Handling the Truth

Kelly only just managed to catch Haley before her cousin entered Carl's room for the evening, but she needed less than a minute to say what she had to, before heading back to Martin's room for the night of erotic shrink play she had promised him.

In some ways, being free of the obedience command but still having to fake devotion to Carl was even tougher for Haley. It was hard to cozy up to a guy she had no feelings for because circumstances had **** her to. It was probably a similar dynamic to a marriage from three hundred years ago. But she went and cuddled up next to him on his bed anyway.

Haley had lied and told her master she was on her period. Since he had no reason not to believe her and didn't seem willing to use commands to mess with his girlfriends internal biology, that at least meant sex was off the table for now. But it was an excuse with a small window. Haley needed to plead her case for freedom successfully tonight. Before her hallway encounter with Kelly, she hadn't felt too optimistic about that. But with her new diplomatic and body language reading skills in place, Haley felt a new found confidence in her ability to pull this off.

"Hey babe..." the word almost stuck in her throat, but she managed to push it out "So you know I always try and look out for your best interests and make my relationship with you the best it can possibly be"

"Of course, I love that about you"

"Well I don't think this is it"

"What?"

"I can't genuinely love you when you are using magic to control my emotions. It just isn't possible, because my feelings can't be my own. So this can never be authentic"

Carl looked crestfallen at his beautiful bubble suddenly being burst like this.

"You're saying you don't love me?"

"I'm saying I can't love anyone when you have me like this. It isn't a reflection on you, it just isn't possible, and no command can make it so. Only releasing me can"

Carl's mood, which had been so bright and energetic when Haley had first entered his room that evening, had now turned distinctly sombre.

"But if I let you go you won't love me anyway. You probably won't even talk to me. It will be just like before"

As unpromising as that initial reaction sounded, Haley was able to detect that something in her words had resonated with Carl, even if he was still going to take a lot of convincing.

"How about I help you in advance? You can ask me anything about myself and command me to answer honestly. You can ask me about my hobbies, likes and dislikes, the qualities I look for in a guy, my turn on's, secret fantasies, nothing is off the table. Then you can make me forget I told you anything. It will be like your own personal cheat guide for winning me over. Then, once you release me, you can try and make the fake thing we have going now into something real"

"What if you laugh in my face?"

"I'm not a bitch, Carl" Haley told him "It's true there are no guarantees it will work. But it might. And if it does, it will be way better than this. Seriously, how long do you think you can keep this fantasy going for? We're eighteen. It might be enjoyable for you now, but do you really want to be doing this for the next sixty years?"

Haley knew she was making sense, and she could see Carl was wavering. But he wasn't quite there yet. It was risky, but she had to push it.

"The truth is, I could never love a man who wouldn't let me go to my cousin when that is what I want to do"

Carl sighed and hung his head. He had always known deep down Haley didn't love him, he just didn't want to ever have to acknowledge it. But maybe this could work. Sure, he would still be cheating his way to her heart, but only initially. If he was able to win Haley over semi legitimately, he might actually be able to build something genuine with her from that starting point.

"Okay, then you can go"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I love you Haley. I want there to at least be a chance you might love me back one day"

She hugged Carl tightly and, for once, was doing so of her own volition. Haley was free.

---

Tammy was powering off her laptop before winding down what had been a highly eventful day, when she saw her mother walking by through the gap in her bedroom doorway. She decided she wanted answers, and she needed them now.

"Mom, are you free to talk with me a moment?"

"Always" Holly smiled as she entered the room.

"Do you know about the Purest Petersen?"

The look on her mothers face instantly told Tammy the answer was yes. Holly came and sat down on the bed next to her.

"How much do you know about it?"

"All of the key details, I think"

Holly puffed out her cheeks and pushed back her hair, not having prepared herself for such a serious talk.

"I didn't want to worry you by telling you about it. And if you had a kid before you turned twenty five, it would never even have been an issue"

"It's fine, Mom. I'm not mad at you. But I did have a question about it"

"Sure, ask me anything. I promise to be as honest as I can"

"Certain aspects of the curse kick in when the Purest Petersen turns 25. You had me when you had just turned 26. I don't have any siblings other than Andrew. Am I only here because of that?"

