Pure Blood

  Chapter 36

  Two weeks had passed and Tom and Crix were released from the hospital. Everyone went home. Crix, Mer, and Holidee went to the beach house. After a few days, Zeke and Mac joined them. Then Tom came. Tom had been practicing with a walking stick. He was slowly getting the hang of it. Slowly. They were all staying with Holidee, Crix, and Mer.

  Holidee and Zeke had been helping Tom on the beach with the stick. Then Holidee walked back up to the house. Crix and Mer were sitting on the porch with Mac. Holidee joined them. They were watching the ocean. Holidee, however, was watching Tom and Zeke. Zeke would describe everything they passed as Tom used his stick to feel for everything. Holidee could definitely see that Tom was different. He was depressed and confused. He wasn’t as happy as he was before, but he was happier by the ocean than in a hospital room. Holidee hoped the old Tom would come back, but she had a feeling that he was gone forever.

  Then Holidee looked at Crix. He was sitting on the porch holding hands with Mer. His eyes had changed also, but for the good. Neither of them knew what the color of his eyes meant. Crix was just happy to be alive. He was more than a father to her. He was her friend.

  Holidee thought of Rip and Rebekah and wondered what they were doing at that moment. She figured Rip was off someplace, seeking the ancestors. She understood why now. She wondered if Tom’s blindness would affect his and Rebekah’s relationship. Rebekah was probably in some room, crying.

  All of her friends were disoriented. They were sad, mad, and confused. Holidee couldn’t stand seeing them all like that. She wanted the good memories to be remembered. She wanted them to come back.

  Holidee stood up and headed toward the door, but Crix, who had grabbed her hand, stopped her.

  “Keep your chin up, Ocean Eyes. Things will get better. Slowly but surely. Things will get better.” Then he let go of her hand, and she walked inside the house. She walked upstairs and to her bedroom. She shut the door and threw herself onto her bed. She cried into one of her pillows, letting out her feelings. Then she saw a picture on her bedside table. It was of her parents. They were on the beach. It was the picture Crix and Mer had given her for Christmas one year ago. She stared at her mom and dad’s smiling faces and smiled herself. Then she jumped off her bed and walked to her desk.

  Her desk was a beautiful brown oak. It was a writing desk, but Holidee used it as a table. She had put pictures on it ever since she first found out this was her house. At least a dozen pictures were on that desk. Each one was in a different frame. Each one was a different memory. They were not in order, but randomly placed on the top of the desk.

  The first picture she saw was of Crix and her. They were in front of the beach house. Holidee smiled as she saw the two people covered in mud. It was after they had had a mud fight. Holidee wasn’t covered too badly, but Crix could hardly be recognized. They both had smiles on their faces.

  The next picture Holidee saw was of her and Zeke. They were standing on the beach. Zeke was behind her, with his arms around her body and resting a little below her belly button. Her hands were on his. They weren’t looking at the camera. They were looking at the ocean.

  Next to that picture was one of Rip, Zeke, Tom, Jack, and Ty. They were in their football rags, with sweaty faces, but they were all smiling. Holidee wondered if she would ever see Jack and Ty again.

  A little behind that picture was a picture of Crix and Mer on their wedding day. They were both smiling from ear to ear and holding each other tightly in each other’s arms, afraid to let go. It looked as if they were in their own little world.

  Then Holidee saw a Christmas picture. She was wearing a Santa hat in the middle of Tom and Zeke, who were kissing each of her cheeks. She was laughing in the picture. That was a great Christmas. She wondered if there would be others like it.

  She and Rebekah were holding a flower in their hands in the next picture. The flowers weren’t touching their hands, though. They were floating above them. Rebekah and her were both looking at the camera and showing off their skill of growing. Rebekah was the closest girl friend she had.

  Then she was with Tom, building the school. They were both dirty and sweaty. Holidee was wearing a bandana to match Tom. They were in front of the unfinished school, and they were flexing their muscles for the camera. Holidee smiled at this memory as her eyes started to water. Tom was one of her best friends. She could help many creatures and people, but she felt helpless when it came to him. She felt like she couldn’t help him, or that he didn’t want it. Holidee hoped that her friend would come back soon.

  As she wiped her eyes, she noticed another picture of her and Crix. They were looking at the camera and it only caught their heads. They were close to each other and smiling. Her blue eyes and his gray eyes pierced through the film like magic. Holidee looked at his eyes in the picture and realized she would never see those eyes again. She wondered if she would miss them, but she couldn’t find an answer.

  She finally came to a picture of her and Rip. She had her arms and head resting on his head. He was looking up at her with his eyebrow raised and his silver eyes piercing through his red and brown hair. She was looking down at him, half-smiling. Rip was so mysterious to her now. She wanted to know what went on in that powerful mind of his. She wondered if she would ever know.

  The last picture on the desk was her favorite picture and one of her favorite memories. It was of her, Zeke, Tom, and Rebekah at the Masquerade Ball. They were all dressed up and posing for the camera. They were all holding their masks in their hands. Zeke was on one knee, kissing her hand and staring up into her eyes. Tom was dipping Rebekah back in a dance move. Their eyes were fixed on each other. They were all dressed elegantly. They were all happy. Holidee looked at the four of them and smiled with tears in her eyes. She remembered the picture on Crix’ end table of her parents, Mer, and him. Then she looked at the four of them at the ball. The two pictures were similar in a way that only Holidee could see. The faces of all of the people in both pictures were the same. They were young, happy, and carefree. They were in love. They were in their prime. Crix was right, Holidee decided, it was her turn to shine. She smiled as the tears dried and thought of her parents, Crix, Mer, Zeke, Rebekah, and Tom.

  The burden that had been laid upon her was heavy and difficult. Her life was not meant to be easy. She had overcome so much already, but she knew there would be more. There would always be more. She could do it, though. She knew she could. Her friends had taught her so much in the past two years. Crix had gotten her to where she was today. Somewhere along those two years she had gone from a girl to a Pureblood, and she was the last Pureblood of the Oceain race. She was the last of her kind, and the burden that was laid upon her shoulders was meant for her shoulders and no one else’s. It was her turn to take the burden, like the generation of Purebloods before her. She could overcome any obstacle. She could achieve miraculous things. She could replenish the Oceain race.

  All you have to do, Holidee, is believe.