Chapter 4: Truth

"Where… am I?" Harvey said out loud while spinning in place. He was currently floating around in an empty dark void. No matter where he turned, all he saw was pitch-black darkness.

"Am I dreaming?" Harvey stopped spinning but then recalled the events behind that convenience store. "Am I dead?"

"Not yet." A low, gravelly voice spoke to him.

"Holy!" Harvey backed up when suddenly an enormous fire explosion erupted before him. The fire continued to expand and engulfed the dark, empty space all around him. The embers danced around throughout the air. For some reason, the cyclone of fire wasn't hot to him. He even waved at some of the flames. No burns.

"Of course not. These flames will never burn it's host." The voice spoke once again.

"Where are you? Where am I!?" Harvey yelled out to the fire. The flames in front of him suddenly started to burn brighter. They burned so hot that they began to become white. They then shot out and danced around one another, forming a ball of brilliant white fire. The ball then shifted into a familiar shape. It was a skull.

"You are within our soul." The white skull made of fire spoke, its jaw of fire moving alongside its words.

Harvey was amazed by the sight; the size of the skull was easily five times his size. For some reason, he was unafraid and found what the skull said true.

"Our soul. But, who or what are you?" Harvey looked at the skull in its eye sockets.

"You are not ready to know my name… but for now. You can call me Spirit." Spirit said as it turned down to look at Harvey.

"We have much to discuss, Harvey Miller."

•••

"How is he doing, Doctor?" Patrol officer Buddy Alabi asked.

Harvey was lying in a hospital bed covered in bandages and had a cast on his right arm. The respirator over his mouth allowed him to breathe easier; underneath his hospital gown, dark purple bruises were all over his chest and stomach. The broken ribs made it a challenge to breathe. The steady beeps of the EKG machine lulled the room into an uncomfortable silence.

"It's too soon to tell. We set all his bones and stopped the internal bleeding without any issue; the only thing we're keeping tabs on is his current fever. If his internal body heat continues to increase and reaches over 103 degrees Fahrenheit, we'll have to place him in an ice bath to cool him down." The doctor said as he read Harvey's clipboard.

"Our biggest concern is the coma he's in, most likely due to the extreme physical trauma. Coma cases like these usually don't last very long; give or take, it lasts a week or two. But given his extreme brain bleed, it will be hard to estimate when he'll wake up." The doctor said as he walked over to Harvey's side and retook his temperature; he grimaced when it read 98 degrees Fahrenheit.

Buddy frowned and looked around. It looked like no one other than him was around to visit the young man. "Were you able to reach out to his family? I'm sure they'll be very worried about him."

The doctor frowned and shook his head. "I'm afraid Mr. Miller here doesn't have any remaining family members. There was also no one under his emergency contact list."

Buddy frowned and looked at Harvey sadly. It was a challenging situation. There wasn't much he could do. "I see. Here, this is my personal number. Let me know if anything happens to the kid."

After writing his number, Buddy tore off a piece of paper from his notepad. He then walked up to the doctor and handed it to him. The doctor smiled and nodded. "Of course."

Buddy nodded back and took one final look at Harvey before he left. All he could do now was hope the kid would get out of his coma and pull through. What he did was brave. Very stupid, but brave. Buddy respected that.

•••

"… you're not kidding, right?" Harvey said with a bewildered look on his face.

"No. What I said is true. You are no longer human." Spirit said.

"Okay- time out! I get that having two souls forcefully merge into one isn't a common occurrence, but to jump to no longer being human because of that is a little extreme!" Harvey grabbed his head and shook it side to side.

"You forget I now inhabit this shared soul, were it not for my timely intervention. You both would be dead." Spirit gave off an annoyed huff. Fire flickers out its nostrils onto Harvey's feet.

"Great point! Why did you do that!?" Harvey said in frustration and curiosity, throughout his conversation with Spirit it never gave a direct answer: just sarcastic half-answers and half-truths.

"…this world is falling to chaos and evil. Soon enough, it won't be ready to face the future challenges that are to come. It's time this world had its own rider to deliver righteous vengeance." Spirit said seriously. For the first time since they met, Harvey was stunned. Not even the fact that Spirit was a giant flaming skull made of fire did that.

"Rider? What do you mean by that?" Harvey questioned. "Deliver vengeance? Evil? Okay. This is starting to sound crazy. Maybe I am crazy?"

"You are not crazy, fool. You are simply too stupid to understand fully. When a human dies in the physical realm, their soul goes into the beyond, to either heaven or hell. Yours did not. It merged with another soul from beyond this dimension and became an anomaly never before seen." Spirit spoke. It then looked up at the ceiling of their soul space and saw Harvey's memories. The dual memories he possessed.

"Were it not for me finding your two souls when I did. You both would have been reduced to ashes, returning to nothingness. But I saw the potential. Never before were there two souls that merged into one. It was perfect, a new soul strong enough to inherit the mystical and powerful force of Hell Fire." Spirit spoke in awe and glee. It would finally have its chance to perform its duties. But it never before could due to this world's limitations on what the human soul could do, this world lacked the power and potential as many other worlds did.

"So it was you? You saved my life?" Harvey was confused at everything Spirit said, but he felt grateful. Now that he's had the time to truly reflect on what happened to him, two memories popped into his head.

"I wanted this, WE wanted this. I wanted nothing but revenge on those who took our lives. I wanted vengeance." Harvey then realized. He then turned and looked up at Spirit, who was looking down at him.

"Yes, were it not for you fully accepting me into your soul space, we could have never become one being." Spirit concluded.

"… I'm no longer human." Harvey spoke out loud, the truth revealed to him.

