(Location Unknown)

She knows that she had been asleep for a long time.

The dreams comforted her. They provided comfort when nothing else could.

And now she was conscious again.

The waking emptiness gnaws at her with every passing moment, hollowing her into an aching numbness. She knows she is not there, yet she is.

Why?

Before she could drift back into her slumber, she felt something.

It was familiar and she could feel the slightest flutter of something inside her. It rose and swelled, filling with her a sensation that she had not known in ages.

'Hope', she thought. Hope was what this was called.

Could she be selfish once more? Steeling her nerves, she decided she would.

She clawed at the black void around her; and for the first time, she opened her mouth and screamed.

"SOMEBODY! HELP!"

Somewhere, close yet far, someone had heard her plea. Red eyes widened as Carmine broke into a sprint.