Chapter 3: You Belong To Me Now

Present day...

Jonah pulls out a silver collar from his bag. The collar was made with some sort of metal, and has a hole in the shape of a heart in the middle. With Caedi in his arms, he quickly clips it around her neck.

"Do you know what this is?" he teases. "It just so happens that fate helped me out. You'll never believe it."

Jonah reaches into his bag and pulls out another collar with a keypad attached, but this one is different. It's much taller and has a heart in the middle.

"Out of nowhere, out of the sky, this crate-clearly some military equipment-fell from the sky when I was out for a walk, nearly crushed me since I'm bad at predicting where things are going to fall."

Jonah clips the collar around his neck, and Caedi watched as his eyes glowed red for a second. He then pushed Caedi onto the couch.

"I found these collars inside with some blueprints and instructions, lots of instructions. When I found that they were basically master-servant collars, I was stunned."

Caedi's eyes widen. She starts pulling on the collar, attempting to release herself from it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. If the collar is removed without putting in the pin, you'll instantly die."

At his words, Caedi close her eyes and begin crying while holding onto the collar.

"Now, you sit right there. Don't try running away, or you will pay for it. The sleeping drug I gave Iah should have kicked in a good while ago."

Jonah walks into the girls' room. He finds Iah on the ground holding onto a jewelry box. He put the box in his bag and then picks her up.

Once he was back in the living room, he was surprised to see that Caedi was nowhere to be found.

"No matter, I just need to wait for your father to get home. In the meantime, I guess I'll wake you up for now."

Jonah rests Iah down and grabs a small bottle from his pouch. He puts the fluid into his mouth and edges closer to her until their lips lock. He slowly feeds it to her. As soon as he was done, he backed away.

After five minutes, Iah woke up. She was dazed at first but quickly remembered what transpired. Immediately, she attempts to get away from Jonah, but her back was literally against a wall.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Unless you run away," Jonah says. "Your mother and brothers aren't dead, just under some drug called sleeping beauty. They'll awaken if I give them the antidote."

"Okay, where's Caedi?" Iah becomes more relaxed but still stays cautious.

"Ran away. I'll retrieve her afterward. I'm just waiting for something to happen. Look, I need you to work with me here; you know I'd never hurt you."

"Right...but what's the whole point of this?" She asks calmly.

"Hmm...There is no goal. Though if I have to give one, I guess I'd like to shape the world the way I want to. This island should be sufficient enough, though."

Jonah explained the collars and where he got them to Iah.

"So if you die, everyone who is wearing this dies too?"

"That's correct, and I'd like to get them on some important officials if you catch my drift."

"But this is so dangerous, Jonah. What if you die from a heart attack or something unpredictable like that?"

"Don't worry, I've taken precautions. At the very least, I won't let you and Caedi die."

"Well, why do you need us? Why couldn't you use some random people?"

Jonah pauses for a couple of seconds and chuckles to himself.

"It didn't have to be you. I wanted it to be you because I know you."

Before Iah could prod him further, there were sounds of sirens coming from outside.

"Let's go."

Iah reluctantly got up, and Jonah pulls her toward him, putting his arm firmly around her neck and reaching into his pouch. He pulls out a gold pistol and sticks it to her head.

"I thought you weren't going to hurt me!?" She screams.

Jonah stays silent and makes her walk outside the house and toward the road. There were four police cars waiting there and standing in front of them, seven policemen armed and ready.

One policeman in the middle is holding a megaphone and calling out to Jonah.

"Sir, we ask you please release the girl and come with us. We can get you the help that you need. There's no need to hurt any more people here today."

Jonah smirks and looks the officer dead in the eyes.

"That's a shame. I still have people on my to-kill list," he mocks.

"Sir, please step away from the girl."

"How about you listen to me for a bit. I'm still waiting on someone."

Jonah sits down slowly on the ground, crossing his legs, Iah sitting on them, gun still stuck to her head.

"Don't move." He told Iah.

He then reaches into his bag, pulling out one of the plain silver collars.

"Do you perhaps know what this is?" He directed to the officer.

The officer sighed.

"It seems to be a collar, sir," he says, annoyed.

"Not just any collar, but it's some military-grade device that is essentially a master-servant collar. Meaning if I die or it's attempted to be removed without the passcode, the person wearing it dies."

Silence broke among the officers as they slowly took in what Jonah said.

"Sir, this is no time for jokes. If you come back with us, I'm sure we can help you."

Jonah clips the collar around Iah's neck, and her eyes glow red for a second.

"Did you know if I give it a sample of my blood, she can share my bruises and my pain?"

The cops watch as Jonah pulls a knife from his bag. It had a green handle with finger grips and rope wrapped around it. Jonah takes the knife and slashes across his right cheek, letting blood drip from it.

He takes the blood and smudges it on the collar. Soon a mark the same as his appeared on Iah's face. The police officers are bewildered by this, but then suddenly Iah begins screaming, holding onto the side of her stomach.

Jonah reaches for the collar's keypad and entered the pin '41420,' and the collar detached. Iah breathes heavily, a few streams of tears falling down her face.

"Oops, looks like I forgot about the injury my father gave me when I killed my mother."

He lifts his shirt to show a fresh stab wound. With a grin and his head held high, he looked at the officer.

"O-okay, sir, what is it that you want? We're willing to negotiate."

"I want to leave, go to my cabin, that's about it. With them, of course. I didn't put on the collars for nothing. Oh, and while you're at it, send a doctor, preferably female, that I can put a collar on."

"I'm afraid we can't do that."

"And I'm afraid you don't have a choice unless you wanna kill many other people. Oh, and maybe you don't know, but these things came with blueprints..."

"What about the blueprints?" The officer started visibly sweating.

"I have people ready to release them to the public. If I don't leave here unharmed..."

"Alright, sir, we hear your request." The officer looked at the people beside him. "Drop your weapons; we're leaving."

"Hold on."

The officer stops in his tracks and looks back at Jonah. He was pointing at one of the police cars.

"The girl, I want her. Bring my darling to me."

"I-I am afraid we can't do that."

"She has a collar on, which means she belongs to me now."

Jonah could see that the policeman was conflicted, so he tries to persuade him even more.

"If she gets too far away from me...you don't know what could happen~"

The policeman grits his teeth.

"Give me a minute with her." He says and enters the car that Caedi was in.

Caedi sat there with a blank and terrified look on her face. She heard everything.

"I'm sorry. Caedi, was it? We really don't know the dangers of the collar, so until the higher-ups can discuss this, you're going to have to go with him."

Tears begin to stream down Caedi's eyes.

"Why is this happening to me? Why me!? I haven't done anything to deserve this."

The policeman places his hand on Caedi's shoulder.

"We will figure out a way to save you, but you have to stay strong," he grits his teeth once again, "No matter what he may do to you."

Caedi cries even louder. The officer let her cry it out. By the time she quieted down, the sun was already beginning to set.

She got out of the car and saw Jonah waiting for her. Jonah smiled and held out a hand to her. She walked toward him and reluctantly grabbed hold of his hand.

Jonah takes the lead, heading up the road leading toward the woods.

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