Forever Hold My Heart

1 week later.
I had just finished putting on my shoes, today was the funerals. This whole week was overwhelming. Regardless of taking out the Figuris Iustitia we still had to take out the rest of the Latronums. Which was an easier task because they didn’t travel in big groups, but it was hard locating them. I still had a whole lot on my mind. Brayden, my father was incarcerated. He was still being interrogated but apparently he wasn’t being very cooperative. I still hadn’t visited him to try and get answers about my sister. That is if she actually did exist. I had some regret for letting Nate go only because I wasn’t sure if he would try to come back and start something again. Then again from what I understood he was practically done with the Latronum scene of life.
I brushed the thought off, when Travis placed his hand on my shoulder. I gave him a small smile. I wasn’t the only one who was devastated about Marcus. He was a part of the team leader gang. Sometimes Travis was strong for me and sometimes I was strong for him. Then we had those days where we laugh at all the things Marcus would do, and then there were those days that we just didn’t want to talk about it. I was also really upset about Mason, I felt like if I hadn’t been mainly interested in his ability to track down Latronums that he’d be okay. I was hard on myself because he was such a good kid. He was willing to go out there with us just because I asked him. I should have stepped in and said something because I knew that he wasn’t as experienced when it came to a lot of the skills.
I believed in him but I should have been realistic. Travis knew I was beating myself up about all of this, he would always tell me that it wasn’t my fault. That I was a great leader and a great role model for Mason. I wanted to be at peace with this but I just couldn’t. The funeral service was going to be in one building but there would be one room just for Marcus, another for Mason, and another for Ben.
“Are you ready to go?” He asked and I nodded.
I got into the car with Mathew, Devin, Travis, and Bryson. The ride there was quiet. I personally had planned to go to Ben’s service, then Marcus, and then save Mason for last. Then tomorrow they would lower the caskets into the ground.
When we first walked in to the funeral home. There were signs by the entrance of each room that had the name of the deceased.
“Katelyn Henderson,” I looked over at a couple. They looked older, the woman walked over to me. I had never met them before. When she was standing infront of me my eyes widened when she threw a punch and hit me in my nose. “He was my son! My only son, my baby.”
The woman said and I held my nose. She started to cry and was escorted by the man. I stood there shocked.
“Who was that?” I asked
“That was Mason’s mom,” Devin said
“You’re bleeding,” Travis said I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and there was definitely blood.

The rest of the day was filled with tears and pure comforting. The whole thing was pretty surreal. I just wish it didn’t have to be this way. My team was taking it pretty hard too, Mason was like their little brother. I wasn’t sure if I should add someone to the team but I didn’t want them to feel like I was trying to replace Mason.
When we got back to camp I went straight to my bed. I was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to be doing anything else. I was changing into my pajamas when Devin walked in.
“Hey Devin,” I said
“Are you going to go eat anything?” He asked and I shook my head.
“I’m more tired than hungry,” I said
“You really should eat though,” Devin said
“I will tomorrow, I promise,” I said and I gave him a smile.
“Alright,” He said and he hugged me before he left. I contemplated if I should go eat or not but I decided against it. I laid in my bed, I couldn’t sleep even if I wanted too. I had to wait for Travis. I felt like I could cry but at the same time that’s all I’d been doing. I got out of bed and went for a walk. I went outside and just laid there. I looked up at all the stars.
My phone notified me I had a new text message. It was from Cecilia, inside was a link to an article. I opened it and read the article, it basically let everyone know the truth about Brayden and how Joseph Henderson was innocent. I was relieved to see that it didn’t mention anything about Brayden being my biological father. I don’t think the authors of the article knew, considering that it talked about how I helped clear my ‘dad’ Joseph’s name. The article also talked about how the town could now truly be at peace.
I continued to look at the website to see what else they had been posting. There was another article that talked about Marcus, Mason, and Ben. I sat up rested my chin on my knees. I closed out of the web browser, I had enough tears for today. I didn’t think I should put myself through more sadness. I could feel my eyes begin to water, I couldn’t pull myself together. I rubbed my eyes, I didn’t want to cry anymore but I couldn’t help it.
“Stop crying already,” I said to myself
“It’s better to just let it out,” Travis surprised me as he sat down.
“I know but all I’ve done is cry,” I said
“It’s normal you know,” He said and I slowly nodded, “The loss of someone is never an easy thing. I was once told that death was a beautiful thing, that it was a part of life; life and death went hand in hand.”
I looked up at him, it was an exact quote from my letter. I felt the tears falling and he brought me into a hug.
“Let’s get you to bed,” He said and he helped me up. We walked back to the room hand in hand. I slept with Travis on his bed, it was becoming a habit.

