Embers

A cautious beast, rigid conviction.
Scouts from trees before each action.
Clearest view of her position,
Quivers with anticipation.
Searing cold fire, restrained passion.
Struggles to silence such attraction.
Surrender bends until it's fractured.
Adventure can summon disaster.
Watchful steps forward, now he has her.
Lambent embers draw her closer.
And she prays this means he chose her.

Spire

~~ Second Class

Ivy’s conflagrant blue eyes glowered petulantly down at the gargantuan needle the malevolent nurse from hell was sticking her with, “I hate this place. How many days will it take of drawing blood to figure out that I’m not Catwoman?”

The elderly woman put a cap on the last vial and placed a small bandage on her arm before responding, “You’ll be one of the first to die this term, I think.”

Parker entered the sterile room and nodded dismissively at the nurse, who bowed and left without a glance back. “Still making friends, I see?”

“Must be charisma,” Ivy leered.

“These vain attempts to put me off with that noxious attitude must be frustrating for you,” Parker sympathized.

“Thanks for the girl talk, guy. But I’ll take a rain check on eating cookie dough in our pajamas,” She hopped off the doctor’s table. Parker was a full foot taller and twenty years older than she. Uninhibited insolence and aggression were all she and her brother demonstrated.

“I fear the defiance which drives you now will soon fracture your sanity. It’s tragically common for despair to overwhelm those such as you once they’ve adjusted.” Parker adjusted his extravagant silk tie and insouciantly handed her a straight razor.

Ivy blinked, stunned.

Isaac blocked a wayward haymaker from his mutually reluctant sparring partner and glanced at the instructor with uncertainty and disdain. Focus was a fickle bitch since the security personnel separated him from Ivy. More matches tanked than won, more professors pissed than pleased, and more restless nights than sleep. Grueling as physical drills were, they were eminently more pleasant than the excruciating experimental punishments he’d undoubtedly be forced to endure again if he refused. Memories of the last bone marrow extraction the facility surgeons had given him were sufficient motivation to get his head in the game.

A rush of self-preservation adrenaline sparked reflexes he’d never previously been aware of. Isaac’s opponent was afraid, clumsy, and weak. A quiet voice in the back of his mind asked what Ivy would think of the beast astir within him. But the question was soon drowned out completely by the cold truth: if he did not exhibit ample savagery in front of the instructor, he’d never see his sister again.

Infernum

Mangled by swift undertow,
Agonized screams thunder below.
Each pair of hands claw desperately,
Shredding whatever they can reach.
Determined to rescue the drowning;
I sought to end their hopeless howling.
A ladder built of my own home
Shattered beneath dead weight of some.
Then every soul who clutched my rope
Fashioned a noose for their own throat.
Despair brewed by futility
Infect my wounds with entropy.
I dive into the sea of strife
No magnanimous sacrifice.
My own heartbeat a hollow memory,
I hear death approach behind me

Please

Glimpse my innate savagery
Find the predator I sheathe
Recognize what lies beneath
Illusions of stability,
Shrouding traps under our feet.
Save me from my demon, please.
The soulless nightmare no one sees.
Every lie that I've believed,
Regretting when I was naïve,
Now drench my soul in misery.
Haunted by the withered dreams,
The future I will never reach.
Someone to know the truth of me,
And numb my fear with loyalty.
The date my pain has finally ceased,
When this world releases me,
A guardian I ache to leave,
To stand beside any who grieve.
Who'd tell my son fond memories,
And everything my boy may need,
To reunite us in his dreams.

Spire ~ First Class

Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus

(No God Can Stop A Hungry Man)

"What goal must you achieve before you will rest peacefully?" Parker steeled himself for the usual blank stares as he posed the pivotal inquiry to yet another group. The unlikelihood of coming across a human being with the foggiest clue of what they really needed out of life was something the thirty-five year old mentor had accepted some years ago. 
"Do none of you have the self awareness to answer this age old question? You will never find abiding happiness, bliss, or any sort of peace in this life if you don't figure it out," He studied each of the individuals he had been paid to mentor with an analytical eye, "It cannot be denied that the passionate seem to be cursed by an overwhelming intrinsic thirst. A thirst which, if not sated, steadily drives them to madness and despair."
"You're asking what we can't live without?" A scruffy young man with short brown curls voiced uncertainly.
"Of course not. You can't learn anything about yourself pondering that," Parker chuffed. "Everything in existence knows what it must have to survive. Don't waste your time or thoughts on questions already answered."
"But what if the answer you have isn't the right one? Shouldn't you question everything?" The expressive sapphire eyes of a startlingly lovely blonde burned into him from the front row. 
"Not yourself or what is required to reach your ultimate ambition," Parker's lips twitched into a rare smile. Perhaps this year wouldn't be as tedious as the others.
"Unless it interferes with your morals, right?" A petite brunette's eyebrow raised sardonically.
This was the first ostensibly  dynamic class he had ever been assigned; Parker struggled to reign in his increasingly evident level of intrigue. "Absolution and ethics are rarely a complimentary team and never make fast friends. My job is to teach you conviction not salvation."
"Look, dude... I appreciate long-winded preaching by a pretentious prig as much as the next guy. But it is way past the point when you should have told us what the hell we are doing here." Familiar sapphire eyes glared at him from a lanky blonde male's face.
"You are here because you all have several things in common. The obvious being that you are all fraternal or identical twins, not to mention many traits that this institution values highly. The classes you'll all be taking here are designed to train every skill required to tear this world apart. If you comply, you will each leave this building in one year more powerful than any other individuals on earth." Parker explicated quiescently.
"And if we don't comply?" All twelve voices asked in unison.
Parker gazed upon them piteously, "Unfortunately you will have to be killed. Procedure and all. I'm sure you understand."
Attractive young faces became masks of horror and rage.
Parker smiled pleasantly, "Class dismissed."