Jacob Marley

 Marley was dead, to begin with. Seven years to the day, for sure. In that time, his spirit had wandered about, fettered by its chain and weights, longing for the ability to enact the tiniest bit of charity upon the people he once bitterly walked by. He could watch but never interfere. That is, until the 7th anniversary of his death. 

When the clock struck midnight on this day, his spirit was called forth to an ethereal judicial bench in an otherwise empty room. At the bench, a spirit suddenly appeared. Its right side was pure white and its left pure black, though that seemed to shift back and forth every few moments.

"Jacob Marley?" The spirit said in a booming and yet soft voice

"Yuh...yes?" Jacob said, trembling

"I am called the Arbiter. I make decisions for appeals, disputes, and the like in the spiritual world. Do you know why you are here?"

Jacob shook his head "I wish I could say that I did."

The Arbiter continued you "Your constant attempts to assist your old partner, Ebenezer Scrooge, caught the attention of a spirit who, unlike you, is able to rest. Though she may rest and enjoy eternity, her eyes regularly fall upon Scrooge. She spoke to a spiritual messenger, who conveyed to me something interesting. This man, Scrooge, has the means to help many. Yes?"

"Indeed, though his heart is as cold as mine was when it still beat in my chest." Replied Jacob

"The messenger informed me that, before being corrupted by greed, he was a loving man who embraced all the good in the world that he could. With this knowledge, a watcher, a spirit who observes mankind, gazed into the heart of this Scrooge. In doing so, he saw that it is still possible that this man can turn his life around and help those in need."

Jacob's eyes widened at the mere thought of Ebenezer changing. "What can I do to help? I'll do anything! I'll wear his chain upon my own, if that is what you require of me! Please, great Arbiter! Allow me to assist in the reclamation of the soul of my friend!" Jacob cried out harder than he had since he first awoke in the spirit world, seven years earlier.

"This pleases me to hear. I'll not ask anything of you so drastic as bearing another man's chain. All I ask is that you be the herald of his haunting. After you, three spirits will visit him. One for his past, one for his present, and one for what may come. You will be allowed to haunt him in the house you once owned, in which he now abides. Only there and nowhere else. You will know when you can be seen and when you must depart from him. You will know the times he should be instructed to heed, for the visitors he will meet. You will tell him nothing of me or how you partook in the procurement of this opportunity." The Arbiter banged his mighty gavel, with a thunder clap. "What say you before you depart?"

"What is the name of the spirit who also watches him?" Jacob inquired

"Her name is Fan." Said the Arbiter, before the entire room disappeared.

Jacob was back in London and he was to visit with Scrooge in mere hours. For the first time in seven years, Jacob felt something other than woe. He felt a glimmer of hope.