Sobbing.

How often do women believe that crying can solve any problem, atone for any wrong done, and make a man surrender and forgive any betrayal?

And most importantly, how often are they right?

...But not now.

The moment of weakness passed.

Anger washed over me again. Yes, Maisie could feel now. But this was still the same Maisie.

The same Maisie who had me wrapped around her finger for years. Who fucked me left and right, and then, as if by accident, would drop phrases like, "After Jeff, I can barely walk, he's such a stud!" and watch my reaction, enjoying my pain. Knowing how I felt. Okay, correction: knowing that I was in pain. Knowing that he CAN cause me this pain.

Psychopaths really can't empathize. But they can enjoy the feeling of their own power over someone. They literally live for it.

Something must have changed in me, because Maisie recoiled in fear, pressed herself into the far corner of the chair, and now looked at me with the terror of a mouse cornered by a cat.

"Please, Brad... I'm sorry, I... I'm ready to make amends in any way. Just don't use it on me... that... Not like that, please..."

"And why shouldn't I? Do you really think that after everything you've done, you can go unpunished?"

"Because the curse not only gives power over one of the women of our kind... It also changes the owner of one of us. It pushes us toward evil." You just have to give in, and every next change, every next transformation... Everything becomes more and more perverted, sick, disgusting and humiliating... - she started sobbing again - my aunt... She opened up to a wonderful person, he was once a good, kind guy... They just wanted to experiment. Once... Twice... And then... And what she has become now... Please, Brad! They started with love, and now you openly hate me! I'm afraid to even imagine where this can go!

"I wonder, what were you thinking when you behaved that way, with the man you destined to be the future keeper of your secret?" I exclaimed, baring my fangs.

"Not with a man. I didn't consider you a man. I didn't think a little mockery would somehow change your attitude towards me. And Brad, I'm terribly ashamed and hurt by this. Yes, I was a bitch and a bastard. Yes, I enjoyed humiliating and insulting you, and pretending not to know that you were burning inside. Lord, please remove this command from me to tell only the truth. I'm hurting you more and more now, and besides, by saying all this, I'm hurting myself terribly now. I understand that it's completely unimportant in the current situation, but I don't want to hurt you again. Ask me if I'm telling you this sincerely now. You know I can't lie to you!"

Her words gave me an idea.

"You know, I think I've come up with a fitting punishment. You were right when you said you knew I was in pain, but you didn't feel it. So, Maisie, I want you to feel, in the next ten minutes, all the pain and worry you've caused me with your actions." I want you to literally "step into my shoes." Feel what I felt. Just—turn the table around!

Maisie froze. Then—somehow, she looked up at me, her eyes strangely. Something flashed in them... something.

And then, she clutched her stomach and doubled over in sobs.

The next ten minutes were pure agony. Everything I'd been through for years, she experienced in ten minutes.

She was shaking violently, vomiting, crying. Not loudly, quietly, whining like a dying dog. She was filled with hopelessness.

I was about to cancel my order when the ten minutes passed...

Maisie took a deep, heavy breath and sank into the chair. She was conscious...

It took her a few more minutes to come to her senses. I remained silent. I waited for her reaction.

She sat silently, her head drooping. Her shoulders shuddered.

Then, she raised her head and looked at me... With pity and love. And with the deepest guilt.

"...So it was like this, yes..." she said quietly. "I couldn't even imagine it... Even when you returned my feelings, or rather bestowed them upon me, I didn't think it was like this... Brad... I don't know if you'll ever be able to forgive me. I just want you to know that I love you. It seems like I've always loved you. Damn, I know it's magic, but for me, it's true. And I'm so, so sorry. If I could, I'd kill the old Maisie with my own hands. I'm so sorry, Brad... So sorry... And even despite all this pain... Despite everything I've been through in these ten minutes that felt like years to me... Brad. I love you... I love you so much... And that means... That means you still love me, right?"

She looked at me with hope... And I listened to my own soul and heart...