Author's Note: I decided to come back to Ju sooner. I have a little confession to make, my dear wastelings. I was worried that I wouldn't know what to do with Ju's storyline this year. Then an idea hit me. I think I will play around with it as the story goes along. Like I said last week, I have next week planned in my head. Plus, I know where the next match is heading after that. For now, let's see how Ju takes the news for tonight. For now, enjoy this week's match.
Match Four: Children, Warning, and Unfinished Business:
-Ju-
I know I am not going crazy.
Those kids are following me around. The first time, I thought I was seeing things. The rest of the party went off without any problems. When we made it home, everything was fine. I was happy that the charms were still up around the house. Good, none of those crazy bitches came by. (Okay, that wouldn't make sense of why they would come here if Jing was with us. But still…)
Yao and I didn't do much when we got back home.
"I'm going to bed," he said.
"So soon?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm tired," he said.
"Okay," I said. "Do you want me to run a bath or something?"
"No, I'm just going to bed," Yao said.
"Good night," I said. He waved me off and headed down the hall. I shrugged to myself as I looked down at Jing.
"Well, looks like it's you and me for a while," I said. Even Jing looked like he was about to go to sleep. I sighed. Okay, we did have a long day. I can't blame my boys. I was a bit tired myself.
"I guess I could go to bed too," I said to no one. I took one more look around the room before carrying Jing upstairs with me.
For some reason, I woke out around three in the morning with the feeling that someone was standing over my bed while I was sound asleep. When I opened my eyes, there was no one in sight. My heart was racing against my chest. I looked over next to me. Yao was still sound asleep. Lucky bastard. I turned and looked up at the ceiling. What was that? I shook my head. I couldn't go back to sleep.
It didn't stop there.
Out of the corner of my eye, I would think that someone was watching me. When I turned my head, there would be no one there.
"Something wrong?" Yao asked.
"I don't know," I said. I got up and walked over to the kitchen window. I took a look outside.
"Ju?" Yao asked. I didn't pay attention. I leaned in closer for a better look. At first, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Something inside of me wouldn't let me sit down just yet. I didn't know what I was looking for.
That's when I saw her.
A dark-skinned little girl in a pink dress and pigtails stood in the garden staring at me. I quickly ran out of the kitchen.
"Ju? Where are you going?" I heard behind me. I walked out to the garden. More like ran out there, actually. When I made it to the stone path, there was no one in sight. I frowned and puffed up my cheeks. Where the hell did she go? She couldn't have run away that fast?
"Ju," I heard behind me. I turned to see Yao running toward me.
"What are you doing?" he asked. "Why did you take off like that?" I put up my hands in a shrug.
"I thought someone was out here, but I don't see them now," I said. Yao gave me an odd look.
"Ju, there's nobody out here," he said. I started to say something but gave up halfway. I threw up my hands and walked back into the house. I heard my husband follow behind me.
What the hell is going on? I keep saying those little children everywhere. They aren't really doing anything. They just stare at me before disappearing in the distance. At first, I thought I was saying things. Now, I know that I can see them. Apparently, I am the only one who can see them. It's becoming rather distracting.
"What are you looking at out there?" Mei asked. I quickly sat up and turned my head. She, Tina, and Qin were staring at me in the café. I shook my head.
"I don't really know," I said. I picked up my cup and took a drink of my tea. This wasn't working. I had to get to the bottom of this.
"I'm sorry, girls," I said. I just left it at that. They weren't going to believe me. I took one more look out the window. There were no dark-skinned children staring at me. Still, I could feel them following me.
The strange thing is that I know who they are too.
I never met them or ever saw their faces. Still, I know who they are. And I think they are trying to tell me something. I decided to try and find out.
To be honest, I wasn't sure how this was going to work. I sat at my laptop in my office. As I typed, I tried to think about how I tried to pull this off. Is there a way to draw ghosts to you at will?
"Hey, baby?" I asked.
"Yeah?" Yao asked.
"Is there a way you can summon a ghost at will?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked. I turned around from my laptop. How was I going to say this without sounding crazy?
"Do you remember when I ran out into the garden?" I asked.
"Yes, what about it?" Yao asked. I paused as I put my words together.
