A birthday/request story for one of my best friends, newbienovelistRD. Here you go, Amiga! Happy Birthday! :)

Scooby-Doo belongs to Hanna-Barbera. I only own Rachel and Sasha.

A Mischievous, But Friendly Ghost

Rachel's silver and black Camaro gleamed in the sun as she drove down the road, her sister Sasha in the passenger seat beside her. "We'll be there soon," the older girl said with a smile. "I was wondering what to do this weekend when Phanty called with the invitation."

"Yeah," Sasha said with a smile, acting excited about spending the night at Phantasma's house, but deep down, she was terrified due to her easily being scared by ghosts or spooky stuff.

And she was equally terrified of Phanty's father, the Phantom.

Now, she wasn't scared of Phanty as the ghost girl was very nice and sweet, even if she was a ghost, but Phantom looked scary and was a master of scaring people.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the mansion where the father and daughter lived and the gate opened for them, as if it expected them. Rachel drove through carefully. "Thank you," she said politely and the gate groaned in response. Sasha jumped a little and shivered, just managing to compose herself in time as Rachel drove up to the house and put the car in park. The front door opened and a white blur came flying out, tackling Rachel, who laughed as she caught her balance and hugged the energetic ghost girl. "Hey, Phanty."

"Hey, Rach! I've been waiting ages for you guys!" Phanty giggled. "Well, not ages, but you know what I mean."

Rachel chuckled. "You're excited about tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah!" The ghost girl said before going over to Sasha and hugging her. "Hi, Sasha!"

The brunette smiled as Phanty's excitement was contagious. "Hey, sweetie," she said. "I hope we're not late."

"Oh, no. Not at all," came a deeper voice. Sasha barely held back a gasp as Phantom appeared and smiled warmly. "Welcome, girls."

"Hey, Phantom," Rachel said, hugging him.

"Hi," Sasha said, pleased that her voice didn't give away just how terrified she was.

Phanty took both sisters by the hand. "Come on! I'll show you to your room!" She said happily.

The girls smiled and were surprised when Phanty opened the door to the guest room. It was very clean, almost like the maid had cleaned it. There was no dust or cobwebs and the bed looked comfy. "We figured you girls would be a bit more comfortable if the room didn't look so ancient," Phantom said kindly. "I know most humans are fond of sleeping in a cobwebbed room."

"Oh, Phantom, you didn't have to do that," Rachel said with a smile. "But thank you all the same."

"Yes, thank you," Sasha said, very glad that the room didn't have cobwebs.

The doorbell then rang. "Pizza's here!" Phanty exclaimed happily, flying down to the door. Moments later, a scream echoed, making the sisters jump and Phantom smile.

"That's my girl," he said proudly.

Rachel looked out the window and saw the pizza boy was running for his life, but when he tried to scale the gate, he got caught. "Oh, dear, he's caught," she said.

Phantom chuckled. "No worries. Watch."

He raised one hand and it seemed the boy floated upwards before he was gently set down on the other side of the gate. He scrambled up and ran for the car, shrieking when Phanty showed up and cackled, but it seemed the ghost girl put something in the front seat. However, the pizza boy took off in a flash. Sasha didn't blame him in the slightest.

Phanty then came up. "Humans are so funny sometimes!" She giggled. "I gave him the money for the pizza and he turned white as a ghost!"

Phantom chuckled. "We seem to get some jumpy pizza delivery people sometimes," he said.

Rachel chuckled. "Tell me about it," she said, recalling a few times when the pizza delivery people would get scared off by her family, though one boy ended up staying and becoming their friend.

Sasha was quiet, but hoped the rest of the night would either be scare free or have mild scares, but something told her that wouldn't be the case.

A couple hours later...

Phanty suggested they do s'mores in the living room and Rachel was helping her set things up while Sasha was still trying to stay calm and not be scared, pleased with herself so far for keeping herself composed.

"Oh, Sasha~," a deep voice cooed hauntingly.

She froze in place, looking around, recognizing the deep voice to be Phantom. "Yes?" She said in a small voice, but didn't squeak.

"Sasha~," he cooed again, his voice echoing a bit.

Swallowing, she backed up, bumping into a table and turning to find not only the table floating, but also a candlestick and a few books too. As the books began to fly around her in a circle, Sasha's resolve broke and she let out the loudest scream she had ever let out. "Leave me alone!" She cried out as she ran away. Phantom appeared in front of her and she dodged to the side with a scream, running out of the room.

As she kept running, hoping to make it to the guest room safely, she kept running into Phantom, who reached for her, but she screamed again, spooked by his sudden appearance and running even faster to escape, yet no matter where she ran, he was there and reaching for her each time.

