Christmas Angel

Chapter 2

Timothy watches Dario get out of the car and rolls his eyes when he sees Dario had left the porcelain doll behind in the car. He takes the doll and follows Dario into his mansion. He places the doll on the table near the fireplace and continues to write down orders Dario instructed him.

Dario had a repeated schedule which he followed every day. After Timothy left, he would change into his house clothes, have his dinner and get comfortable on his favorite chair near the fireplace with a good book. Today was no different. He looks around his place and though he was used to the silence, it sometimes felt haunting.

He looks in the corner of the room where at this time of the year his wife would have set a Christmas tree and would spend a considerate amount of time decorating it.

"Julie" whispers Dario and smiles. Dario and Julie married young after their parents fixed their wedding. Dario had no complaints with Julie as she was a simple woman who made his life, till she dies a very comfortable one. She gave Dario a son and raised him to be a responsible adult. Though the father and son had differences and were not on talking terms after Julie's death, Dario couldn't deny his son, Mario was a good man.

Dario closes his eyes and the only sound he could hear was the cracking sound of the burning wood. The silence in the mansion was inevitable and in this silence, he swore he heard someone whisper his name. He opens his eyes and instinctively calls out "Julie?"
He was taken back to why he would call his dead wife and to add to it, why would he hear her call for him.

Dario looks beside him and sees he had finished his glass of wine and realizes he had two glasses tonight. Passing the empty wine glass he sees the porcelain doll. He creases his eyes and gets off the chair and heads to his room to get some shut-eye.

Dario was not a man who would get frightened easily or someone who could be manipulated to think he was losing his mind. But when he heard his name called for the second time tonight, he did feel an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. He sits upon his bed and then hears some sounds coming from downstairs.

Dario walks cautiously towards the fireplace which was still burning and sees someone sit near it on the floor, warming their hands from the fire. Dario inspects the person and it was a girl wearing only a short chiffon white dress. She was barefoot and her long hair left free behind her. He could see her white pale skin and though he couldn't see her face, he knew who it was.
"Julie" calls Dario and the girl turns to look at him and smiles.

Dario stumbles back and sits on his chair and couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was his wife Julie but she looked like the 20yr old he had seen for the first time almost 40yrs ago. 
"Who are you?" Asks Dario.
Being the practical person he was, he wouldn't believe it was his dead wife as a 20yr old sitting in front of him.

The girl smiles and says "I am an angel"
"Really? What are you doing here?" Asks Dario not buying her lie.
"I don't know. They sent me here" says the girl and crawls to Dario and kneels in front of him.
"Who sent you here? Wait, how did you come in?" Asks Dario.
The girl giggles and says "I don't know"
"You need to leave before I call the cops" warns Dario.
"I don't want to go. It looks so cold outside. It's warm inside" says the girl and stands up to sit on the chair opposite Dario's, snuggling into the chair just like Julie did.
"GET OUT" lashes Dario not wanting to believe this girl could be Julie.
"No," says the girl and picks a picture from the side table beside her. It was a family picture in front of the Christmas tree.
"Who is this?" Asks the girl.

Dario doesn't answer but continues to admire the girl not believing how similar this girl looked like Julie.
The girl looks up at Dario and says "tell me. Who is this?"
Dario takes a deep breath and says "that my wife and son"
"She is so beautiful and you look so handsome in this. And look at that baby, it's so cute" says the girl.
"It's an old picture. He is all grown up. He is a man now" says Dario.

The girl continues to share the picture and Dario at her.
The girl then looks at the corner of the room and says "is there where you took the picture? Was the Christmas tree decorated in that corner?"
"Yes," says Dario.
"It's close to Christmas, why haven't you and your family brought the tree yet?" Asks the girl.
"I live alone. My wife passed away and my son doesn't stay with me" says Dario and sees the girl give him a sad look. She gets up from her place and sits on his lap and hugs him.
"Don't be sad" says the girl.
For a minute Dario felt like Julie was hugging him but he knew it was not possible. He pushes her away and holds her arm. He walks to the main door, opens the door, and pushes the girl out.
"Stay out. I don't need pity. I am satisfied with what I have" says Dario.
"But are you happy?" Asks the girl and Dario had no answer. He shuts the door close and takes a step back expecting the girl to plead to open the door. But when he didn't hear any plead, he walks inside and pours himself a drink. The sour liquid warmed his insides and relaxed his nerves.

After finishing his drink he was about to go to bed when he turns to the fireplace and freezes. The same girl was seated near the fireplaces warming her hands.
"Told you it's cold outside," says the girl.
"How did you get in?" Asks Dario dumbfounded.
"I guess I can," says the girl.
Dario was beyond shocked and a little creeped out but he couldn't let this affect his rational thinking, so he asks "what do you want?"
"I don't know. I was sent here for a reason, help me find out and I can go back" says the girl.

Dario takes a seat on his chair and asks "what's your name?"
"I don't have one. You can call me anything. I like the name Julie" says the girl.
"No that's my wife's name. You are not my wife though you look like her" says Dario.
She smiles and says "I look like your wife?"
"Yes," says Dario and turns to look at the photo frame with the family picture. He then notices he had the porcelain doll on that same table. He looks around everywhere and then back at the girl.
Dario thought to himself if he was honestly losing his mind cause he had started to believe the porcelain doll had come to life as an angel with his wife's face. But was it possible?

Dario King.