Boy did you nail it on the head. Manipulation is such a silent beast. It can be a part of your life before you've realized it. I am still feeling the pain from the recent manipulator I allowed to become part of my life. She seemed like a very nice and sincere person, when all along she was just playing on my emotions to feed her own insecurities. I believe a true manipulator preys on your being. They pretend to have the same likes, dislikes, a way to connect to your spirit and all along it is a total farce. I know in my case I felt like she was "so much like me", so it seemed, however as you stated, they soon "snap".....and lash out and for me, this person told all my secrets to my husband which I confided in her as a friend. You can imagine what I am going through every single minute of every day. She has turned my life inside out. I am slowly trying to make sense of it all but one thing is for sure, I have completely distanced myself from her. She is bad, bad news. I have so much anger inside for her but what I am slowly learning is that I need to step back and be careful who I allow into my life. People can be evil and someone like that is dangerous to be associated with. What is scarey is that they appear to be "normal" but as I think back on many, many incidents involving her, I would have to say that I ignored "all the red flags." I didn't want to believe that someone I thought as a true friend, turn out to be such an evil witch, full of ugly, ugly energy. Once you are manipulated, truly manipulated it changes who you are. I know I am very different today. But I do believe in a better way. I am more humble, I appreciate what is truly important and I am slowly learning to let go of some of this anger and hatred which I never knew exsisted. I didn't think it was possible for me to have these feelings.