Author's Note: Here is the season finale. It's been a journey, my dear wastelings. This key took some interesting turns as I wrote this. The beginning was inspired by a couple of episodes from the show, The Naked Director. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to kill off Qi or not. I danced around with it for quite some time. The ending of this match just came as a thought today with me. What's going to happen next season? I don't know yet. There are so many ideas floating around in his head. For now, enjoy this week's match. See you in June, my dear wastelings.
Match Thirty-Five: Request, Exorcism, and Freedom:
-Ju-
Qi came to me with one request.
"I have a way to save your son," she said. I lifted my head from my pillow. First of all, I don't know she got in my room. Why didn't the alarm go off? At first, I thought I was dreaming.
"Qi? Is that you? What are you doing here?" I asked. I couldn't see too well in the dark. There she was. She looked more tired than the last time I saw her. Her hair hung around her shoulders. All Qi had on was a long black shapeless dress.
"I have a way to save your son," she said. "I want you to kill me."
She sounded so serious too.
"What?" I asked. By now, I was fully awake. Qi stood over my bed with dead eyes. I didn't understand what I was looking at.
"What the hell?" I mumbled. "How did you get in here?" She didn't answer me. Qi pressed her hands together.
"Kill me," she said again. "It's the only way."
"No. Why would I do that?" I asked.
"Please! You must!" she said. There was no emotion in her voice. I pinched myself in the cheek again. She was still there. I could've sworn that I saw her floating off of the floor.
"Can you please leave?" I asked. "How did you get in my house?" I climbed out of bed and start to push her out. Qi said nothing as I kept pushing her out. I had to drag her through the house and down the stairs by the arm. She never explained how she got in my house and past the security system.
I shoved her out the door.
"Don't come back this early in the morning again," I said. I slammed the door in her face. I thought that was the end of that.
One week later, there was a knock on my door.
"Who is that?" Yao asked. I shrugged and shook my head. This time, the doorbell rang.
"Let me go see who that is," I said. I got up from the table and walked to the front door. I looked out the peephole. A tall black woman in a green dress stood outside. I didn't have to ask who it was.
I opened the door.
"Noelle? What are you doing here?" I asked.
"It's my mistress," she said. I about stumbled backward. That was the first time I heard her speak. Usually, she stood off to one side and said nothing.
"What about her?" I asked.
"She tried to kill herself," Noelle said. "Last night." I about jumped back for a moment.
"What? What happened?" I asked.
Noelle ended up leading Yao, Jing, and me to the hospital.
"She just jumped from the balcony of the room," Noelle explained on the way there. "I just turned my eyes off of her for one moment. She didn't even make a sound."
"Did she want to die that badly?" I asked.
"I don't think it's that," Noelle said. I gave her back a strange look.
"What do you mean?" I asked. She stopped in her tracks.
"Noelle?" I asked.
"It's gotten worse," she said.
"What?" I asked. Noelle didn't turn around.
"She told you about her condition, right?" she asked.
"Yeah," I said. Yao turned his head.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
"I don't know how to explain it myself," I answered. Noelle cleared her throat. Yao and I looked up in time to see her turning to us.
"I think she's figured out that they are killing her," she said. The look on her face told me all I needed to know about the theory she came up with.
"Was this the first time that you know of?" I asked.
"I don't know," she said.
Yao and I sat in the waiting room.
"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. I shrugged and shook my head.
"How could I?" I asked. "My cousin suffered from abuse. Her mom murdered her playmates who she also abused. Then she actually murdered my cousin to take over her body. So she killed her and burned down the house with Noelle."
"Wow," Yao said.
"Yeah," I said, nodding.
"So… what are you going to do with her?" he asked. I shrugged and shook my head.
"I don't know," I said.
"Oh," Yao said. We looked up when we heard footsteps walking towards us. A doctor in his fifties straightened up his glasses.
"How is she?" I asked.
"She's going to pull through," he said. "The surgery was successful. It's just a matter of when she'll wake up."
"When?" Yao asked.
"Yes," the doctor said. Yao and I looked at each other. I gently bounced Jing in my arms.
