Chapter 1: Awakening

[ ..Crime rates are at an all-time high.. ]

[ ..two bodies were found in a gruesome state.. ]

[ ..officers are currently on the scene, a dangerous standoff between.. ]

[ ..a series of robberies plagues the southern and western parts of Los Angeles with.. ]

[ ..Five young adults found dead after a fatal shooting.. ] 

•••

A pool of blood slowly spread out from underneath the still body of a young man. His unfocused eyes stared out in front of him, the sight of two unmoving bodies covered in blood and bullet holes lay still in front of him.

"Fuck man! Fuck! You piece of shit!" A man in a ski mask and hoodie paced around, his face was sweating profusely.

"Shut up! That bitch had a knife! I-I had no fucking choice man!" Another man said as he stood there with an MP5 submachine gun, the gun shook in his hand.

"The hell do you mean you had no choice? Fuck man! This was supposed to be quick and easy, nobody was supposed to die! Now the whole neighborhood knows we're here! We got to go! NOW!" The man in the hoodie said as he ran out the front door.

"James! Fuck me, wait!" The man with the MP5 yelled as he followed behind his partner.

The house was now silent, the only sound in the room was the labored breathing of the dying young man. His lungs were slowly being filled with his blood, the bullets tore through his chest. Amazingly they all missed his heart, allowing him to die a slow and painful death.

'..mom.. sis… no.' The young man silently cried as he stared at his dead family.

"..Come back. C-Come back you f-fuckers." The young man now shook, not due to the pain or fear of dying but due to the rage he was currently feeling.

"..I'll find you.. I'll make sure.. you pay!" The young man said as he drew his final breath. Red and blue lights flashed outside the home's windows as the police rush in through the door, only to stop as they see the dead bodies of the once-happy family.

•••

"This dumb fuck only had $16 bucks. Raggedy piece of shit." A tattooed man said as he kicked a bleeding young man on the ground, the young man groaned from the kick. His hands pressed down on the stab wound, trying to stop the blood.

"Let's hit it T, lil fucker will bleed out anyway. Can't get anything more out of him." A black man with a hat on backwards said as he threw his cigarette near the bleeding young man, he then stood up from the wall he was leaning on.

"Let's get s'more smokes." The black man said as he walked off out of the alleyway they were in, the tattooed man spat on the bleeding young man on the ground and threw a now empty wallet at his face, and walked off following his friend.

A whimper broke out from the young man's lips as he tried to stop the bleeding. He reached for his phone but found nothing.

"Right.. they took it. Those bastards." The young man then turned around to look up at the night sky.

"Mom, am I gonna come see you soon?" The young man said as he felt himself get colder.

"Mom.. I-I don't want to die yet. I t-thought I did! But now.. I want to live! Fuck!" He began to cry, his body shaking in fear but then stilled.

"At least if I had the strength to take those two fuckers with me, then maybe it all wouldn't feel so-so pointless!" The young man's eyes began to get unfocused and aimless, he no longer had the strength to move his body.

"…I'll get you. I'll get all of you! Even if I have to crawl out of my grave!" His heart finally gave out. "…vengeance."

The city noises were the only sounds heard from the alleyway, an eerie silence surrounded the body as a few rats popped their heads out from behind some trash bins by a brick wall. They started to walk towards what they assumed to be their new source of food when suddenly it jolted, scaring them away.

The body stayed still once again until another jolt occurred, similar to that of a person being treated by defibrillators. Another jolt occurred, this one being the most extreme. The body sat up as it took a deep breath of air.

"GAAAAHH!" The young man started coughing as he desperately tried to get his breathing under control, he then twisted his body and leaned on his arms and his knees.

"Agh! Fuck, why am I!?" He then quickly stood up but that ended up being a bad decision, he felt his head go light which caused him to lose his balance and fell on top of some trash cans.

"What happened? Where am I!?" The young man said as he stood up again, this time slowly and carefully. He then felt a large damp spot on his chest and stomach.

"Blood?" He brought up his hand to his face, the red liquid quickly started to dry up. He was confused as to why he was bleeding, he checked his body and found no injuries.

"What is this place? This isn't my house? Wait.. my house? Gah! My head! It feels like it's splitting!" He grabbed his head as a headache suddenly assaulted him. He then looked down near his old shoes and saw an old raggedy wallet, he then bent down and picked it up.

"Harvey Miller? Harvey. That's my name, wait. Of course, that's my name, right?" Harvey said as he then looked at the address below his picture.

"I have to get home… my home." Harvey then walked in the direction his home was, almost as if on autopilot. He wasn't sure where he was going but he knew it was in the right direction.

•••

Harvey slowly walked home all the while trying to think about what was going on, no matter what he did he couldn't gather his thoughts. It felt as if he was drunk. He noticed that he was walking in a pretty nice neighborhood, it was peaceful. Harvey jolted left as he almost bumped into a Toyota Sienna, he shook his head as he then continued home.

'Should be right around the block?' Harvey was confused as to why kept questioning himself.

Finally reaching his door he took out his keys and fumbled to unlock the front door. With a click, he successfully opens the door and walks in. A horrid stench assaults his nose but in his current state of mind, he ignores it and lets his legs guide him to his bedroom. Upon opening the door he sees his unmade bed, he walks toward the mattress and falls on top of it. Harvey immediately falls asleep, the exhaustion hitting him like a train.

•••

A rush of memories flowed through the mind of Harvey. Two lines of memories ran along one another but then violently intertwined with each other, the lines kept twisting around one another until they exploded into each other. Meshed together they now could no longer be identified by their original lines, the two lines were now becoming one. Conflicting personalities and life experiences fought one another for supremacy but eventually mended together to work as one due to the common emotions shared by both lines of memories.

That emotion? Rage.

The shared rage became a wave of hatred as they merged, helping the process of assimilation into one being. From the shadows behind the memories a wave of fire ensnared the memories and drowned them in its fiery heat, they melted into one another and became one. No longer were they two souls, but now one surrounded by fire. The fire almost resembled a skull.

"At last."