Preparing for Anything

With Maisie now on board with the plan, Tammy had urgently invited her mother and her master over to her Aunt's place for a full on tactical meeting. Everyone was quickly brought up to speed from each others perspectives - Holly's in depth research into every known facet of the curse, Maisie's decades long lived experience of it and Philips fresh pair of eyes and strategic mindset. Tammy was just happy to be the catalyst bringing all the vital components together.

"So just to clarify, secondary orders aren't possible?" Philip enquired "For example, I couldn't command Tammy to gain mind control powers then get her to make Craig forget all about the curse?"

"No, it's never been possible to do anything like that" Maisie answered "Which is definitely for the best. You can see just how far out of control the curse could get if that kind of thing were viable"

"Actually, while that is generally the case, it might not be completely accurate" Holly advised tactfully "The whole thing about not being able to effect other people with second hand magic through masters commands, from some of what I've read at least, may not apply where the secondary target also has a triggered curse, especially if their name is used first. I'm not sure if that is an intended effect of the curse or an accident, but I've read about cases where it has apparently worked. It wouldn't be as powerful as a direct command from a master, but I fear it may be possible, for example, for Craig to command Tammy through Jessie, if Philip wasn't there to overrule him"

"Shit, that's not good if it's true" Maisie realised.

"Actually it could help us as much as it can hurt us, especially if we are the only ones who are aware of it" Philip countered pragmatically "Maybe we should test it now. Something very mild obviously. Like I give Tammy the power to change Emily's hair colour"

"Fine, go for it" Maisie agreed.

"Okay, Tammy, you now have the ability to change anyone's hair to any different colour just by saying it after their name. First try it on me, someone entirely unaffected by the curse, then on your Aunt Holly, who has a dormant curse, then on Emily, who is actively cursed. Let's see what happens"

"Okay, um...Philip have pink hair" Tammy commanded.

"Goodness me, Tammy, pink? I'm glad that didn't work" Philip chuckled.

"Mom. I mean, Holly, have pink hair"

Again nothing happened.

"Emily, have pink hair"

Nothing, followed by a sigh of relief from Holly.

"Wait, try it with my actual name" Maisie suggested.

"Okay. Aunt Maisie, have pink hair"

This time Emily's hair turned from blonde to pink in an instant.

"Okay. It's a good job we checked that" Philip concluded "Terrific intel, Holly. That little trick could come in very handy in a pinch, as long as we keep it to ourselves, and we also know now that we need to be able to guard Tammy against it. I doubt Craig would ever figure that out, but Martin and Carl share an apartment. I wouldn't be surprised if they start running the same kinds of tests with Haley and Kelly as we are with you two, once they feel bold enough to claim them"

"What worries me about this is that we now need to defend Tammy against three other masters, potentially" Holly fretted "I'm assuming since Emily is a fake cover, Maisie will be relatively safe"

"That's my working assumption, and it does bother me that I can't always be there to protect Tammy" Philip agreed "But I can prepare her in advance. So Tammy, I am giving you this now as a command. I am going to send you a series of emails when I get home later. Each will contain a separate command for you and be titled with a code word or clue as to what it will do. You will organise all of them into one clearly marked, easy to access folder at the earliest opportunity. You will only ever open and read these emails if you sense you need them. You will find that, knowing when to open a command email, and judging which one will be appropriate to use in any given situation from its coded title, will be something you can sense quite naturally"

"Damn, you were right Tammy. He's good!" Maisie grinned.

"Thank you so much for helping my family like this Philip, and for being the kind of master I could only have dreamed of for my only daughter to end up with" Holly added, her voice cracking with emotion "I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you are doing"

"That's quite alright" Philip assured her "It's actually nice to feel like all of my overthinking is coming in useful for once, and Tammy has always been a good friend to me. Be warned though. Martin and Carl are both classic overthinkers too."