We didn't make it back home until morning. We found Hen-to and Bik waiting in the living room for us.
"Bik, Hen-to," I said. "What are you doing here?"
"We heard what happened on the news," Hen-to said.
"How is she?" Bik asked.
"The worst is over," I said. "They don't know when she'll wake up."
"Ah," Hen-to said. I looked around for a bit.
"Um… Hen-to, can I talk to you in private?" I asked.
"Sure," he said. I turned to Yao and Bik.
"Can you excuse us for a moment?" I asked. "There is something that I have to know."
"Alright," Bik said. Yao bowed his head. Hen-to stood up and followed me into the kitchen.
I told him everything about Qi. Hen-to had a stunned look on his face when I was done.
"Wow," was all he said.
"Yeah," I said, nodding. I paced myself before I started to speak.
"She wanted me to kill her the last time I saw her," I said with a whisper.
"What?" he asked.
"I don't even know how she got in my house around two in the morning," I said. I looked down at my hands as I spoke.
"So what do you want to do?" Hen-to asked. I looked up at him.
"I would like an exorcism performed on Qi," I said. Hen-to looked like he wanted to argue with me.
"This is the best that I could think of," I said. "She's already tried to free them from her body and we see how that turned out." Hen-to nodded.
"Right," he said. "We'll do it."
"Thank you," I said, bowing my head. I wasn't sure how this was going to work. But I at least had to try.
We had to turn to a fangxiangshi for help. At first, I was confused.
"They still exist?" I asked.
"Yes," Fei said. "I have a friend that has known one for years. I spoke with him on the phone this morning. My friend is happy to help us out."
"Good," I said. Fei put me in touch with the fangxiangshi. He said that he would be on the way in a couple of days. I was okay with this. It would give Qi enough time to recover. However, there was still one more issue that I had to deal with.
I called to meet up with Noelle at my house. We sat down at the kitchen table.
"Are you sure you are okay with this?" I asked.
"Yes," Noelle said.
"This could kill her," I said. "Are you prepared for that?"
"Yes," she said again.
"But what about you?" I asked. Noelle had no emotion on her face as she stared at me.
"What about me?" she asked.
"Well… Do you have anywhere to go? Any family you want to contact?" I asked.
"No," Noelle said. I stared at her.
"I have no one," she said before I could speak. "I don't even remember if I had a family or not."
"Surely there must be someone," I said.
"Just stop," Noelle said. "I don't want your pity. It's insulting to everything I had to survive through."
"Okay, okay," I said, putting up my hands. "I wasn't trying to do that. I just figured…" I saw Noelle raising her eyebrow at me as she frowned.
"You know what? Forget it," I said. "Sorry I asked." Noelle said nothing. Something about her crept me out.
"At least stay for lunch," I said. "I can make us something really quick. It won't be as good as my husband's, but it will still be edible." Noelle nodded once.
"Right," I said. I got up and walked over to the stove. I still couldn't leave Noelle alone. I resolved that I would help to do something for her some other time.
It would take a few days for Qi to wake up.
"We have to do this now," Hen-to said. I didn't argue.
"Does the fangxiangshi know where to meet us?" I asked.
"Fei texted him the directions," he said.
"Is the car ready?" I asked.
"Yes," Hen-to said. I got up from my desk and walked out of the office. I heard him follow behind.
The drive to the hospital took about an hour and a half. The fangxiangshi wouldn't be here for a couple of hours.
"We'll meet you there," Fei said over the phone.
"Okay," I said. Yao held my hand during the car ride there. Noelle was already waiting for us outside. She held her spear by her side.
"How is she?" I asked.
"Still asleep," Noelle said. I still don't know how to help her. We looked up when heard honking. Fei flagged us down in the parking lot.
"He's here," I said. He came up to us with a man in black and blue robes.
"You must be the fangxiangshi," I said. "Nice to meet you." I bowed. That man didn't speak as he bowed. There was no emotion on his face either. I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"We'll take you to her room right now," Hen-to said. He motioned his hand towards the glass doors. The fangxiangshi bowed and walked towards the doors. Noelle held her spear by her side and followed behind. Fei and Hen-to said nothing as they followed behind. I looked at Yao before we followed him.
