˖*°࿐chapter ten.
x. TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

———

janelle

Well, so much for that plan.

I wanted to avoid having this conversation with Damon, but there was no turning back from this. He was going to have to find out sooner, or later. I can't keep secrets from my brothers.

Unless we're talking about that other situation I mentioned earlier, which is completely different and won't be brought up until I say so. And that's definitely not now. I need to handle one problem at a time.

Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "Explain."

"Explain what exactly?" I bit my lip, nervously. There's no hurt stalling him for a little longer.

"Don't play dumb, Janelle. I heard what Kai said this morning. Why the hell do you two keep acting all weird around each other?" he asked.

"It's complicated," I mumbled. "You wouldn't understand. In fact, I don't even understand it myself."

"Then, help me understand," Damon said softly.

I'd much rather be having this discussion with Stefan. Damon demands straight answers, while Stefan lets me work my way into telling him what he wants to know — he's a good listener.

"I didn't sneak out last night just to apologize to Jo," I confessed, though he already knew that. "I needed to find out more about my relationship with Kai."

I could see anger flash over Damon's face, but he tried to mask it. "What relationship?" he questioned.

"After Kai did the merge, he came here. He said that we were together in before he was locked away in 1994," I stated. "I thought he was lying just as some revenge plot against you, so I went to see Jo, considering she thought we knew each other, too. And she confirmed what Kai said, he was telling the truth."

Damon shook his head, clearly not believing any of it. "Kai's a psychopath. He's not capable of having feelings."

"Well, apparently he did. And according to Jo, he still does. For me at least," I continued on. "But there's another problem — everything Jo told me about our relationship... I have no memory of it ever happening."

"How is that possible?" Damon asked. "I'm sure you'd remember dating someone as crazy as Kai."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly have no clue, and what's even more bizarre is I don't even know what I was doing during that time. It's completely blank and I can't explain it."

"I can. "Maybe you should ask a certain Original what's going on," he suggested.

"Klaus?" I replied. "You think I had him compel me to forget being with Kai?"

I never really expected that one. I never even thought about him being the reason why I'm missing a part of my life.

"That, or he just did it to have you all to himself," he said.

"He wouldn't do that," I snapped at him through gritted teeth. "Klaus promised he would never use his compulsion on me. He thought it untrustworthy."

"Oh, come on, Janelle. Think about it," Damon said, "you dated Kai, his family locked him up, you were heartbroken, and then less than a year later you just so happen to get together with Klaus? I don't buy it."

Damon was obviously speaking from personal experience, but his situation is fairly similar if what happened to me is true.

"Okay, let's say that I did have Klaus erase my memories," I said warily. "I was a vampire at the time. Wouldn't I have gotten them back when I became human?"

"Not necessarily," he replied. "We don't hear a lot about vampires turning into witches. It's a broad theory, but still, not much to go on."

I sighed, "I guess I'll just have to ask him myself."

"Yeah," Damon nodded, bringing me into his arms for a warm hug. "Let me ask you something. If you were compelled to forget your feelings for Kai, would you even want them back?"

I guess I never thought of that. I mean, either way, someone's going to get their heart broken. I've been with Klaus for 18 years — if I choose him, it'll hurt Kai. But if my feelings do suddenly come back, who's to say Kai's my automatic first choice?

My relationship with Klaus could overpower what Kai and I used to have, but then again, it could be the exact opposite. How I see it, Kai has two chances at losing and Klaus only has one. That's in no way is a fair fight.

"I don't know," I answered, burying my head in his chest. "I just need some time to think about what I'm going to do first."

"Well, whatever you need, I'm here for you," he smiled.

"Thanks, Damon," I said. "Now, how about I do something for you?"

"Such as?" he asked.

"You'll see," I smirked, dragging him out the door by his arm.

———

"What is this place?" Damon asked for the fourteenth time since we left the house.

"It's where we practice our magic," I repeated to him. "New Phoenixes train here, try out new spells and potions. Pretty basic witch stuff. We even have a school, but that's in a more secluded area."

"I've never seen it before," he said.

"That's the point, Damon," I laughed as he continued to take everything in. "Cassandra keeps it cloaked, so trespassers don't come by. I managed to get her to lift it for tonight, so you can see what we're doing."

"And what is it you guys are doing exactly?"

"We are bringing Bonnie home," I stated and Damon as he stopped in his tracks from shock. "Come on. The girls are waiting for us."

I didn't tell Damon what we were going to do because I wanted it to be a surprise. Also, why I didn't let him tell Elena where we were going either. She's been blowing up his phone since we've been gone, so I made him turn it off.

"I thought you said —"

"I know what I said," I cut him off, "but Cassandra told me it would be possible if I did a spell with more than one witch. I can bring her home, Damon."

