The Curse Carriers

All women in Maisie's family carry the curse, which comes into play from their eighteenth birthday and can be triggered at any time if it is discovered by an adult male who isn't a blood relative. The local family members in this story (who are based in and around Chapel Hill, North Carolina) are Maisie and her sister (surname Petersen) and her three cousins (surname Janus, each have different fathers but only the eldest's was ever married to their mother, so his name remained). Unusually, Maisie's direct lineage has insisted on the eldest daughter keeping the Petersen name even through marriage, in order to preserve it in a lineage that almost exclusively produces daughter. The following characters are known to be cursed

Maisie

Maisie is the youngest female of her generation of her close family. As such she has always been spoiled which, along with her obviously great looks and how this causes people to treat her favourably, has led to her having something of an expectation of always getting her way. For that reason, she went against the decision most of her other female relatives made and told a long time platonic friend about her curse not long after her 18th birthday. Her theory was that he could be manipulated never to use it and therefore she would be safe. In fact, this decision put not only herself but the other female family members of her generation in danger.

Holly

Holly is Maisie's older sister and is 24 years old. Although the pair share a very close bond, they have highly contrasting personalities. Holly is far more serious than Maisie, a diligent worker and is doing very well in her career, even at a young age. She has kept her curse a secret, and also warned Maisie not to tell anyone, believing no man could be trusted with that kind of power. Maisie's decision to tell her friend has left Holly feeling that she needs to find someone to confide her secret in before it gets exposed accidentally and leaves her at the mercy of someone she didn't choose. But there is nobody she fully trusts not to **** it.

Melanie

Melanie is Maisie's cousin and the oldest female of her generation in the family, with her 30th birthday just weeks away when the story starts. She is a kind and good-natured individual who longs for a quiet and simple life. She has done her best to build a drama free and somewhat unremarkable existence as if the curse wasn't there. She has a fiance, Mike, who she has not shared her secret with. This is partly due to relationship struggles and also as she discovered he has a secret animal transformation fetish which she is scared he would use her curse to indulge in.

Of the cousins, Melanie has by far the best and closest relationship with Maisie. Due to their age gap, she baby sat for her often when she was a teenager, and her general nurturing and caring nature led to a strong bond between the pair that remains to this day.

Ellie

Ellie is the intellectual of the family and, at 26 years old, the middle sister of the cousins. She tends to get on with her own life away from the others and largely acts as if the curse does not exist. She has a live in partner, James, who does not know about her curse. Part of the reason she has not told him is that he has a much higher libido than she does, and she does not believe he would be able to control himself if given the sort of power over her the curse would allow.

She has a cordial relationship with Maisie, though the pair are not particularly close.

Kylie

Kylie is the youngest of the three cousins by some distance, just a year older than Maisie at 19. Perhaps for this reason, she has grown up as a spoiled, entitled and self centred individual. She is rude, abrasive and cares little for the feelings of others. She has also learned how to use her looks to manipulate men, rarely sleeping with them but often convincing them to buy her things and treat her like royalty.

She does not have a good relationship with Maisie, having always viewed her as a rival for the role of the family princess. However, she does still respect that she is family and she and Maisie would always have each others backs if any outsiders tried to mess with them.

Other Family Members

Maisie and Holly's mother is named Mary. She told her husband and their father, John, about the curse before either of their daughters were born, and he is one of the very few men in the history of the family never to have abused it. In fact, he made a decision not to use it for good or bad, and acts as if it doesn't exist.

The cousin's mother Carly attempted to keep the curse secret. However, an ex boyfriend (and Kylie's father) named Matthew found out about it around a decade before the story begins and abused it badly for a while. It was partly her memories of those experiences that encouraged Maisie to tell someone she thought she could control about it once she turned 18. Eventually, Carly's ex laid off her, since he didn't want his daughter to hate him and also realised someone may be in a position to do the same to Kylie one day. But there is always an anxiety in the family that he will return.

Maisie of course has other female relatives, extended family across the globe that she never sees or doesn't even know about, all of whom carry the curse, whether they know it or not. But her sister and three cousins are the only female members of her families generation who she has a relationship with.