The doctors and nurses had Qi in room 829. Noelle opened the door. The fangxiangshi walked through. We started to follow behind.
"Stop!" the fangxiangshi commanded. I about stumbled backward when I first heard him speak. He kept his back to us. The fangxiangshi held up his hand.
"I can't have all of you coming in after me," he said. "There will be too much energy in the room. It will distract me." I wanted to speak, but Yao put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him with my mouth open. He shook his head. I closed my mouth.
"I have to be in there with her alone," the fangxiangshi said. I saw Noelle lifting her chin as she held her spear by her side. (I have no idea how she managed to carry that thing into the hospital with her.) The fangxiangshi turned his attention to her. The look in her eyes said everything I needed to know. I just hoped that he would take the hint. They didn't talk for what felt like an hour. Finally, the fangxiangshi bowed his head and let her follow behind. I looked up at Yao.
"Think this is okay?" I whispered.
"You have to believe in him," my husband said. The room door closed behind the fangxiangshi and Noelle. I pushed my boys aside as I walked forward.
"Miss?" Fei asked. I pressed my ear to the door.
At first, I couldn't hear anything. The fangxiangshi was talking so softly while Noelle said nothing at all.
"What's happening?" Fei whispered.
"Shhh!" I hissed. I tried to focus on what was going on in the room. From what I could gather, it sounded like the fangxiangshi was chanting. Maybe there was walking around the bed. Qi started moaning in pain in her bed. I think it was pain; I wasn't sure. Suddenly, the chanting grew faster and louder. The fangxiangshi spoke in a language I didn't recognize. I could feel my boys breathing down my back as they too moved in closer for a listen. I was too focused on the chanting and Qi's painful moans. There was pause and then the sound came back. This would happen about four more times.
I wished that the door wasn't closed. I wished that I could see what was going on. I couldn't hold back anymore. My hand reached for the doorknob.
I jerked my head upwards when a hand seized my wrist. Hen-to looked down at me. He shook his head before I could speak. I remained frozen before closing my mouth. I drew back my hand. Hen-to gently let go of my hand. My ear settled back onto the door.
I don't know how long we stayed out there in that hallway. I refused to leave that door. My boys took turns getting something to eat or going to the bathroom. They each brought me back something to eat.
"You can come away from there if you want," Yao whispered. I shushed him and waved him off. I couldn't leave. I had to know how this was going to end. I had to know that Qi was going to come out okay.
Around three in the morning on the next day, I was woken up to the sound of the door opening. I landed on the floor with a dull thud.
"Ow," I whispered to myself. I looked up to see the fangxiangshi standing over me.
"Oh," I said. I stood up as Yao, Fei, and Hen-to gathered around behind me. The fangxiangshi had no emotion on his face.
"How did it go?" I asked. "Is she okay?" The fangxiangshi lifted his chin.
"It's done," he said.
"How is Qi? Did she make it?" I asked.
"No," the fangxiangshi said. "She has passed on. She will be at peace now." I pushed past him as I ran into the room.
"Ju!" Yao shouted after me. I didn't turn around.
Noelle was sitting in the corner of the room, eyeing Qi in her bed. I walked over to the bed. Qi looked more asleep than dead. The sheets were covered up to her chin. I clapped my hands and said a little prayer for her and the souls of the dolls. When I was done, I turned and walked out of the room. I apologized to the fangxiangshi before I left with my boys.
At least, Qi was going to be in peace now.
-Qi-
I don't know how long I was dead for. But all I knew was that I woke up in the morgue. I let out a loud gasp before looking around. At my feet stood a pale man in a long black coat, eyeing me. He drummed his fingers along his chin and cheek.
"Well hello, my dear," he said. I sat up, blinking.
"Didn't I die? How am I still alive?" I asked. The man in black leaned in closer with a cold smile on his face.
"My, my, my," he said. "There is so much that we have to talk about."