"I feel like it might be time for Emily to get to know those two a little better" Maisie decided "Maybe you can tell me about their interests and I can get my husband to give me an exhaustive knowledge of those subjects so she can befriend them. Keep your enemies close and all of that"

"That could be helpful. Martin in particular has a big crush on Emily.." Philip concurred "And as long as your true identity remains a well kept secret, you hopefully shouldn't be in any danger from them. Look, I've really got to go now, but I'll send that info over to Tammy to pass onto you later, along with those commands I was talking about. It might be better if we don't meet in person too often, it may raise suspicions. But I'll always be contactable through Tammy"

"I'll walk you to the door, Philip" Tammy smiled before leading him away from her older relatives "I really do appreciate everything you are doing for me. I don't know what I have done to deserve all of this kindness. But thank you"

After opening the door, Tammy raised herself onto her tip toes, leaned across and gave Philip a gentle peck on the lips by way of a goodbye. It was only momentary, but fully intentional, and it completely caught him off guard.

"Oh, that's quite alright" Philip blushed, looking a little flustered "I mean you've always been, I've always thought of you as.....look, it's really my pleasure. I'll be in touch soon. Take care, Tammy. And please don't worry. Between us, we've got this!"

---

Kelly was sitting on her bed late that evening, naked and ready to masturbate before attempting to get some sleep, when her phone began buzzing.

"Who the fuck is that at this time?" she asked herself rhetorically as she looked at a number she didn't recognise on her screen. She decided to just let it go to voicemail. But instead of leaving a message they rang again. This time she picked up.

"What?" she answered with undisguised irritation.

"Hello, is that Kelly Greenwood?"

"Yes"

"And are you alone now?"

"Yes, Who are you and why the fuck are you ringing me up at night and asking if I'm alone? Are you going to tell me you're standing outside my window jerking off or something? Or ask me what I'm wearing? FYI the answer is nothing"

There was a short silence and some slightly heavy breathing on the other end of the line before the caller composed himself and resumed the conversation.

"I apologise, I didn't mean for that to come off as creepy, but I want to ensure this conversation is private. This is Martin"

"Who the fuck is Martin? I don't know any Martins"

"Martin Lance. I'm literally in your class at college"

"Oh right, Martin, of course!" Kelly responded with sarcastic over enthusiasm "Marty! The Lancemeister! How are you doing ol' buddy, ol' pal? So glad to hear from you at one o clock in the fucking morning!"

"I know about your curse" the voice, calm and reasonable before, now sounded terse "I am therefore claiming you. Kelly, you will from now on refer to me as Master Martin. Do you understand?"

"Yes Master Martin"

All the cockiness was suddenly drained from Kelly's voice and she sounded uncharacteristically meek, not to mention scared.

"Good, I am now going to use the classic test to check the curse has worked, As much as I like blondes, I have always thought you would look super hot as a redhead. So Kelly, you will now have red hair"

There was a pause before Martin spoke again.

"Well? Did it work?" he asked impatiently.

"It did, Master Martin" Kelly confirmed as she looked across at her reflection in the mirror.

"Good. Now Kelly, I want you to take a photo as proof, in whatever you are or aren't wearing currently, and text it to this number.."

Kelly reluctantly did as she was ordered and sent the resulting image to her new master.

Kelly shuddered as the blue tick indicated that her nude selfie had been seen. There was once more the sound of heavy breathing, even more audible than before, on the other end of the line for a few moments before her master spoke again,

"At least you aren't a liar, Kelly. And it seems my instincts were right, so we're keeping that hair colour for you. You will not tell anyone at all about us, this conversation, or that your curse has been triggered. You will attend school normally tomorrow and tell anyone who asks that you simply decided to try a new look, which you are now keeping because you make such a sexy little redhead - and actually use that phrase, it will be cute coming from you. After school you will head straight to an address that I will text you, but you will come separately from me, taking an alternate route which I will provide directions for. Is all of that understood?"

"Yes Master Martin" Kelly confirmed before the line went dead.