Evil people come in many forms, but when it comes down to it, they generally have the same personality traits. And while they have many different traits and behaviors – the most notable is their desire to manipulate your perception of them.

An evil person’s main goal is to prevent anyone from seeing who they truly are inside. They will likely hide their true nature and do whatever it takes to protect their reputations. Because of this, at first, they can be hard to detect. However, once you start to see through the charade, and realize their true nature, they will react in new ways.

Here are 9 things truly evil people do when they realize they are caught.

1. They will lie.

Evil people don’t like to be called out. They want you to believe what they tell you about themselves, and if you call them out, or catch them in their fakery, they will lie. You may tell them you know they are using you and are tired of dealing with them. In turn, they will tell you that you are wrong. They aren’t using you. It could be the most obvious thing in the world- and they will gaslight and lie to you to try to cover their true nature.

2. They blame others.

Truly evil people never accept responsibility. Even if you see them doing wrong with your own eyes, they will tell you that they had to, and give you every reason in the book as to why. They will likely shift blame, even sometimes blaming the person they are harming to!

3. They disappear and resurface.

When caught, evil people will go into hiding if many other methods fail. They believe, by falling off your radar, you will forget about them and their evil deeds. But, then when you have had a chance to cool down, they will resurface. Once resurfaced, they will test their luck with you again.

4. They will make excuses.

Evil people have two major goals- to use and to manipulate. If you catch them using or manipulating, they will have every excuse in the book. They may tell you, “I’m sorry- I had to, I had no other option, please forgive me!” But they don’t mean it. This is yet another form of manipulation.

5. They will smear campaign.

When an evil person is backed into a corner, and you simply aren’t buying their BS anymore, they will turn on you like a rabid dog. You can expect them to tell everyone their (made up) version of how it all went down, except in their version, you are the evil one.

6. They will attack you.

Perhaps the most fundamental reason to cut a truly evil person out of your life is the fact that if they feel they have no other option, they can become dangerous. Evil people are unstable and lack empathy. And if you stand in their way, or in some way challenge their ego, they may violently lash out. It’s best to cut contact with an evil person as soon as it becomes clear who they truly are.

7. They entangle.

If you are dealing with an evil person, and you realize they are up to no good, be wary. If they go down, they will bring others with them, and those closest to them are likely to get brought up when the heat is on.

8. They play the victim.

If you are a naturally empathetic and understanding person, evil people will try to prey on this when caught. If you believe they are the victim, you are less likely to hold them accountable for their evil deeds. Don’t play into this. Evil is evil, pure and simple.

9. They try to make you feel special.

Evil people may acknowledge that they are evil when put under true pressure, but they will insist they are only evil to those who deserve it. They will try to make you feel like you are the exception, and that they would never do anything of the likes to you. But the fact of the matter is, if someone is evil to one person, they would be evil to you too.