Author's Note: We haven't heard from Ju and the rest of her clan in a long time, now have we? Well, I am changing that right now. It didn't exactly turn out how I wanted, but I made it work. I did have a little bit of burnout today but I got over it. I might go back to Europe for next week. Maybe check in on Hungary and the Dark Circus this time? You are going to have to see. For now, enjoy this week's match.

Match Twenty-One: The Family:

-Ju-

There is a war coming. However, we don't know this yet. What the hell am I talking about? I probably should back up some. What am I talking about? Stay with me here.

You've heard most of what is going on with us. Stalking from witches, nightmares, and everything else in between. There's more to this madness. It's all turning into a fucking mess at this point.

Where do I begin with this latest "misadventure"? Well, there was a new photo in the Airdrop. I found out about this when I was tagged for it. Photo_000.

Hm? What is this?

There wasn't any context to it. It looked like it was taken last night. I tapped the screen. Password protected. Damn it. The sender is a private account too. What the hell is this? Suddenly, my phone pinged. I tilted my head. Again, sender was blocked. There was just one word in the message.

"Empire."

I copied and pasted the password. The image opened up on my screen. What the hell?! It looked like someone took a picture of my house in the middle of the night. Who took this? On the surface, this would be nothing. Not in my case, however. I am not taking any chances.

I showed Yao the picture.

"What am I looking at here?" he asked.

"This was taken outside of the house," I said. I am trying my best to keep my tone down. Believe me, the struggle is real. I feel like I want to scream. But I know that is not going to help. Yao looked at the picture again. He squinted at the screen. I puffed up my cheeks.

"What are we supposed to do with this?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I'm going to save that picture." He looked up at me.

"What?" I asked. "I want a documentation of everything!"

"I understand," he said. I sat back in my chair and frowned.

-Yao-

It keeps getting weirder. It's not just the photo. There's been a list of other things. I understand why Ju is so worried. But I don't know what we can do at this point. I know it must drive her crazy.

"Do you need some tea?" I asked. She didn't say a word. Right… I got up and walked into the kitchen. Ju looked up at the ceiling in her chair.

The question is what are we going to do about it? Charms aren't going to keep away stalkers. We do have security around the house. Suddenly, I think that's not enough. The picture looked like it was taken from across the street. I tried to find out who sent my wife the picture. I've had no luck no far. I know that Ju is going to want to see some results.

I don't think I can give her an answer alone.

But I do not want to turn to Ivan again. I will at least try to get help by other means first.

-Hen-to-

Yao called Fei and I in for a meeting early in the morning. He was sitting in the office alone.

"Where is Ju?" I asked.

"Still asleep," Yao said. "I want to make this as quick as possible." Fei and I didn't say a word.

"What have you found him?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Nothing yet," Fei said. Yao sat back, frowning.

"That's not good enough," he said. "Please tell me that you have something." Fei and I looked at each other for a moment.

"There is this," Fei said in a low voice. He reached into his jacket and pulled out an old article. I about stumbled backward.

"I don't know if it will help," Fei said. "We've held onto this for three nights now." Yao took it and read over the article for himself.

-Fei-

It was Cai who the one who found it.

"Honey, there is something that I have to tell you," she said at the foot of our bed.

"What?" I asked. At first, I thought that she was mad over something that I did. I braced myself to argue my case.

"There was something you mentioned the other day that had me thinking," she said. She pulled out her phone and showed me what she bookmarked. I leaned in for a closer look. This was an article from 1982.

"What is this?" I asked. I kept reading. The more I read, the more I became confused. When I got to the end, my jaw dropped.

"Wait… Is this…?" I asked. "Where did you get this?" Cai pressed her lips together.

"Someone emailed it to me," she said.

"Did you get the address?" I asked. She shook her head. I looked at the article. This might not have been the first time all of this happened. Somehow, there was something like an apocalypse that happened all over the world. I needed to know more.

"We have to tell them," I said. Cai bowed her head. I took her by the hands.

"Thank you," I said. My wife might have given us an advantage.

-Bik-

Hen-to came home as I was getting everyone's lunches ready.

"Good morning, dear," I said. My husband had a grim look on his face.

"How bad is it?" she asked. He looked up at me and dropped his shoulders.

"Really, really, really bad," Hen-to said. I raced over and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry, baby," I whispered.

"No," he said. He gently pushed me off. I lifted my chin.

"What happens now?" I asked. Hen-to cleared his throat.

"We have no choice but to go to war," he said. I stared at him.

"Going to war? What are you talking about?" I asked. He had a serious look on his face. I drew my mouth closed.

"What do we need to do?" I asked. He took me by the face.

"We are still trying to work that one out," my love said. "For the time being, we are going to have to be ready." I didn't have to ask what he meant by that. I tightened my resolve.

"I understand," I said. "Tell me everything you need to know. You have to tell me all of the details." Hen-to looked me in the eye.

"You're going to need to sit down," he said. "It's going to take a while."

-Biao-

Things around the grounds have been tense lately. It would be cliched to say this, but I don't know like it. I don't know how to explain it but I can't help but feel that there is something at stake here. Almost like time is running out for some reason. Like there is something at stake.

I turned my head when I heard someone running up beside me.

"Hey!" Xin shouted as she wrapped her arms around.

"Hey!" I shouted back. She looked up at me with a concerned look on her face.

"What's the matter, baby?" she asked. I took her by the sides of her arms and turned her to me.

"Can we talk for a moment?" I asked. Xin cocked her head to the side.

"What's wrong?" she asked. I took her by the hands.

"Please? I have to tell you something," I said. I looked around in the hall.

"Not here," I said. I walked Xin to the staircase.

"Biao? Where are we going? Biao? Biao?" she asked. I didn't answer. Instead, I kept running down the hall.

I didn't stop until we made it to the rooftop. Xin yanked her arm away from me.

"Biao, what is going on?" she asked. "What's wrong? You're scaring me." I kept my back to her. Honestly, I don't know why I said what I said next. It just came out.

"Marry me," I said.

-Lili-

I have to keep my family safe. Junjie's trial will be coming up in a couple of months. Szu might have to testify. She may be a strong young woman but I don't know if she can handle it.

"Dear? Dear?"

I jerked my head upward when a hand touched me on the arm. I turned to see my wife staring at me. Hark frowned with worry in her eyes. I gently pushed back her hand.

"I'm okay, honey," I said. I cleared my throat and looked down at my bowl. I hadn't even touched my food. I could tell Szu was staring at me. No. Please don't. I'm fine.

"Dad," Szu said. I looked up to see her staring at me. She looked so calm.

"I'm fine, Dad," she said. I must have looked so confused when she said that. I lowered my head. What was wrong with me? I was the father of this family. I should be the strong one here. I clenched my fist around my chopsticks. Hark put her hand on my shoulder. I stood up.

"Dad?" Szu asked.

"I'm not hungry," I said in a low voice. I turned and walked out of the dining room. I couldn't hear my wife and daughter calling out to me.

-Man-

Yao told me everything. I looked over my notes. It doesn't make any sense. I would've chalked this up to a delusion of some sort but due to everything that's been going on in the world, I don't know what to make of this. Something tells me it is about to get worse.

I reached for my phone and dialed up an old colleague of mine.

"Hey, it's me," I said. "I have a few questions about a patient of mine. Do you have time to go over it with me today?"

-Ju-

It's like I said, we are now at war.