THE REN UPGRADE: MONSTERS WITHIN

The Healing Balm

“We have to perform a tracheostomy.”

The room fell silent. Surprise hung in the faces of the assisting nurses. 

Someone dared speak up. “But that's too risky.”

Zara Meadows cut them a sharp glance. She called the shots in the clinic and expected others to obey without questioning. “This man will die on this table if we don't free his airway.”

A few moments ago, she confirmed a tiny pulse in his wrist. Now, Ren Carter lay unconscious on a surgery table, about to be cut open.

“Who's going to take responsibility if it goes wrong?” the second nurse whispered. 

“That's none of your concern. Now, scalpel.”

Hesitant, the first nurse picked up the scalpel. She glanced at an unconscious Ren, then, at Zara. “Are you sure we're doing the right—”

A strong gust of wind suddenly hit the windows of the clinic and blasted across the space, hot like fire. It was strong enough to sway them on their feet. 

Everyone turned, gasping. They were distracted, so they did not notice it when Ren's eyes flew open. Then, he rose with the speed of lightning. 

His hand snaked out and grabbed the scalpel from the unsuspecting nurse. His body moved against his will. His arm rose in the air, and in one clean strike, cut through a small fraction of his gut. It was enough for blood to spill without control.

The nurses were the first to shriek. Zara stood frozen to the spot, unable to believe her eyes. 

She watched Ren stem the blood with his forefinger. He stared her down the entire time, a leery grin on his face. She wondered if the excessive burns had somehow made him crazy. 

To her surprise, the blood stopped gushing. It slowed to a trickle. And finally, stopped entirely. 

Zara blinked repeatedly. An ugly feeling licked up her spine. She took a step back, and one swift glance around the room told her others had fled and left her to suffer a crazy inmate who was also…mysterious.

“Hold it right there, wench,” Ren started in a strange, calm voice. “You think I'd let you run off after you almost took my life?”

Zara was unable to believe her ears. Her heart hammered like a rock. “H-How… But you're…”

The words kept failing her. 

Ren heaved a deep sigh and slowly rose from the bed. He didn't look like himself at that moment. His hair fell over his eyes in shaggy waves. His eyes? They blazed a furious red color. It was a sharp contrast to its usual hazel.

“Save the questions for later, wench. For when I have some fun with you.” He grinned, and the sight was evil yet appealing. “But right now, I need you to run me some errands.” He cast his gaze down his damaged body that still dripped necrotic fluid. “This body needs a fix.”

He ticked them off his fingers. “Bring me honey. Marigold. Aloe vera. And some black pepper.” He grinned. “Make it quick, wench. Can't wait to drill that ass.”

Zara Meadows trembled from her forehead to her toes. She couldn't believe that people could change so drastically overnight.

She knew Ren to some extent, because she'd watched him for some time. The new young inmate who was found guilty of medical malpractice. Calm. Mostly kept to himself. Reclusive. Pale as death. Always bullied. 

But he never seemed like such a…vulgar talkative. 

Ren studied her with bored interest. “Are you going to get moving?” 

The scream came then. It ripped from her gut like a siren. It irritated Ren so much that he grabbed the scalpel and flew across the space to her. 

She gasped when he grabbed her by the throat, and pressed the cold steel blade to her carotid. 

“There! That's him!” Guards poured into the wing. The nurses scurried behind their trail. But Ren was faster than them. He snapped his fingers, and the doors slammed shut.

Zara trembled beneath him.

“You better behave, wench. My fury begs for release, and you would be such a perfect first taste.” The blade brushed a path up to her left eye. “What do you say? Rather get me what I asked for, or lose a pretty eye?”

Zara shuddered. Tears pooled in her eyes. 

“Answer me, wench,” Ren whispered. 

“I-I’ll try.” Zara wasn't sure what he was. But she knew it was far from normal. The way he snapped those doors closed? The way he's still standing? And speaking?

There was nothing ordinary about any of it. So she knew it was better to not play games. 

“I-I’ll do it, please,” she begged. 

Ren flashed a satisfied grin that was nothing short of spooky. Then he stepped away from her, taking the blade with him. 

“You know what to tell the idiots outside.” He was referring to the guards that kept hitting and kicking the door, trying to force it open.

Zara nodded, and swallowed a lump down her throat. She took several deep breaths as she approached the door. 

When she opened it, she put on a practiced professional smile. But it trembled slightly. 

The guards narrowed suspicious gazes on her face. “Everything okay in there, doctor?”

“Absolutely!” She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. “The surgery has been done. Successful, thank goodness. Haha. The patient’s currently resting and shouldn't be disturbed. So, if you don't mind…please leave.”

She pressed her lips together to stop the tears from spilling. For some reason, she knew she was damned if she did this any other way.

After several seconds of doubt, the guards left. But the nurses were skeptical, so Zara threatened to suspend them from their duties if they kept doubting her methods. They backed off.

The ingredients were hard to find. She scourged every market she came across. Three hours later, Zara returned with every one of them. 

Ren quickly yanked them from her fingers and went to work. He flipped the surgery table and set down his ingredients. Then he ground and mixed the black pepper with the aloe gel. After it's transformed to a thick black gel, he added drops of honey and marigold.

In minutes, a salve was ready. 

“How do you know it's going to work?”

He passed her a bored glance. “Because I've wandered a thousand years. I know all there is to know.”

Zara was dumbfounded. A thousand years? He really was delirious. 

She watched as Ren applied the salve carefully to every part of his body. Then he stood by the window with his arms at an obtuse angle. “I'll stand guard until I'm healed.” He cut her a wink. “Wanna do it together?”

“No…t-thank you.” She quickly gathered her stuff and left, feeling skeptical about the whole mystery. She locked the doors with two sets of heavy keys to keep everyone else out. 

When she returned the next morning, what she met shocked her speechless.