[hr][hr][center][img]https://s23.postimg.org/h6shths5n/virginia.png[/img]
[img]https://s33.postimg.org/bbhqu462n/funeral.gif[/img][hr][color=9999ff][b]Location[/b][/color]: the Mournweald Estate [/center][hr][hr]	James squirmed out of Alfred's grasp and actually leapt for joy at the man's descriptions. Everything he described was giving James the most exhilarating sensation. To be so close to Lady Death and yet evade her clutches? He couldn't have been more ecstatic, beaming as if Father Christmas was there - though for the Crypts, Krampus may be the more enjoyable visitor. "Ginny's gonna teach me to throw hatchets one day!" James boasted. "But...Could you teach me to throw knives? And what's a tiger?"

	Virginia opened Mary's letter carefully, her eyes flying across the page. She quickly scanned through it a second, third, and fourth time, uncertain how to reconcile the emotions rising within her. She needed more time. It would be a long journey to the Carpathian Mountains, but one that would be necessary. It was the largest geographical clue as to where to find her family - yet she could not bring James with her on such a journey. She trusted Alfred rather deeply, yet she knew that with an enemy who could write in her trained tongue, she should expect the unexpected. Every precaution should be taken in order to protect James' life. 

	And yet...If she were to appoint Mary as James' godmother, would James not lose out on the traditional Crypt childhood? Who in the Vatican would tell him stories of relatives burned at the stake? Who would teach him to dance his first Mamushka? Would James grow to become a Crypt purely in name yet not in spirit? Was such a fate better than death? Virginia could not be certain. Just the day before, it had all been so much more simple. Her parents were missing, yet they would return. Virginia and James would await them. Alfred would continue to assist them, with Ms. Evers scrubbing out any bloodstains that were produced. 

	She felt incredibly weary of all of this. There was no easy choice to be made. She had already made a rash decision, one that was hastily rectified, but what if this would be yet another choice driven by emotions and not logic? And what if it was her emotions holding her back from a logical choice? Virginia finally glanced up from the letter and regarded the messengers. 

	[color=9999ff]"I believe this letter does indeed require a more personal response,"[/color] Virginia said. [color=9999ff]"Miss Talink - You may not accompany us beyond this point. I care not what you do - yet monsters in shadows always find something to amuse themselves with, do they not?"[/color]

	"The carriage should be waiting for us, my lady," Alfred said to Virginia. He would be glad to be rid of the Talink's company. The family was not endearing to him.