Donna Beneviento was always a special child. Loved and cared for in a strange way by her very peculiar parents, now famous doll makers.
From a very young age she developed an introverted personality, which was mainly due to the scar on her face.
This, coupled with her family's strange and distant settlement, caused the parents of the town's children to resent her, causing her to make no friends.
Reserved and shy, little Donna simply isolated herself quietly in a corner, away from all the other children, with an extremely paralyzing fear that one of them would hurt her.
Only the welcome company of her beloved doll Angie, a cherished gift from her father, made her happy in any way.
But that changed, the day a new boy arrived in town.
A Miranda's son, Jason, was his name.
The foreigner, the other children whispered, surely having heard their parents whisper it.
Jason, like her, was not liked by the other children.
But unlike Donna, who, despite her self-isolation, did care about it, did care to know why those kids were shutting her out.
He didn't really care, in fact, he didn't care, there were worse things, he said to himself. Things like losing a sister.
Jason was a fearless young man, and extremely curious. Which led him to want to meet the strange girl with a doll, which his classmates whispered about behind his back.
With confidence, he made his first attempt. Mother always told him he should make friends. Two are more than one, he told himself.
Jason would later remember that his first attempt had been a very bad one, the girl had simply rejected him outright, but not in the way he expected.
-"Leave us alone please". She begged her imperiously.
The boy immediately frowned, until he noticed the tight grip the girl offered the doll in her arms
Fear. He thought.
He looked at her again, and she sank deeper and deeper into place, squeezing his wrist even tighter.
Jason frowned again, as he gave her space, determined to try again tomorrow.
Donna was having the worst day of her short life.
In just a couple of minutes all her peace of mind had gone down the drain.
Her partners had taken her precious doll Angie away from her, and, if that hadn't been enough, they were just now passing her off to each other.
-"Please". She begged, as she tried to reach for her beloved Angie, but everyone turned a deaf ear.
A girl advanced towards her, stopping her in her tracks, and Donna had naively thought that maybe it would help her, but it was the opposite.
The girl pushed her hard, throwing her to the ground, and if that act, that humiliation had not been enough already, with a look of utter disgust, she spat at her.
-"Freak!".
Donna immediately burst into tears, closing her eyes, she began to pray to any god in existence.
Begging, pleading that, when she finally opened her eyes, everything that was happening, would have been a mere figment of a horrible dream.
She longed for everything to be all right, she begged for Angie to be in her arms.
She just wanted peace and quiet.
She wanted to go home.
When she finally opened her eyes, she could see that her prayers had been answered. But in a way she hadn't expected at all.
A boy, the stranger, was standing in front of her.
Donna, having him so close, could see his features well, managing to see that he had a black eye, but, in spite of that, he was giving her a bright smile.
In his arms he carried Angie, his beloved Angie.
-"Here. I think this is yours". He offered the child.
Donna just looked at him with haste and fear, until she saw something in his eyes, something she could only see in her parents' eyes.
Affection, understanding, comprehension, compassion. He would tell himself when he was older.
Still hesitant, he took Angie, closed his eyes and hugged her too tightly, lest he lose her again.
When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the child was still there, in the same position, with a big smirk, and an expectant posture.
Donna averted her gaze, fixing it on the floor.
-"Thank you". She said, shyly, as she slowly raised her head.
The boy in front of her smiled even more, if that was even possible.
-"You're welcome. I'm Jason". He introduced himself, now offering his hand.
She hesitated, squeezed Angie even tighter, and stared at his hand, making no move
-"Excuse me. I got off to a bad start". The boy spoke again.
-"Hi. I'm Jason". He said, looking directly at Angie.
The girl smiled, and that was enough to make Jason feel extremely happy with what he had done.
-"This is Angie, my best friend. And I'm... I'm Donna". Said the girl in a shaky voice at last.
-"Hi Angie, Donna, nice to meet you". Jason greeted.
Silence prevailed for the next few minutes, until the boy decided to cut it short.
-"So... Do you want to play?". He asked shyly.
From that day on, they were inseparable, and Jason, became her only real friend, someone who cared for her and protected her from whoever tried to tease her.
A couple of months later, tragedy struck young Donna Beneviento full force.
Her 9-year-old sister Claudia had died, and consequently, her parents had committed suicide, leaving her all alone.
The funeral took place on one of those rare summer days, when the temperature was more pleasant than usual.
The village, a product of the harsh winter, had always been a place with cold temperatures, and its corridors and nooks and crannies were covered with snow, which gave it a beautiful and mysterious aspect at the same time.
At the Beneviento estate cemetery, only a few people were present. Donna, with Angie in her arms, Jason, with her mother, and the family gardener, an elderly man who held the girl in high esteem.
Donna spent the entire funeral in complete silence, her eyes teary and her head down, clutching Angie tightly, the only thing she had left.
Jason tried every possible way to comfort her, but Donna remained unresponsive, rocked completely in her grief.
With nothing more he could do, he decided to stay by her side, in silence, waiting for her for as long as she would need.
With the funeral over, the few who were there began to leave, but Donna remained in the same position, unmoving, hoping it was all a dream.
