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˖*°࿐chapter fifteen. xv. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE, AND IT HURTS
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"Klaus, can you give us a minute?" Janelle said to him, not even bothering to look at him. Klaus was hesitant but obliged.
When he was out of sight, she turned to the person mouthing, "Come with me."
Janelle wasn't stupid. She knew that even if Klaus did leave them alone to talk, he'd still listen in on the conversation.
They went up to her bedroom that he kept it magically sealed, so not only could no one get in, but they couldn't hear anything either.
Too many thoughts ran through Janelle's mind. This was not the answer she expected. She didn't know whether to be relieved or betrayed by this person.
She took a minute to compose herself before finally asking, "Why?"
"Because you asked me to," he answered.
"Why?" Janelle repeated. "Why did I go to you?"
"You confided in me, trusted me. You didn't want Klaus finding out about Kai, so you asked me to erase him from your mind, your life."
"Wait, what?" she asked, having trouble understanding. "That's ridiculous. Being with someone else before Klaus isn't necessarily a secret."
"You'd think otherwise if you knew the truth."
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𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊
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𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓
"Janelle?" The young vampire quickly wiped her tear stained cheeks after being startled from her spot on the balcony just outside her hotel room. "Is everything all right?"
"Yes," she sniffled. "It's just been a long day. Don't worry about it, Elijah. I'm fine."
"I wasn't born yesterday, Janelle. I can tell when a woman is upset," Elijah spoke in a soft voice as he fully stepped into the room. "Would you like to talk about it?" he asked.
"No," she replied. Janelle finally gained the courage to turn around, her face revealing that she was much more than upset. "Yes," she trailed off, not knowing what to say. "I don't know. It's complicated."
Elijah walked over to her. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm not here to judge." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You can trust me."
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Janelle sighed, taking a seat down at the little table, Elijah following her actions, sitting across from her.
"You know I care about your brother, right?" He nodded, letting her continue, "And despite some of the things he does, that we may not always agree with, it doesn't mean I want any harm to come to him."
"Is this why you were crying? You're afraid Klaus is going to get hurt while doing something reckless?"
"No, I'm afraid he's going to get hurt by me," she clarified. "Look, I know that Klaus is in love with me, but I can't help, but feel like a horrible person for stringing him along for a ride that's bound to crash and burn."
Elijah furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Janelle, I'm not sure I understand what it is you are trying to say."
"I'm in love with someone else, Elijah," Janelle blurted out, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm sorry to have to tell you like this, but it's the truth. Klaus makes me happy, believe me, he does. But it —"
"But it's not enough," he finished for her, to which she nodded. "You have to tell him. At the very least, he deserves to know the truth about how you feel."
"I do want to be with him, but I can't if I'm still hung up over someone else," She mumbled the last part herself, but Elijah still caught it.
"Janelle, in order for me to make any sense of this, I need to know the whole story."
What more did she have to lose?
"His name is Kai Parker. He belonged to a family of witches that treated him like an outcast, so they locked him away in a prison world. As you can tell, even a year later, I'm still not over it."
"Parker?" Elijah asked. "As is Malachai Parker? The one who slaughtered his entire family in Portland. This is the boy you're in love with?"
"He did it to make a point, okay?" she informed him."His family always treated him differently because he couldn't manifest his own magic. They hated him. His father would've preferred to see him die than become the leader of their coven. Imagine having to live with that every day for the rest of your life. I think after a while, you'd snap as well."
"Janelle," Elijah began to say.
She put a hand up to stop him. "Don't."
She already had to deal with Kai's family telling her it was a bad idea to get involved with him. She didn't need it from anyone else.
Janelle saw a side of Kai that he rarely ever showed to people. He wasn't just some psycho freak magic siphon to her. He was special. Janelle made him feel special. She was the first person to give him some attention without it being degrading.
Janelle didn't know Kai was going to kill his siblings because he chose not to tell her. He thought she would think less of him if she knew what he was planning to do.
But she didn't care. The only regret she had was not getting to him before his family did.
"Look, I'm not praising what Kai did, and even if I did, it wouldn't change anything. He's gone, and I'm stuck here, all alone, with a bunch of painful memories that I'll be able to erase," she choked out. "This isn't healthy, Elijah. My mind is telling me to move on, but my heart won't let me. I want to be with Klaus. He's the closest type of happiness that I've had in a very long time. I don't want to give up on that, but at the same time, I don't know what to do about Kai."