Phantom was now growing very concerned as he saw Sasha was near tears and he was trying to catch her, but she ran away each time and screamed. He fell into thought for a bit before finally diving down into the floor, waiting for the right moment to spring up in front of Sasha. As she ran down the hallway where he was hiding, he waited until she was right over him before he sprung up, catching her in his arms and holding her securely before covering her mouth with one hand. A muffled scream escaped her and a few tears fell down her face. "Oh, Sasha," he said sympathetically, picking her up and flying into his room, which was nearby. Shutting the door and locking it, he gently set the girl on his bed, letting her go and she curled up into a ball, shivering fearfully. "Shh, calm down," the ghost cooed, rubbing her back gently.

After a bit, she looked up at him and he gently wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry, Sasha. I couldn't resist a good scare, but I didn't expect to scare you that badly."

She sniffled. "What do you mean?" She asked, a little surprised that he would admit that.

"I like a good scare, but not when it leaves one of my friends in tears," he said, stroking her head soothingly. "But...you were already scared before I began haunting you, weren't you?"

She was about to say 'no', but the look on his face told her he wasn't fooled. She nodded with a sigh. "Why were you so frightened, Sasha?" He asked gently.

She sighed again. "I'm still scared of ghosts," she admitted. "Though I've met some friendly ones. And...I was terrified of you."

Phantom felt even more guilty about scaring the girl so much. "I know how you feel," he said gently, watching as she sat up, her head resting on her bent knees. Smiling gently, he grasped her chin, being gentle as he turned her face to look at him. "I'm not mad, Sasha."

She sniffled again and felt him wipe away some leftover tears. "I might be mischievous, but I'm not a bad ghost, my dear," he continued. "I want to be your friend and not have you be afraid of me."

Sasha looked at him, a bit surprised at the confession. "Why would you want to be friends with someone so jumpy?" She asked.

"To help you be less afraid," he said. "And I know just how to do so."

She cocked her head to the side. "How?" She asked.

He grinned and reached for her. "Curious to know?" He asked, his grin growing.

Sasha swallowed hard, seeing him slip around behind her and she would have turned to look at him, but felt hands gently turn her shoulders so that she was facing forward. "What are you going to do?" She asked, squeaking when hands rested on her sides.

"Brace yourself, my dear," Phantom whispered in her ear before his fingers wiggled into her sides. Squeaking and giggling, Sasha fell over on the bed, squirming to get away, but when hands squeezed her knees playfully, she gave a louder squeak before bursting into laughter as fingers wiggled all over her lower legs and feet. "My, my. What a ticklish little one I have in my grasp."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOHOHOHOP!" She pleaded.

"Not yet, little one," the ghost chuckled. "Hmm. I wonder where your worst spot it."

He let go of her feet and moved to her stomach, tickling her there. Sasha burst into more laughter instantly and squirmed to get away, but the ghost playfully pulled her back to him, still tickling her stomach before he gently lifted her shirt up just enough to expose her stomach and blew a big raspberry right over her belly button.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sasha laughed out, squealing again as Phantom wiggled a finger into her belly button.

"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" He cooed to her before tickling her neck and underarms, making her laugh and try to curl up, but he easily slipped past her defenses, smiling as she laughed. After a bit, he noticed that her face was getting red, meaning she was at her limit. Chuckling fondly, he stopped tickling her, watching her as she curled up and took some deep breaths.

Sasha lay still for a bit as she tried to catch her breath, giggling as fingers playfully wiggled into her shoulder blades. "Are you still afraid of me, Sasha?" He asked her.

She continued giggling and quickly got up, to which he let her. She took a moment to regain her composure and looked at him, smiling. "No," she said. "Like you said, you're not a bad ghost."

"Far from it, my dear," he said, gently grasping her chin and rubbing his thumb soothingly over her cheek. "I may like to pull a few scares, but I'd never harm my friends."

She smiled, feeling much better. They then heard giggling and went downstairs to find Phanty in a fit of giggles as Rachel had somehow gotten stuck behind the back of the couch. It looked like she had leaned over to get something and had fallen to the point where she was doing a headstand, her legs pinwheeling in the air.

Sasha laughed. "Get a little stuck, sis?" She asked.

"Yes, thanks to Phanty," Rachel said, but her voice held no heat. "Could someone help me get free, please?"

Chuckling, Phantom flew over to her and grabbed her legs, picking her up and helping her back onto the couch. "Thank you," she said to him.

Phanty squealed as Sasha tickled her, the brunette having used a special formula that allowed her to be able to tickle the ghost without going straight through her. "Okay, who's up for s'mores?" Sasha asked.

"Sounds good to me," said Phantom. "Perhaps even a ghost story."

For once, the brunette didn't mind that, knowing that she was among good friends.

Happy Birthday, newbienovelistRD! :) Hope it's a blast! :)

To everyone else: If you guys could, would you please vote on the poll on my page? Don't worry, it stays anonymous and your vote would greatly help me for the story I am looking to do. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418