one step backward

"I will not go quietly. I am not afraid."

Her eyes open, glittering somewhere between brown and green and gold, stark in her pale face. Lips painted red as the dawn twist as she tilts her head, dark hair shimmering the rich violet of a ripe plum.

On those lips, a smile. In those eyes...a challenge.

"Tell Death it'll have to try a little harder to catch me."

And then she's gone--as though she never existed in the first place.