"No, you are not. You are now a vessel for the spirit of vengeance." Spirit declared.

•••

One week later…

Harvey stood before the wide hospital window and stared into the city. A calm look rested on his face. His body was now fully healed, a stark contrast from when he was admitted. He looked down at his hand and clenched his fist; his fist slowly became redder as his flesh heated up. Suddenly, it stopped and returned to its original pale complexion.

'Well, that's pathetic.' Spirit mocked.

Harvey gave an annoyed expression after that comment. Having Spirit's voice in his head was odd; it would take some time to get used to it.

"Sorry that I'm not suddenly a master at this! I just learned what happened to me and what I am." Harvey breathed a heavy sigh; the weight of the truth lay heavy on his shoulders. To no longer be human, but to be a agent of vengeance.

"How am I gonna beat criminals up when I don't even know how to throw a damn punch." Harvey then walked over to the attached bathroom to change into some new clothes provided by the hospital. He was getting ready to leave. Since he was now fully healed, the hospital had no reason to keep him. The doctors were shocked and very interested that his body healed at such an incredible rate. It was unheard of! They wanted to keep him for another week for observation, but Harvey refused.

'You're body will now heal at a faster rate. You can recover from a broken bone in three days rather than a human's eight weeks. Humans become stronger after ripping their muscle fibers after training and recovering. You can now take full advantage of this and become stronger at a much faster rate than them.' Spirit informed Harvey as he finished tying his old Adidas.

"That may be true, but that doesn't address the fact I'm not skilled in any combat or weapons training that I'll need to go out there to 'punish evil'." Harvey made air quotes at the end.

'Hm, you may be right. Until you can enter our true state of being, you'll have to pick up those skills yourself.' Spirit was frustrated. How could they accomplish their purpose when Harvey's body was subpar. That will need to change.

"Easier said than done." Harvey then walked out the bathroom and was about to leave the room when the door opened to reveal Patrol Officer Buddy.

"Wow! You're actually up! That's amazing!" Buddy said in amazement. "So, how are you? Really?"

"Officer, I'm fine. I'm pretty surprised myself by how fast I healed." Harvey waved his hands out. "Thank you for saving my life."

"Don't worry about it. It's my job, and I'm glad you made it out in one piece. It was a brave thing you did, reckless. But brave." Buddy patted Harvey's shoulder.

"Yeah, I can't argue with you there. I just... had to do something, you know." Harvey looked down, a pensive look on his face.

"Yeah, I do. I didn't become a cop for the benefits, I did it to help people." Buddy smiled and looked out at the early morning sun. "I heard you're being discharged. You want a ride? I'll even play the siren?"

"Alright, I'll take you up on that offer." Harvey smiled.

•••

"Thank you for the ride, Mr. Alabi." Harvey stepped out of the passenger's seat and looked at his house. After a week of being away, there would surely be some dust inside to clean.

"No worries, Harvey. Happy to help. Listen, if you need anything, give me a call." Buddy said as he handed Harvey one of his cards. Harvey smiled and took it.

"Will do. Thanks again." Harvey closed the door, and Buddy smiled and nodded to him. He then drove off with Harvey waving at him until he disappeared around the corner.

"Let's get to work." Harvey looked at his house, a determined look cemented on his face.

"Harvey? Is that you?" A voice called out to him, Harvey turned around and saw a woman step out of a Toyota Sienna. It was Claire Dunphy.

"Mrs. Dunphy? What are you doing here?" Harvey was a little confused, Why was she here?

"I was on my way home from my yoga class, I live right around the corner." Claire then looked behind Harvey and saw the house; her eyes shifted to his hand. The keys in his hands stood out. "Do you live here?"

"Yeah, I do. This is my house. Small world, huh?" Harvey was surprised that the woman he met a while ago actually lived so close to him.

"Yeah it is! Who would have thought, where are you coming from?" Claire smiled as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Ah, I'm actually coming from the hospital. I ah- had a small accident. I'm alright now, though. Just happy to be home." Harvey said awkwardly; he wanted to lie but found no real reason to.

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" Claire stepped a little closer and looked at him closely. She couldn't help but show concern. After all, this boy was around Alex's age, and she couldn't help but worry a little.

"Ah... well, I just got into a small accident. Nothing major, though. The doctors blew it out of proportion and wanted me admitted yesterday." Harvey downplayed what happened. There was no need to tell other people what happened. It's not like anyone else would ask what happened to him.

"You sure do seem to get in a lot of accidents! Ah sorry! I didn't mean to sound rude!" Claire waved her hands around.

"It's alright. I get what you mean." Harvey assured her.

"Listen, how about you and your family come over for dinner tomorrow night? It'll be nice to meet our neighbors!" Claire asked; she then looked behind Harvey and peered at the house. "Are your parents around?"

"...Ah no, they're... out right now. Listen, I have an appointment tomorrow night. How about we rain-check that dinner?" Harvey said slowly while looking down at the ground.

"Oh. Alright, sorry I sprung that up on you so soon. Here's my home number! Have your mother call me some time to set a date!" Claire gave Harvey her number on a ripped piece of paper.

"...Will do." Harvey pocketed the piece of paper where he placed the card Buddy gave him.

"Alright, well, I hope you have a nice day! Be sure not to get into any more accidents!" Claire joked as she got back into her car and waved goodbye, she then drove off. Harvey weakly waved goodbye.

"Why... did I do that?" Harvey asked.

'You fear being alone, interesting.' Spirit said to Harvey.

"...we have some training to do." Harvey ignored Spirit and walked inside. He was determined to see if what Spirit said was true.

He had to train. He had to keep his mind busy lest he be reminded of the fact he's all he's got.