"Finally," Cameron said to us when we reached where I had left them earlier. "Hi, Damon." She waved at him.

"Gather around," Cassandra told us.

"Let's just do this." Melinda stuck her hand out to me and I forced myself to grab it with a fake smile.

"Now, since we've been set behind schedule a bit, we're going to have to make a few adjustments," Cassandra informed us. "We won't all be able to go to the prison world together, so it'll just be Janelle, but you will have to hurry. You can't stay there for too long."

"But she'll be okay on her own, right?" Damon interjected.

"As long as she makes it back before midnight," Cassandra stated.

Damon checked the time on his phone. "That's in less than five minutes."

"All the more reason we should get started." Cassandra came over to me, placing a dagger in my hand. "You'll need to use your blood to make a connection with Bonnie. It will take you right to her."

"Hey!" Damon snapped, getting in between us. "What happens if she doesn't come back before midnight?"

"Moving through space and time is a tricky thing, Damon," she informed him. "Magic has its consequences — this happens to be one of them."

"What happens?" Damon repeated, aggravated as he towered over her, but that still didn't phase Cassandra.

"She will either be at risk of getting stuck in the prison world herself, or..." she trailed off, looking at me over Damon's shoulder.

"Spit it out. Or what?" he urged her to continue.

"Or I'll die," I finished for her. Damon spun around to face me, panic set in his light blue eyes. "I know what I'm getting myself into and there's nothing you can say to stop me."

Damon sighed. "You come back in one piece. You hear me?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Good." Cassandra gave me a piece of paper with another spell written on it. "I wrote a spell for when it's time for you to return." She smiled at me and went to stand next to Damon. "You may begin."

Powers of the witches rise
Course unseen across the skies
Come to us who call you near
Come to us and settle here

I let go of the girls' hands and stepped forward. I slit my palm with the dagger, hissing a bit from the pain and spilled my blood over the altar.

Blood to blood, I summon thee
Blood to blood, return to me

Twinkling lights encircled around me, blinding me for a few seconds. I reappeared in the living room of the Boarding House, except everything was set up differently. This must have been what the house looked like in 1994.

Which means the spell worked. I had to find Bonnie quickly. I searched upstairs in all the bedrooms, in the kitchen, even outside, but she wasn't there. Lastly, I checked the library where I finally found Bonnie sitting there on one of the couches.

"Bon?" I called to her softly.

"Janelle?" she gasped turning around. I noticed the tear stains on her cheeks as she came closer to me. "Is this real?" she asked, observing me.

"Of course, silly," I said as Bonnie let out a small laugh, wiping her eyes. "Now, why are you crying? It's your birthday."

"Not for long," she gestured to clock above the fireplace. I was running out of time. "And it's not like there's really much to celebrate."

"Well, that's what I'm here for," I smiled at her. "I'm taking you home, Bonnie."

"What?" She said in surprise. "But, why? The two of us haven't really gotten along at times."

It's true. Before I left town, Bonnie and I had a bit of a falling out when she locked Klaus up in Elena's house and they went off to search for the Cure. I never really held it against her, but we didn't get the chance to ever make up.

"You're still my friend, Bonnie. Ever since I met you, you've done nothing, but make sacrifices for other people. That's including your own life. You saved my brother, and there is no way I can put into words how thankful I am for that. So it's my turn to do the same for you."

The tears started to form in her eyes again as she squeezed my hand that I held out for her to take. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I pulled out the piece of paper that Cassandra gave to me from my pocket. "Now, let's get going," I told her.

Just as I was about to start chanting, Bonnie stopped me, "Wait." She went over to the table behind the couch and brought out a small backpack. "There are some things I need to bring back with me."

"Come on," I hurried her, "we don't have much time left." The clock had less than 10 seconds on it before it would strike twelve.

We had to get out of here.

A time for everything,
and to everything its place
Return what has been moved
through time and space

The same twinkling lights circled around Bonnie and me, bringing us back to the woods where everyone was waiting worriedly.

"Oh, thank God." Cameron let out a breath of relief when she saw us. "I was afraid you weren't going to make it."

I glanced over at Damon to see him hugging Bonnie in a tight grip — that's a bit different. They must have grown closer to each other after being stuck together for so long.

"Yeah, well, that'll teach you to never underestimate me again," I smirked at her as she playfully pushed my shoulder.

"You cut it very close, Janelle," Cassandra stated, "but I'm proud of you."

I was about to thank her for saying that, but then a rush went through my head. My balance was getting uneven and then my vision suddenly became hazy. Someone was talking to me, but I couldn't seem to recognize if it was Cameron or Cassandra.

Whoever was closest to me, tried steadying me up on my feet, but it was already too late because I had already hit the ground. The last thing I heard was Damon yelling out my name and then it all faded to black.