Holly felt winded by the bluntness of the question. And the truth of it. Holly had never really known if kids would be right for her before Tammy was born, and she had only been dating Brett for a matter of months when she became pregnant by him. But the harshness of the curse had done its job and **** her into having a child. Now Tammy was here, Holly loved her more than anything else in the world. She was literally the one good thing to have come out of the curse for her mother. But it was true that, without it, Tammy would not have been born..

"I love you so much that I can only be honest with you. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't have had a child at that age. I didn't feel like I was ready for it. But you are the best thing that ever happened to me and my whole world, Tammy. I hope you know that"

"I do"

Tammy leaned in and hugged her mother warmly before pulling away to finish the conversation.

"Thank you for your honesty. I'm not at all angry with you. I couldn't have asked for a better and more loving mother. I just needed to know. You did what you had to do. I might have to do the same one day"

"Let's hope not. I mean, the way things are progressing with you and Philip, who knows?"

"Yeah, I have this weird feeling I might have found the one already" Tammy smiled to herself.

"Oh, I forgot to ask, how did your English presentation go today?"

"Pretty good actually?" Tammy giggled, deciding to leave it at that.

---

As soon as Craig had left, Jessie marched straight upstairs to her room where Emily was sat on the bed, fiddling with her phone.

"Oh, hey Jessie!" she spoke cheerily in her northern English accent.

"So when were you going to tell me?" Jessie glared and folded her arms aggressively.

"Tell you what? Has something happened?"

"You can drop the act, Mom"

Maisie's face fell. She had really hoped her daughter would never uncover this deception. She wasn't quite sure how she could explain it. Of course, it had been done as a way of protecting Jessie and her cousins. But it was still a huge betrayal of trust from the two people Jessie ought to be able to count on never to do such a thing, her parents.

"How did you find out?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not" Maisie sighed, still both looking and sounding like her young, British alter ego, since her husband wasn't at home to change her back just now.

"Who else was in on this. Dad, obviously to give you the command to change you. Who else?"

"Does that matter?"

"Yes, actually it does to me!"

"The only other person who knew we were going to do it was Holly. But a few other people figured it out"

"Like?"

"Tammy, Philip, Kelly....I think Haley had her suspicions"

"Shit. Just about everyone except me, then. I guess I'm the only one dumb enough not to recognise my own DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

Maisie recoiled at the venom in her daughters eyes as she pushed away her consoling hand. She had never seen her like that before.

"Do you understand just what a fucking violation this is? I befriended you, confided my secrets in you, and that included a lot of shit I wouldn't have wanted my mother knowing. We showered together. Fuck, we made out! Oh God!"

"I couldn't get out of that without blowing my cover"

"Then blow your fucking cover! You shouldn't even have had a cover to fucking blow! What's wrong with you?"

"You father and I were both worried - rightly as it turned out - that Craig was secretly mind controlling you. We needed a way for me to find out so I could stop it. It was Emily who uncovered what he was doing and got you to see it. And it wasn't just you I was concerned for, it was your cousins too. If Emily hadn't knocked Craig out when she did then Tammy, Haley and Kelly would have been claimed by three of the most disgusting frat boys at your college. Imagine Tammy having to cope with that rather than getting Philip"

"There had to have been a less fucked up way of achieving all of that" Jessie's tone had at least softened a little now, but she was still visibly fuming.

"Not that I could think of. I did a crazy thing because sometimes love can make people act crazy"

There was a stunned silence in the room, neither of them knowing quite what to say. It was Maisie who eventually broke it, her voice cracking with emotion.

"I found out about the curse when I was eight. And someone didn't break it to me gently, I overheard your grandparents talking about how your Aunt Kylie's father was torturing your Great Aunt Carly with it. Just about every night until I told your father about my curse I lay awake at night, fearing who might get control of me and what they might do. That fear wasn't even a fraction of the amount I worried about what might happen to you and your sister every single day of your lives. So If I had to do something that..."

At this point Maisie was unable to continue talking as her emotions overwhelmed her and she began weeping almost uncontrollably. Jessie rushed over to embrace her, and her mother hugged her back tightly.

"This doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you" Jessie whispered as she stroked her Mom's back lovingly.

"I know" Maisie answered quietly.