It all started with Jacob’s disappearance. Jacob Cartwright had been my closest friend, as well as my business partner. When the police asked if he had any enemies I pointed them to Ryan Mitchell, our longtime rival. Ryan however had an alibi. He was with the lady Jaclyn Goodnight.
In the weeks that followed, business was poor. The loss of a partner would have been a blow all by itself, yet there was more. It was clear that proprietary information was leaking to Ryan’s corporation.
I was particularly suspicious of Ms. Jaclyn. Her first appearance coincided with Jacob’s disappearance. She also wore a collar. It was a strange and kinky adornment. She wore it all the time: at business functions, social engagements, even in the shower. Please don’t ask how I know that last part. An idea occurred to me, an idea so preposterous I didn’t dare go to the police with it.
One night Ryan invited me to a party, no doubt to rub my nose in his recent success. Oddly, he wasn’t surprised when I actually came. From there I watched miss Jacyln. When she was alone, off fetching a drink for her darling Ryan, I snuck up on her and forcibly removed the collar.
I had thought myself so clever in deducing what no one else could ever had suspected. In truth, I was ignorant. The collar was indeed magic, yet I had no idea how it actually worked. Jaclyn did not return to being Jacob, she just screamed and ran away, eventually telling Ryan that I had assaulted her. Furthermore, once I was holding the collar, and my skin was the only skin in contact with the item, its magic started to work upon me. I found myself putting the collar around my neck.
I closed my eyes, and when next they opened I had become the twin of Jaclyn Goodnight.
