Claire pushed her fingers through the dark, hanging fringe. Slowly lifting the hair, she revealed two equally dark, piercing eyes, which betrayed a range of emotions. Fear, nervousness, uncertainty, defiance - all were there, looking straight back at her.

Ringed with black liner, they at once both repelled and attracted, and for a second or two they became the focus of her life.

And then it changed. Instead of looking into the eyes of the person she perceived, she saw the girl that was truly there. In a way, she saw herself. Windows of the Soul. The poet was right. She smiled.

"Come on, let's get that black shit off, shall we?" she said to Allison, with a wink.