Insanity

There was nothing but a raging silence that threatened to drive the man into the void. For a long time, he had attempted to overcome it by humming, speaking, yelling; but his voice had been merely consumed by the silence, like a black hole swallowing his will to survive. Not that he could end his damned life in this place, of course. The walls were too smooth and soft, and there was nothing he could have used to hang himself. Slowly, the man opened his eyes and looked at his despicable cell. There was nothing to look at, only the whiteness that the walls themselves seemed to give off. Years ago, when he had been free, he had feared the darkness of the night, searching desperately for the light as though he was a moth. And like a moth, he had seen this light as a father-like figure that would protect him from the dark. Now, he knew the truth. The light was merciless, incinerating his mind and body until there was nothing left.

Light was worse than darkness.

Without light, one fears what one cannot see, but in absolute light, one fears oneself.

Yes, the man missed the darkness's embrace; the liberty that only it could offer. Not that he remembered what blackness was anymore. His world had been reduced to whiteness and nothing more. The only thing that he had left was himself... Both his worst enemy and his only acquaintance. For days, he had fought his own mind, attempting to keep himself together. But now, his mind seemed to be expanding, melting with the nothingness of his small white cell. He craved for the safety of insanity. Or... was he was already crazy?

Perhaps...

The world seemed to echo his own thoughts back at him, and the man's crumpled body stiffened for the first time in an eternity. Yes, insanity was finally here to take him and offer him the release he deserved.

A chuckle.

The man's eyes darted around the empty cell, the light rendering him more than merely blind. He licked his lips with a dry tongue, had he chuckled to himself?

Humans are fairly amusing things, do you not think?

What...? The silence that governed the room was unbroken, but the thought was not his own. It could not be. Or did it truly matter?

They select the most interesting members of their society and confine them into these rooms. And when they are ripe, I harvest them.

“What…are you?” the man asked with a hoarse and alien voice, terrified of breaking the silence or discovering that he truly had gone mad. The fear struck him as amusing, had he not just hoped to go mad and run away from this light?

I am he that comes when insanity is nigh, to offer a way away from the light.

A way out? The man closed his eyes; there was no way out.

Do not underestimate me, mortal. Offer yourself to me, and I will liberate you.

It sounded like such a simple statement that the man felt hot tears running down his cheeks. It was impossible… but yes! Yes! Anything to taste freedom!

Then come, child. Allow my voice to become your everything. The darkness will consume you, and you will become known as a demon; a tragic hero. But oh, the power I will offer you, the blood that will stain your hands.

And then... freedom came.