The thing about abusers & manipulators is they make up for lack of personality, looks, empathy and skill by being emotional chameleons.
They study the current "target" - figuring out what makes them tick and what they like ect - then absorbs that info with "oh hey I think that thing you like is cool too!" and starts a process that tends to be known as "lovebombing"
"Lovebombing" is basically kind of like a honeymoon period on crack (for one side anyway) - the manipulator tries to act like what they think is showing love, they constantly want to be with you, they promise the moon and back again, they've probably planned your immediate future with them and so on. Basically at this time they act like they are into you, and name of the game is to get you hooked on them.
Once they win you, things might be okay for a while...until they get bored. Which happens because far as they are concerned they already won the challenge, the "game" is over. So they start looking for the next target while messing with the previous target for their personal enjoyment. Being mean to keep em keen if you will. The current kept "prize" then starts wondering where the nice person who dug everything they liked & loved being around them suddenly went
(The catch being, that person you think you know is a product of imagination)