It was dark. Naught but thick blackness surrounded Ray--the very absence of sight and sound stifling his thought and reason. His crimson eyes swiftly shifting to and fro, the youth found himself searching for a something to see, hear, or merely recognize as existing. Raising his hand to reach out, a sensation poured through his body. It was the sensation of pain. Suddenly falling to his knees onto a floor that did not exist, Ray continued to look about despite the waves of inexplicable agony he felt. Somewhere within him, an irrational panic had triggered--similar to that of a wild animal caught within an inescapable trap. The movements of his eyes now spastic and random, he continued to search hopelessly through the dark.
Then came light. First it could not fully register in a mind attuned to the dark. Then, it became a blinding, terrible force--a something to be loathed and dreaded. However, as Ray shielded his eyes from the overwhelming radiance, he began to realize the pain was fading. Slowly he began to stand. And, before he could be aware of his actions, he founding himself staggering into an endless white.
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Ray's eyes snapped open. He had awakened.
