Incandescence

Part III: The Fury

                                    Famous Last Words

                                                    from Unsigned

I'm back. Miss me?

           God knows I did.

           What can I say? I've been around; seeing, feeling, teetering on the edge and watching the waves lap up all traces of goodness down below. It gets harder to come back to myself. Harder to ignore them as they rip at my tattered soul. I know I'm losing myself, but I no longer have the strength to care.

           Sometimes I'll listen to the ticking of the clocks and wonder what awaits us in the next life. Surely no Heaven for me; my darkness is as black as the mid-winter's night sky. It would put the rest to shame.

           But you can't talk – you're just as bad. Together we bring it on ourselves. Because we're the world's most dangerous predators, aren't we? Hunting, killing, turning on allies without a second thought. We'll cheat, we'll lie, we'll backstab. We are frauds. Cowards. Cold-blooded murderers. We'll do whatever it takes to prosper.

           To survive.

          Because that's what is expected of us.

           It

                                            our

                                                       nature.

           Once upon a time, a civilisation grew. It gave birth to warriors and leaders alike. But like with all races, it crossed the ethical line; the darkness grew and exceeded its limit. So the game began.

           And now here I am.

            Can you hear me? Do you see me? I'm right here, standing in front of you. I'm the one you think you know, the one you think you trust. I'm the one who'll rip you apart and burn the pieces when you least expect it. That's what we all do – it's what is programmed into us at birth. A deep-rooted mechanism of survival that ensures we rise above all others in our little game of life. Human nature. But someone figured out how to scratch the chip, and now the re-programming has commenced. The voices have appeared to fill the empty voids deep within. Every longing, every lust, every dark desire you tried to hide – it's making its way to the surface. And this time, it won't be ignored.

           I feel it inside me. Filling the void. Swallowing me whole. It grows stronger each day. What was once a dull flicker is rising; a vast, blinding whiteness.

           Incandescence: emitting light as our fury heats us inside.

           I'm a white-hot sphere of rage, still multiplying, ready as ever to incandesce and combust. It's burning me on the inside . . . but it's not finished with me yet. The darkness has bigger things in store.

           I once tried to warn her, you know. She is all that is good, with a radiant violet light that can never be surpassed. Supposedly. You see, the darkness hides in all of us, even her. They see her potential and they want to claim her for their own.

           I want to change things. Save her from a violent, violet end that I know is coming. But she is stubborn. Thinks she understands what she's getting into. A crying shame.

           She of all people should know there are no winners in the game of life.