MIAB

Prologue: Solace In Darkness

It's been a long time since I've seen sunlight. A while since I last saw people my own age. I have been a captive for a long time. I've resigned myself to my fate. My fate is to forever live in the shadows. Why should I try to change the fate's design? I have no power over my own fate.

"Him? Oh. He's been here for years, I think."

I have companions in the shadows. My captors brought them here some time ago. I don't know how long they've been here. Two males and a female. I don't know them. Not their faces, not their names. I only know their voices. Their fates are similar to mine. We are destined to live in the dark world, cowering away from any source of light. We didn't choose this life, nor had any say in it. It just . . . happened. Destiny loves to harm people, don't you think?

"Whoa, I wouldn't imagine being here for years. It's too stuffy in here."

Years? Time was difficult here, considering I had no . . . what was that device called again? A clock, right? Night and day didn't exist either. There were no windows in this prison. I have forgotten my age, and my old life before the darkness. I was five when I was taken, right? How old am I now? I don't know how I look like now either, since there were no mirrors.

"He hasn't spoken since I got here. I don't know his name, age or how he even looks like. I just know he's a boy because the guard referred to him as a boy."

When I was young, I knew how I looked like. Spiky navy blue hair. Stormy blue eyes. Olive complexion. Now, I probably looked like a mess. My skin was paler than normal, having been in the darkness longer than normal for a human. My hair had gotten out of control, based on the way it felt when I touched it. My skin was covered in grime. When was the last time I washed? I'm hungry too.

"Brooklyn, Kaori . . . let's talk to him."

I snap back to reality upon hearing that. One of the males wanted to talk to me? Why? What reason would they have for wanting to speak with me? I didn't speak with them so why would they want to know who I am?

"Hey there. . ." The male was getting closer to me. I stiffened and cowered closer to my corner. The male stopped advancing, as if sensing my unease. "It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."

I didn't dare get closer to him. I didn't know who I was facing. I was scared to see them. No . . . I was scared of them seeing me. I probably looked terrifying. Would they try to get near me if they knew how I looked like? Would they try to get near me if they knew who and what I was or what I had done?

Footsteps. I cringed away as the door opened and a light appeared, coming from the lantern in the young girl's hands. The girl began to speak but I wasn't paying attention. After all, they didn't even acknowledge that I was still here. I was nothing but a puppet anyways. That was all I was good for. After some time, she left. But the light remained.

"Hey . . ." A male with navy-blue hair and auburn eyes called out to me. I blinked, seeing him. He . . . Why did he-? Why did he look like me? I didn't understand. He looked like me!

I gently approached him, coming closer to the light from the lantern, and he gasped. Stormy blue eyes met soft auburn eyes. Behind him, the other occupants froze. I had never believed that, in this world, there is someone who is your exact duplicate. A doppelganger. I didn't believe that, if you met your double, it would cause a disruption in the universe.

I was a believer now.

"What in the world?" The brunette girl asked, her mismatched red-blue eyes gleaming in the light. The other male – who had orange hair and blue eyes – just stared at me, in obvious awe.