Darkness.
A suffocating void surrounded Damien, stretching endlessly in all directions. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He wasn't even sure if he was breathing.
Then, the darkness shifted.
A vague figure stood before him, featureless yet familiar, as if it had always been there, waiting. It reached out, its mouth moving rapidly, desperately trying to speak. But no sound came.
Damien tried to focus, to understand, but the more he strained, the further the words slipped from his grasp.
What… are you trying to say?
The figure's movements became frantic, its gestures more erratic, its outline flickering like a candle struggling against the wind. A sudden, violent pulse rippled through the void—
—and Damien woke up.
