Lyra stood before the mirror, her reflection a stranger in a sea of red silk. The dress clung to her curves, its color as vibrant as freshly spilled blood. It was beautiful, undoubtedly expensive, but something about it felt... wrong. The neckline plunged deeper than she was comfortable with, the slit up the side revealing more leg than she thought appropriate. Around her neck, a black crystal necklace sat heavily, its facets catching the light in an almost sinister way.
She reached up to touch the necklace, her fingers tracing the cool surface of the stones. For a moment, she thought she saw something move within the depths of the crystals - a flicker of shadow, perhaps, or a trick of the light. Lyra blinked, and the illusion vanished.
