The only reason I told you otherwise was because I believed that you really didn't like me and I felt like I had forced you into dating me. Okay so maybe I'm wrong but I'm getting this feeling that maybe you do like me. And since you couldn't make the first move I figured I should get a few things out in the open."

Hyde sat in shock. She likes me? She felt something? YES, I KNEW I STILL HAD IT. Man I never should have doubted my kissing abilities. Abilities, more like god given gift or super power. Yea I'm Super Kisser!

"Okay since you're not saying anything I must be wrong." Jackie said sadly.

"What? NO! Jackie, you shocked me that's all. I…uh…ditto to everything you said earlier. I mean about the date, the kiss, and our friendship."

"What? Wait, Steven, I don't understand."

"I…uh..."

"Just spit it out" came six voices from the hallway. It seems the rest of the gang had decided to stop their "festivities" to listen.

"Jackie, I…Uh..," he took a deep breath. "I like you, too, and I've like you for a while. I did feel something on Veteran's day I didn't say anything because you didn't either. And I can't believe I'm going to say this but I want you to be my girlfriend."

"YEA" cheered the gang.

"Wow Steven, I…uh-," instead of finishing her sentence, she just kissed him. (AN-see now Jackie and Hyde are together)

After a few minutes, the new couple reluctantly pulled apart. Everything seemed to be tranquil until…Jackie screamed.

"What the HELL JACKIE!!!" said Hyde. He followed her line of site to the end of the hallway. There standing in the gloomy glow of the light was none other than Mr. Snider. Everyone screamed and ran for the door. When they made it there they noticed someone was missing. Looking back, they saw Jackie just standing there while Mr. Snider walked closer to her.

"Jackie, come on. Let's go!"

"Wait guys, something's not right. He doesn't look dead. Actually he looks older then he should be." She said, watching the man in fascination. Hyde ran up to her tugging on her arm.

"That's great Jackie. Now let's go. You just became my girlfriend and I'm not going to lose you in the same day."

"Steven calm down. I can feel it in my gut. Mr. Snider isn't dead."

"Course I'm not child. That's just a little myth to scare people away. Guess I couldn't fool you." Mr. Snider's words startled the gang. They all moved back into the living room in awe.

"So what really happened?" Jackie asked.

"Well you had most of it right. I did want to die and I wanted them to kill me so that they might be convicted. My plan worked, they did stab me but by God's good grace I didn't die. Someone else found me and nursed me back to health. I'm not sure how the rumor got out that I committed suicide, they must have started it to stop any questions that may have arisen due to my disappearance. Anyway, it took a month for me to get better. I wend back to the cabin to get my things and I found out that they had been killed. I'm pretty sure that the police were right, that it was a robbery gone wrong."

"Well if that's true then why did people say they saw you with a bloody knife?" Hyde asked.

"They saw me and must have blamed me for the deaths of their friends. I never had a bloody knife though. That must have been added one as the myth of my ghostly existence began. So far this one here--Jackie is it?--has been the only one who ever stopped to listen to my side of the story. Now, anyway, I better be off. I'm going to Chicago to get married. I just dropped by to say one last farewell to my wife. This is her birthday you know."

The gang watched as he out the door. It was a lot to take in. There was no ghost.

"Does anybody else feel like Mystery Inc. from Scooby Doo?" asked Eric. Everyone laughed.

"It's getting late, maybe we should go." Donna stated.

"Yeah let's blow this popsicle stand, I have things I wanna do to Jackie." Hyde stated.

Jackie scoffs. "Take me home you pig" she laughs.

The gang starts to head out toward the van. They got in the van and took one last look at their latest adventure.

"I guess, there never really was a ghost after all." Sighed Jackie.

"Nope, just a nice old man." Hyde said wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close as the van drove off.

Yet, if they had looked back just a few seconds later, they would have seen none other than Mrs. Snider holding a bloody knife in her ghostly hand.

End

of the chapter.

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