Darkness doesn't have to mean pain. Though I will say, pain can transform a person for good or ill, it all depends on how said pain was inflicted and who the person on the receiving end is. I am no stranger to extreme pain, I am a survivor of things that should have left me dead instead of on a forum typing this post. Some of my survival was luck, but a lot of it was my sheer willpower to make it out alive. It is amazing what a human being can go through, and still survive. You can see it all the time, if you have the sight to see yourself and therefore see other people.

Pain can simply destroy and nothing else, and often it does... But sometimes, such as with people like myself, the very pain that threatened my life has actually propelled me into living life more fully. To being very conscious of my life force, flowing in and out again with every heartbeat, every breath I take.

This part of your post was intriguing for me, Underground, because I have found that it was essential for my survival to give the pain I was and still am in significance. I had to give it meaning, otherwise I would not be here. I am sure of that.

Also, darkness does not equate to evil just as light does not equate to good.