Miranda walked over and called her son.
He took one last look at Donna, and without hesitation closed the distance between them, hugging her gently.
-"I'm sorry Donna". He said in her ear, pulling away after a while.
The girl thanked him silently, but the fear of loneliness surfaced again.
She would be left alone, with only Angie's company.
-"Donna". The child called to her, noticing her hesitation, with a small smile.
-"Remember, remember I'll always be with you. No matter what happens". He assured her.
Donna gave him the tiniest of smiles in response.
-"Promise?". She said shyly.
-"Promise". Replied the boy firmly, and with that he left with his mother.
The days passed quickly, with Donna deciding to completely isolate herself from the outside world, choosing to seclude herself in the Beneviento residence.
Left alone with her doll Angie, who at this point had developed ventriloquism
She closed the doors of her mansion, to everyone, except to one person, the only person she really had left, yes, her only friend, Jason.
Jason was the only person who visited her reluctantly, and he was the only one lucky enough to talk to her.
Years passed, Jason and Donna were already teenagers.
A determined young man entered the mansion of a busy lady, his beloved mother.
-"Mother!". The young man called, earnestly.
-"Jason. What's wrong?". His mother questioned, noticing the tone.
Immediately Jason began begging her, asking if he could adopt Donna.
Mother Miranda looked at him quizzically for a few moments, until the realization hit her full on.
This was just what she needed, perhaps this little girl could be the ideal specimen for the new direction her research was taking
The quest she had, to bring her little Eva back to life.
After a few minutes rethinking those options, she finally turned to her son.
-"Yes, son. I will".
-"Thank you. Thank you mother". Fervently thanked the teenager, squeezing her in a quick hug.
Mother Miranda grimaced slightly, Jason hadn't been this effusive, expressive and happy since... Since Eva.
Not that she was complaining, but she couldn't help but feel a little disgust, disgust at what her son was doing.
He was trying to replace Eva, or worse, forget her. And that, was something he would never allow to happen.
Donna eventually, ended up being "adopted" by Mother Miranda, but at a cost.
She forced her to do something, something she would never have to tell Jason, a secret between mother and daughter
Donna, being the innocent young woman she was, agreed immediately. At last she would no longer be alone, she would have a family, a mother, a brother.
Mother Miranda took advantage of that, and infected her with the Cadou, in a desperate attempt to revive her daughter Eva.
The experiment, Mother Miranda would say, had bad consequences.
The young Donna product of her mutation, had a side effect, the disease she had was aggravated, which gave her a somewhat childish mentality forever, while exacerbating her agoraphobia and obsession with dolls.
Donna's early adulthood, focused mainly on her favorite hobby, creating dolls, demonstrating great talent, to such an extent that she even effectively replaced her deceased family, in addition to equipping some of her creations with retractable sharpened limbs for combat purposes.
She showed them to Jason, but he never showed any sort of liking for her dolls, with the exception of Angie.
Still, there were times when the latter was quite frightening to him.
One day, when the snow covered everything, Jason came home for a visit.
A normal occurrence, nothing unusual, until Donna saw the look on Jason's face, his expression denoted his condition, he was hurt, tense, and angry.
Donna immediately thought that maybe it had been because of Mother Miranda, since lately those two weren't getting along very well.
Jason sat down at the tea table across from her, as they always did, and then, he asked the question that Donna would later tell herself was the beginning of the end, the beginning of her ordeal.
-"Why Donna?". He sounded hurt.
-"I don't understand". Donna replied.
-"Why did you do it? Why did you... Why did you let him do that to you?". He raised his tone, lowering it immediately at the end, he was so hurt.
Donna didn't understand what he was talking about, and he noticed, hell, she was so... Innocent.
And that, made him feel even worse about himself, his mother had taken advantage of a young girl who just wanted a family.
Hatred for his mother seeped back into his whole being.
-"She experimented on you!". He shouted, his voice choked.
-"And you let her do it". He added, it wasn't a question, it was a statement.
He looked at her, and that was enough.
Without further ado, he got up, walking angrily toward the door.
-"Jason!". Donna called imperiously to him.
He stopped in the doorway, turning around slowly, to look at her in complete sorrow.
-"I'm sorry, Donna. It's all my fault, otherwise... If I hadn't asked you to do that...". He closed his eyes, it hurt too much.
-"Jason. You're not to blame for anything, you and Mother Miranda are my family. She, she gave me everything I ever wanted". She replied, giving her a big smile.
Angie giggled, and then the rest of the dolls appeared around her, hovering next to Donna.
Jason shook his head fervently.
-"No. You don't understand what she did to you...". Jason replied, not wanting to look at the creepy dolls in front of him.
-"It's my fault". He added, turning around.
-"No. Don't go". Angie said, but Jason didn't think anything of it, his mind was made up.
-"Don't leave us". She begged, this time Donna, and Jason could feel at that moment, he was breaking his promise.
-"Goodbye Donna. I hope someday you will forgive me". With tears in his eyes, it was the last thing he said, before he left.
What Donna would never have believed, was that this would be the last time she would see her only and best friend.
