[b]September 10th, 2016 [/b]

Willa left the warehouse with the envelope, pondering the implications of all the information that had just been revealed to her. X-whoever X was-obviously wanted more than to simply stir the pot, that much was obvious. But what was it that [i]Willa[/i] wanted besides getting away from her sire? The realization that she had no idea what she wanted beyond that hit Willa hard. Her life revolved so much around Stella and pain and hunger that she'd never even bothered to consider what she truly wanted. 

Willa supposed that it didn't really matter. The opportunity presented by X was her best chance to get away from her sire, and there was no in way in hell that she was going to pass it up, now that she'd made up her mind. 

Back at Stella's home, Willa entered through the back door like she always did. Stella was inside, she knew, but not likely to pay any attention to her. Willa tucked the envelope into the baggy sleeve of her sweatshirt and began to walk to the room that she slept in. Stella passed her in the corridor, her footsteps brisk and echoing loudly through the house. Indeed, Stella simply ignored Willa, like she'd predicted. [i]X wasn't kidding when they said that we are invisible,[/i] she thought dryly to herself. Willa went inside her room and took out the envelope. She suddenly felt much too drained to open it, so she carefully put it away and sat down on her bed. The room itself was not much larger than a closet, but it was all she had. Willa wondered if she should make an effort to hide the envelope, although Stella rarely ever came in. Only when she needed Willa.

Willa yawned. She was tired. Giving the envelope one last glance, Willa curled up under the ratty covers and closed her eyes, deciding to get some much-needed sleep.

​[b]September 17th, 2016[/b]

There had been no sign of Stella for the past three days, much to Willa's relief. That meant she would be able to do what she wanted to without fear of being discovered, at least for a little while. Willa had read the contents of the envelope multiple times, attempting to fill in the gaps in her knowledge of the vampire world as she did so. 

Willa knew of the barons and baronesses in name only. She was unsure of Lyssa's abilities, though she had come across vampires of Orthrus's bloodline before. She shuddered instinctively, remembering a close run-in she'd had with one of them a couple years ago. As for Lenore and Maike, Willa had no memories of encountering any vampires of their bloodlines, and frankly, she had no desire to. The plans that X proposed were certainly interesting, although Willa did not know if they would be the most plausible. However, Willa could see they didn't really have any other options, so they would have to trust X's instructions and information for now.

Willa was sitting on the ground, waiting for the sun to fully set. She idly fiddled with the small magnetic clip that had been in the envelope as well, re-reading the message. The day before Willa had fed on a couple small birds and then attempted to fix her leg that had healed wrong, to no avail. She sighed. It seemed like she would be stuck with the limp until Stella decided to break her legs yet again. 

There was also the matter of how pitifully unskilled she was in regards to her...powers, if you will. In order to feed, Willa had managed to move some of the pain out of her into the birds, though just barely, and even that made her feel dizzy and faint. Willa supposed that she needed to actually make use of her ability more often if she wanted to be able to use it properly, but she was always too drained of energy to do so. 

Casting a glance outside, Willa decided that it would be safe enough to set out. She pinned the magnetic clip to the inside of her jacket before walking out the back door, as she was accustomed to doing. Willa's eyebrow twitched, and she grimaced slightly. There was a dull, throbbing ache coming from her leg. The pain had faded a bit in the past week, but her leg still gave her trouble. She gritted her teeth and did her best to ignore it. It wasn't like she could do anything about it at this point anyway. 

Willa slowly but steadily made her way to the address X had given them back near the warehouse. It was located in one of the wealthier parts of Charleston, and in the Oracle's territory. Willa supposed that the safe house was most definitely a good thing to have, and the fact that it was in the Oracle's territory provided her with some degree of reassurance. It wasn't long before she found herself at the address X had provided-12 Paludis Drive, West Ashley, South Carolina. It was eerily quiet in this part of the city. Willa was so accustomed to the steady hum of noise from the city that she barely even noticed its presence anymore. Only when it was gone did Willa realize how it always seemed to be there. She eyed the house warily. There was nothing about it that indicated that it belonged to a powerful vampire or something of that sort, but Willa supposed that was to be expected. No vampire was stupid enough to be announcing their presence for the entire human population to hear.

The entire neighborhood spoke of well-to-do families with houses reminiscent of those found in the antebellum South. Willa felt like she was intruding on something sacred as she climbed the steps to the house. Willa came from a town where paint peeled off the walls, permanent stains and cracks littered the floors, and everything seemed to be run-down and worn-out, even things that were newly bought. And after being turned into a vampire, Willa had been living in a wealthy but modern part of Charleston, with sharp edges and sleek surfaces and minimalist decor. The charm of the Old South that permeated this neighborhood felt foreign to Willa, and she half-expected that somebody would come out of one of the houses and tell her to leave because she was trespassing on private property.

Of course, nothing of that sort happened. Willa made it to the door of the house with some difficulty, stopping once or twice on the staircase to wait for the throbbing in her leg to recede before continuing. She took a moment to catch her breath before placing a hand on the door knob, scanning the note that X had left. 

Inside the house, Willa came across a small table with a number of keys placed on it. She picked up the one that was labelled with her name, running her finger across its teeth before pocketing it. The sound of someone rummaging around drew Willa's attention to the right. She tentatively walked into the space, eyeing the area nervously. Willa decided to wait for those who hadn't arrived yet in the kitchen. She gingerly sat down in one of the chairs, wondering what was going to happen next.