Count The Shadows (Prequel to Test the Limits)

Eyes Everywhere

Eight years passed in a blur for Anti since every day was the same routine, even on holidays.

Wake up.

Eat.

Kill someone.

Make a new scar.

Eat.

Play video games with Dark.

Eat.

Sleep four hours.

Repeat for the rest of Anti's life.

The one thing he always looked forward to was when Dark would take Anti to the arcade room and play games, or sometimes just watch a movie and talk while eating junk food that Dark would sneak out and steal from the stores above them.

Yet there was always something Dark seemed to be hiding from Anti.

He never mentioned relationships or anything about family, although Anti wasn't sure why. Anti was an open book compared to Dark, who was more like a locked diary.

The only thing Anti knew about Dark's past was that his dad had been in the military, but died in action. But that was when he was dying by a bullet to the chest. Now there was a faint red scar that looked similar to the other scars that marred his torso.

"You okay?" Dark's voice brought Anti back to reality. They were sitting on the new black cloth couch Dark had gotten yesterday with the money from the last job they did yesterday watching a Marvel movie. It was midnight according to Anti's phone, even though it didn't really feel like it. He had begun to lose sense of time since he spent most of his life in the tunnels.

"Yeah, just...thinking." Anti shrugged, pushing the thoughts back into the corner of his mind.

"About?" Dark pressed, his black and red eyes glittering with curiosity and mischief. Even though the contacts disguised his real eye color, they could t cover his emotions as well as Dark thought.

"I don't know much about you, yet we're best friends." Anti mused.

"Well I don't know about best friends." Dark joked, flashing Anti the genuine smile Anti loved seeing. Dark would look like a kid again, even though he was twenty-six and Anti was twenty-five.

"How about this. I ask a question, then you can ask one. You also have to answer it, no matter what." Dark paused the movie, shifting on the couch so he could face Anti.

"Fine by me." Anti smirked, already knowing what he wanted to ask. He had plenty of questions.

"Alright. I know about your dad, but what about your mom?" Dark started.

"Dunno, she left as soon as I was born." Anti stated nonchalantly.

"What about your mom?" Anti countered.

"She lives in Korea, she used to call me her light when I was little." Dark smiled fondly at the memory.

"Why are you called Dark then?" Anti blurted.

"Not your turn yet." Dark reminded him with a light chuckle.

"Now, what's a dream you have?" Dark questioned.

"You're not going to make fun of me, right?" Anti hesitated.

"Of course not, this is a safe place here." Dark assured him.

"I want to be a doctor or a therapist and help people...that's why I joined in the first place. Infelix promised me he'd give me the degrees I would need." Anti explained.