"The Image of Death" by Jessica Ng

One such was a woman with short raven black hair and pale skin clothed in a knee length dress of dusty brown. She sat with eyes closed cross-legged on the floor of her balcony with only a thin shawl around her shoulders for protection from the night cold. Her name was Eos.

Behind her, the glass sliding doors were wide open and inviting; the night wind accepted that invitation and blew into them, causing the curtains to resemble dancing white apparitions. The apartment was dark, only illuminated by soft moonlight. The doorknob turned and the door slid open slowly, Eos seemed not to notice, or simply not to care.

A vague, dark creature entered the apartment. The light from the hallway seemed to bend away from the midnight visitor, leaving it in darkness. It moved silently into the shadows of the apartment and closed the door.

Eos opened her eyes slowly, looking at nothing, listening.

It crept with near silence, near silence until it knocked over a ceramic pot and hissed what strangely sounded like a curse in some unknown language.

Brow furrowing in annoyance, Eos spoke. "Leave me."

The faint sound of movement paused as it hesitated, then continued to approach her. Her lips thinned in irritation at this and in a smooth motion she stood and turned to look at the intruder.

The trespasser froze only a few paces away when she turned, near enough for the moonlight to outline its features; not that she needed the light to know what she was up against. It could only have come from a nightmare or been born from a deranged or demented mind.

It was slightly larger than a big dog, with the body of a rat covered in miniscule scales instead of fur and a neck longer than any rodents'. Upon its feet at the end of each scaled toe was a hooked claw, and from its back protruded bat like wings. Its head was arrow like, resembling that of a snake's in shape. Its bright orange eyes glinted in the darkness; spreading its wings and raising its head to full height, it snarled revealing sharp cruel fangs. A long, thin tail forked at the end lashed about like a whip.

"I am the image of Death."

Unfazed and unsurprised as if faced with this situation almost every day, she hardly blinked. In a barely civil manner, Eos addressed the creature, which then regarded her curiously, cautiously.

"I don't know you," it hissed after a while.

"No, you wouldn't know me personally, but you should know of Me. Look at me, and know who I am," with that she mentally 'flung' selected memories at the creature.

The creature shrieked in fear and cowed almost immediately. Its head to the floor and its body crouched in a defensive position. Its chest raised and fell rapidly, moonlight reflected off of its scales in blue hues. Its bright orange eyes were open wide and full of terror refusing to meet her gaze.

"P-p-pleasse…"

"Leave me."

The door swung open at that moment and without hesitation, the creature scrambled out of the room just as the door closed, narrowly missing its forked tail. The wind blew causing the curtains to again dance as she stood for a few moments longer, silhouetted by the moonlight.

She turned and fell gracefully into the cross-legged position she had taken before the interruption. All was still again. She was in all appearance a young woman with pale skin sitting on the balcony of her apartment on a bright moon's night. All, except for her eyes; eyes that mirror the pain and loneliness of a thousand years. Beautiful gray eyes framed by dark long lashes, eyes that held no life. They were the eyes of Death.