THE REN UPGRADE: MONSTERS WITHIN

The Devil At Work

Two weeks earlier, Ren Carter had a fleeting thought that fate might have finally decided to play in his favor. 

To give him a solid redemption from the pathetic failure that he was. A chance to save his dying sister. 

It began on that fateful day he was bundled up to the hospital director's office. The maniacal Dominic Reeves had ensured Ren received a fair share of humiliation before he dropped the bombshell. 

“The hospital board has had their eyes on you for a while now,” Dominic had stated with a sly grin. “They know about how you're barely ever at the hospital and how you spend most of your time handling several part-time jobs instead.”

Ren wondered if his doom was near. It was not his intention to skip his duties at the hospital. He did all those part-time jobs so he could pay off his sister's outrageous medical bills. 

“Yet,” Dominic had continued, “you surpass every other intern when it comes to pure, insane medical skills. You run through your tasks like you're Superman, kid. How do you do it?”

According to Dominic, the board came to the conclusion that Ren Carter was just that smart. Even better, a genius of his kind. 

Afterwards , Dominic had gone ahead to propose the plan to Ren. 

“A clinical trial’s coming up in two days’ time, and we need you to improve the already available drug samples.” 

Ren did not understand why he was chosen. A weakling intern who was often picked on and ridiculed. A coward. That was all he ever was. So why him?

Dominic had gone ahead to explain that the professor who should handle the improvement was away on a work trip. Which brought the hospital board to their next best choice. Ren Carter. 

It felt like a divine master plan to Ren, when Dominic mentioned that the clinical trial was for the rare Huntington's disease. The same one that took a piece of his sister's life daily. 

Ren did not have to think hard about the proposal. He felt all his nights of research for a cure would finally pay off. He would get to save his sister, and he would not have to pay another dime. The cost would be covered by the clinical trial. His dead parents would be proud of him wherever they were. 

So, why not?

They had come to an agreement, Ren and Dominic. He would help improve the drugs, and his sister would be part of the clinical trial. 

Ren had been given twenty-four hours. And he went to work. Several tests were run, chemicals mixed, simulation stats tests done over and over. 

He found a cure at the twenty-third hour, and he was over the moon. 

The weight of guilt was lifted briefly. The relief finally granted him some sleep. 

When he woke up, the chaos was the last thing he expected. There had been a manifold death of all twenty-eight patients that were part of the trial at OakHills general hospital. 

The details were kept confidential. 

The devastation had hit him like a storm when he saw his sister's corpse being rolled out to the morgue. 

The blanket had slipped off one of the gurneys. Rei’s face flashed, pale and mangled, dried blood lining the path from her eyes to the bridge of her nose. 

“NO!!! REI! PLEASE! LET ME— SHE'S MY SISTER!”

Ren was withheld before he could lay a finger on his sister's corpse. He had watched as the gurney rolled away, helplessly gasping for breath. HUFF. HUFF.

“What…what happened?” Pain gathered in his eyes, sharp as needles. The tears never came. But that was the least of his worries.

Police officers stormed the building at that moment. “Ren Carter, you're under arrest for the contamination of drug samples that wiped out twenty-eight patients.”

They did not let him explain. They grabbed him and cuffed him. Ren yelled for the hospital director, but he never came. He tried to explain to the officers that he only followed orders, and the simulation test was successful. But they were not ready to listen. 

They tossed him in the police vehicle and slammed the doors against his screams. 

A few days later, he was tried in court and found guilty. His intern license was suspended. Then, he was thrown in the state penitentiary. 

It was only when he was behind bars that it dawned on him. He had been framed. 

*****

~One hour after explosion~

“I have a right to be here, you know?” 

Hana Blackthorn had incredulity painted across her face as she observed the guards who were stationed at the entrance of Tokyo state penitentiary. 

If there was one thing she was good at, second to being an Investigative Journalist, it was never giving up. 

She never gave up. Not for any reason. Maybe it was the perks of her job. Maybe it was just her spirit. So without doubt, she would crack the uptight assholes if she kept at it. 

“You can't be here right now, ma'am,” the guard with broader shoulders and a buzz cut responded in a clipped tone. “There’s just been an explosion within the walls, and it's being contained.”

At the mention of the explosion, her heart took a nosedive. Guilt and anxiety crashed through her in violent waves. 

She could not forgive herself for what she had done…what she had agreed to…what she had been forced to do.

All she could do was hope that the innocent soul who was caught in the cruel warp designed by her family, died a painless death. 

Hana had thought it was all over, until she caught wind of the strange news. Ren Carter had somehow survived the fire. But might not survive the night, judging from the degree of burn he suffered. 

She was at the penitentiary to tell him the truth he deserved, before he died. They were strangers to each other, but it would help her sleep better if she knew he did not blame himself for whatever’s happened so far. 

“Look,” she flattened her palms against the wired fence, “I just have to pop in real quick. I've got a very important appointment with an inmate—”

Tires screeched against the asphalt behind her. Car doors slammed shut one after the other. 

Hana froze to the spot. Her breath disappeared down her lungs. 

“That's enough fooling, sweetheart. Let's go home.”

Trembling, she slowly whirled to face the tall man that stood there in a neatly pressed suit. Three other suited men stepped forward and surrounded her. 

Her fists curled at her sides. “Rowan, please..” She thought maybe if she tried, she could reason with the less ruthless one of her brothers. 

“Not now, little sister,” he spat. “Get in the car.”

“No!” she suddenly screamed. “I-I can't! How can you do this to that innocent young man?”

Rowan scoffed. “I have no business with Ren Carter. Maybe you should ask your brothers, or your father.”

Hana shook her head, tears gathering in her vision. “I know you're not like them, Rowan. We can save him.”

Rowan thought for a moment. Then, he took a step towards his sister. 

Hana thought that she had finally won him over. But she soon found out why the Blackthorns could not be trusted. 

Rowan’s hand shot out like a viper and struck her carotid sinus. She collapsed against his arms, instantly unconscious.

Rowan smirked as he stared down at her. “You're right, Hana. I'm nothing like them.”

He snapped his fingers in a quick command. Hana was pulled away from him and whisked into the car. 

His eyes scanned the perimeter. The guards at the entrance trembled visibly. The magnitude of what they had just witnessed was beyond them. Everyone in Tokyo knew about the Blackthorns. Everyone who was wise stayed off their path, and their business.

But these two guards had been caught like little mice in Rowan Blackthorn's bowl of hot soup. 

Rowan got in the car and slammed the door shut. “Destroy every footage within this perimeter,” he ordered. 

After a heartbeat, his voice floated quietly in the space of the car. “And those guards. Get rid of them.”