Robert

“I will never be weak again.” Robert says.

Robert is a tall man, a bit muscular and bald. He towers over another man who’s on his knees, bleeding from his head and terrified. They’re in a hotel room, the place is completely trashed.

“Please… don’t do this. I’m begging you!” the scared man whimpers.

Robert cracks his knuckles, there are rings on his hand. A total of five. Each ring has a different colored gemstone and strange tribal looking designs on the trim.

“I’m sorry but you need to die. I need your power.”

The scared man also has a ring on. It has a red gemstone and designs on the trim.

“Please don’t! If I could take it off I’d give it to you!”

“I know you would.” Robert says with a friendly smile.

Suddenly Robert latches his hand around the man’s throat and lifts him up. He squirms and gurgles for oxygen.

“Goodbye.” Robert says, and crushes the man’s throat.

The man’s body goes stiff and his arms fall flat to his sides. The ring on his right hand falls off his finger and hits the ground. Robert drops the dead man. He kneels down and picks up the ring.

“Another one to my collection” he tells himself as he slides the ring onto his left hand.

Robert stands up. He looks at both hands. They’re stained with blood. He then notices a large cut on his right forearm. Robert focuses on the cut. The ring on his right hand with a white gemstone begins to glow. The cut on his forearm begins to heal and fade away slowly. His wound disappears. Robert closes his right fist and inspects the ring with the white gemstone. There’s sorrow in his eyes. He walks over to the bed and sits. He relieves a sigh.

“I’ll be strong… for you.” He mutters.

Memories of a beautiful woman appears in his head. She was gorgeous with luscious brown hair, green eyes and a smile that would melt anyone’s heart. Andrea was her name. Robert’s wife.

A year ago, Robert and Andrea have made a decision to live together. After learning she was pregnant, Robert proposed to her and gave her a ring he found. After cleaning it and making it look brand new, Robert proposed to Andrea on her birthday. She fell in love with it. The ring had a nice white gem on top with strange designs on the trim. It glowed when she first put it on. It was unique, something she never seen. However this ring was more than unique. The two lovers learn quickly just how special it was when Andrea was cutting up food for lunch one day. She accidently slices her finger, leaving a very deep wound. Blood is everywhere. Robert freaks out and goes to fetch some bandages. When he returns, he prepares to help close up her wound until suddenly, it begins to miraculously close up. It’s healing by itself instantly! He sees his wife’s face in shock. They can’t understand what just happen. They both notice her ring was glowing too. They at first decided to ignore it, thinking maybe they were just too tired. But as days went by, Andrea couldn’t help but think about that day. She couldn’t ignore it. So Andrea did something that completely scared Robert. She grabs a knife and stabs her own hand. She yells in pain.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Robert yells.

Andrea pulls the knife out and blood is all over her.

“We need to get you to a hospital!”

“Wait don’t! Just watch.” Andrea speaks. She shows her wound to Robert and to his disbelief, her open wound begins to heal just like the last time. He’s at a loss for words.

Andrea smiles and holds her belly. “Honey it’s okay. See? I’m okay, and the baby is okay. This ring you gave me. It’s a gift from God!”

Robert smiles. That ring truly did heal her. It was a miracle.

Months past, Robert and Andrea receive grim news on their last doctor’s visit. Andrea is already seven months pregnant, but learns from the doctor her baby has a high chance of dying during birth. Not only will their unborn son die, there’s a chance she will die too. It breaks both of their hearts.

“Honey… we have to terminate him.” Robert says, pain in his voice.

“No! I refuse!” she yells at him.

“But you could die!!”

Andrea locks eyes with her husband, tears running down her face.

“No… I won’t do it. I can save him.”

“What?”

Andrea points to her ring. “This blessing from God. If it can heal me, it can heal our son! I know it can!”

“Were not sure if it’ll work.” Robert claims.

Andrea turns her back on him. “I have to try. Please…”

Robert is torn. He doesn’t want to lose his son, but he doesn’t want to lose his wife either. He embraces her. “I’m sorry. We’ll go through with it. I just don’t want to lose you.”

Andrea faces him and smiles. “You won’t.”

There’s a loud knock. Robert snaps from his memories. The knocking becomes more aggressive.

“Police! Open up!” a man’s voice comes from the other side of the door.

Robert stands up from the bed. He takes a look around the trashed hotel room. The dead body of the man he killed lays there in a puddle of blood. The knocking continues.

“Last warning. Open up or we’ll break in.”

Robert cracks his neck. He opens up both of his hands. Two of the rings he has on begin to glow. Suddenly fire begins to emit from his left hand while at the same time, ice begins to form out his right hand. He faces the hotel door.

“We’re coming in!” The voice yells.

Robert closes his eyes. He looks back at his memories once more. Andrea’s image appears in his mind. First that beautiful face of hers that was full of life. Then the horrid pale one she had when he found her hanging in their bedroom. Andrea survived the birth, but their son didn’t. It emotionally destroyed both of them. However, it devastated Andrea, leading her to suicide. Maybe because she used the ring’s healing power as much as she can to try and save their son. But it didn’t work. It could heal her, but not their son. The amount of guilt she must have felt. He was dead in the womb before he was even born. Robert did everything to bring her back. When he found her, he desperately tried cutting the rope with a knife. During his attempt to do this, Robert ended up cutting himself. Blood was everywhere but he ignored the pain and cut the rope. He cried. Shook her and hope she was still breathing. That’s when he notice her ring was gone. He quickly looked around for it and finds it on the floor.

“Come on Andrea don’t do this to me. Don’t leave me!” he hysterically cries as he slides the ring onto her finger.

“Live dammit! Live!!”

The ring does nothing. In one last desperate attempt, Robert puts the ring on. He feels a sharp pain throughout his body when he puts it on but ignores it. He lays his hand on her chest.

“Please come back to me! Please!!”

The ring’s white gemstone begins to glow. Robert smiles. But then that smile fades when he notices the long cut he had begins to heal and disappear.

“No! No!! Not me! Her!!! Heal her!!!” he yells.

Robert lays there on the floor; crying, powerless and holding Andrea. He couldn’t save her.

Robert now stands in the middle of the hotel room. Three more bodies lay on the ground. Two burned to a crisp, while the other completely frozen. He looks around the gruesome scene he created.

“I will find a ring that’ll bring you back my love. Even if I have to kill every last person with these ‘blessings’ of God’s power.”