The next morning was filled with less tears then I expected. They had just finished lowering the caskets. I had wondered off partly because Mason’s mom was getting out of hand but I couldn’t blame her. If wanted to beat the crap out of me was her way of grieving then I was okay with it. I was reading all the names on the tombstones and stopped when I came across the name Joseph Henderson. I sat down and traced my finger over his name.
“I hope now you can rest in peace.” I said knowing that now everyone knew the truth he would be able to truly rest. I closed my eyes and there was a light breeze. I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. I looked up expecting to see Travis but there was nobody there. I looked around and I could see everybody walking back to their cars. I saw Blake waving me over. I got chills and I ran over.
“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Blake said
“Can we not talk about ghosts right now,” I said and he let out a soft laugh.
“Katelyn?” I looked and saw Clarence standing with a folder, “May I have a word with you.”
“Go on I’ll catch up,” I said as I walked with Clarence.
“The board asked me to give this to you,” He said handing me a manilla folder.
“What is it?” I asked
“Basically it’s telling you all your responsibilities as a board member,” Clarence said
“So like new assignments?” I asked
“No that was just temporary, you’re going to be a regular board member now,” He said and I looked down at the folder. Did I really want to be cooped up making decisions and doing paperwork. I bit my lip and looked up at Clarence.
“This is pretty big but I’m going to have to politely decline,” I said and he just looked at me.
“What do you mean?” He asked
“I would rather be a camp leader,” I shrugged.
“You’re giving this up to be a camp leader,” Clarence asked in disbelief
“Yeah,” I said
“Did you need time to think about it?” Clarence asked and I shook my head.
“No I’m sure,” I said and I patted his back.
“I always knew you were crazy,” He said and I smiled and walked over to Damien and Blake.
“What was that about?” Damien asked
“I just rejected an offer to be a board member,” I said and Blake just looked at me like I was crazy.
“Yup that’s just like Katelyn,” Damien said as he threw his arm over my shoulder.

3 months later
My request to become a camp leader was approved. I was happy being at the camp, I even got my own office. My relationship with Travis was great, some people didn’t understnad how that worked because they said we hardly spent any time together. Little did they know we spent our time together in my dreams. I was getting so much better at remembering them too. As for Damien and my the rest of the gang they sent in a request so they could all live in the same house. It was approved only because I made a few phone calls. I still hadn’t gone to visit Brayden but I felt like I didn’t care because I wanted to leave him in the past.
“Hey Mathew I’m heading out, I'm going to go bug Eddie” I said as I stood in the doorway of his office.
“Alright, I’ll see you later,” He said with a laugh and I nodded. Ever since we eliminated the Frigus I was even allowed to go places by myself. As I was leaving the camp gates, I accidently kicked a box. I picked it up and the box had my name on it. I detached the letter from the box and opened it.

I’m just going to be straight-forward about this but I’m tired of playing these games with you. I just thought I’d returned something that belonged to you, maybe it’s about time you return my father to me.

I was nervous about opening the box, it was really cold. I unlatched the side of it and opened it. I quickly dropped the box and ran back inside. It was never the end, only the beginning.