"I think I keep seeing the spirits that were possessing Qi," I said. "I know it sounds crazy." I looked at his face. I think he's still trying to process what I just said. I waved him off.
"You know what? Just forget it," I said.
"No, no," Yao said. "What do you mean about seeing the spirits that were possessing Qi? How do even know?"
"I don't know how to put it," I said. "But I keep seeing little black children staring at me from across the street." It sounded weird coming out of my mouth. But it still had to be said.
"And you think they are the spirits that possessed Qi?" he asked. Yao seemed to be struggling to get it.
"I don' know, I think," I said. The more I spoke, the more it didn't make any sense. I shook my head.
"Just forget it," I said. I turned back to my laptop. Why did I even bring it up to him in the first place?
That night, I decided to try something different. My husband and son went to bed.
"Good night, dear," Yao said before he headed up the stairs.
"Night!" I shouted back. I listened as he took Jing upstairs with him. Throughout the day, I have been looking up how to contact ghosts. Such a thing is not that easy in my country. You see, the government doesn't believe in supernatural things. They don't want the people to believe it either. Well, I don't think they have a choice anymore. However, they are still trying to deny everything. I knew they were going to look through my search history.
"Good thing I installed that VPN months ago," I muttered to myself. Took me hours, but I think I have something. I'm not sure if it will work. Only one way to find out.
I didn't go upstairs to my room. Instead, I walked out to the garden in the back. I clutched a charm in my right hand. In my left hand, I held a small jar of salt water. I looked around in the darkness.
"Hello?" I whispered. "Is anybody here?" I took slower steps. I paused and looked left and right. I pressed my lips together. Am I really going to do this? Maybe I should've gotten Yao out here with me. I shook my head. No. That wouldn't be helpful. He didn't understand when I tried to explain it to him.
I turned when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The boy about five years stood inches away from me. Now, I got a better look at him. This boy looked rather cute. His suit and tie could blend in with the darkness if not for the lights overhead. He stood, staring at me. Now, I have never seen this kid before in my life. Nobody told me anything about him beforehand.
So how did I know what his name was?
"Isaac?" I asked. The way I said it sounded mangled up. The child didn't respond. He doesn't seem evil. He and the others haven't tried to hurt me so far. So, I wasn't an idiot. I held my items by my side.
"What do you want from me?" I asked. The child lifted his chin. It suddenly grew quiet around me. For a second, I thought I went deaf. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. A voice filled my head.
Qi is in danger!
My body froze. What do you mean? Qi is dead.
No! She's alive and the bad man has her!
What are you talking about? What bad man? What do you mean she's alive? A small hand darted forward and grabbed me by the wrist. I looked down to see Isaac looking up at me with pleading eyes.
"Please!" he shouted with his mouth. "You have to help Qi! I don't know what that bad man is going to do to her. But it's nothing good! You have to save her! Please!" I didn't know what to say. My cousin was still alive? But how?
"Ju?" I heard. I quickly looked up. Yao was running towards me in his robe. I looked down at my wrist and saw that Isaac was gone.
"Baby, what are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" my husband asked. I couldn't answer him. I drew back my wrist and stood up straight.
"We need to call the morgue in the morning," I said.
"Why?" Yao asked. I marched into the house.
"Ju!" he shouted behind me. I didn't even turn around to respond.
The next morning, I called the hospital where they took Qi. Turns out, the body disappeared from the morgue.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Was it moved to another hospital?"
"No," the mortician said. I froze.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I went to get started on the body and she was gone," he said. "The sheet was the only left on the table." An uneasy feeling sank in my stomach.
"And you're sure no one took the body?" I asked.
"Yes," the mortician said. "I'm the one who makes all of the logs. I would know if the body was signed out or not." His words were what I needed to know.
"Is there a problem?" the mortician asked. I pressed my lips together.
"Thank you for telling me," I said. I hung up my phone. I walked into the kitchen. Yao and Jing were already at the table. My husband looked up at me.
"Is something wrong?" he asked. I clenched my fists at my sides. I lifted my chin.
"Baby," I said. "I think there's a problem that we've ignored for too long." Yao had a confused look on his face.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"There's something that we have to do," I said. My voice trembled as I shook. Still, I knew what I had to do.
