Mary Dowd

Virginia Doyle (Mary Dowd) - A girl who attended Spence alongside Sarah Rees-Toome, and was the creator of the diary of Mary Dowd, a diary which was instrumental to introducing Gemma, Felicity, Ann and Pippa into the Realms. She and Sarah were the best of friends, and journied together to the Realms alongside Eugenia Spence, one of the elders of the Order. After some time in the Realms, Sarah began going by the alias Cerce

Aftersome time, Sarah's power began to weaken and she feared her power would disappear altogether. She could no longer summon the door of light. This terrified her into going to extreme lengths. She spoke with the dark spirits in the WInterlands, and they told her power would be granted to her with a sacrifice.

Sarah and Mary together brought a young gypsy girl, Carolina, to the third floor wing where they summoned the creature from the Winterlands. Though Mary was terrified, she followed through with the demand set before her and Sarah in order to gain more power. She smothered the girl unknowing that the creature wanted her alive. As a result the creature was not pleased and demanded payment claiming Sarah for the Winterlands.

Eugenia came running to the girls rescue, sacrificing herself in place of Sarah so they would live. She closed the Realms as a fire spread throughout the wing. The girls faked there deaths. She moved on changing her name to Virginia.

She in adulthood becomes Gemma's mother. On Gemma's sixteenth birthday, Virginia is confronted by a shadowy spirit and consequently commits suicide. This action sends Gemma to Spence Academy, where she learns the truth of her mother's history by reading the diary of a girl named Mary Dowd. Mary is part of the Order along with her friend is Sarah Rees-Toome. After a fire destroys the Eastern wing of Spence Academy, Mary adopts the name of Virginia and eventually marries John Doyle.