Page 8: — The dark lady

A long dark space with dim figures and shapes on either side.  A pool table at the back is brightly lit, and a figure in a black cloak, hooded, wearing high heeled boots, is leaning over it to take a shot.  The pose is dramatic, her pool cue is metallic, and only the cue ball is on the table.  This is the dark lady — at no point in the book is her face visible. 

A booth in a dimly lit bar.  Scarred table surface.  Alma's face is well lit, very pale, almost white, frightened.  A few veins are drawn on her neck again and she looks as if she might faint.  The dark lady's face is hidden by the hood of the cape.  The fingers that can be glimpsed emerging from her sleeve to hold the stem of the wine goblet is skeletal — just bones (although this is not too obvious at first glance).  Both wine goblets are polished silver.  Alma's has fallen over and the wine has made a puddle on the surface of the table, but its color and consistency look more like blood than wine.