Pledges Ch. 07

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Pledges

by Stephanie Rose

(The hottest black sorority recruits new members.)

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Chapter 7: The Pledging Process

The Sisters continue the abuse.

~~~

"Bam!"

Nadia's eyes shot open as the searing pain raced through the back of her head. "Ouch!" she said sharply as she rubbed the newly sore spot and tried to orient herself to her surroundings.

She touched her hair again and frowned. "What the hell?"

In addition to the sharp pain now at the back of her head, she found that her thick, curly, reddish-brown hair was matted like a helmet. Then she licked her lips, only to find a sour taste in her mouth.

"Ugh," Nadia said, frowning again at the taste of her morning breath. "Have we been here all night?"

As she fluffed up her curls, she looked around. She was surprised to see that she was sitting on a thick, carpeted floor with her back against the wall. Kara was on one side of her, Mickie on the other. Roxie sat on the end, completing their foursome.

She looked down and found that she was still in her black sweatsuit. Not only that, they were still in the well-furnished basement of the Rho Sigma Tau Sorority House. She then realized that she'd been sleeping with her head hanging down and banged it when she suddenly jerked backward.

Nadia carefully raised her head again, trying not to bang it on the wall for a second time. Then she peered at the clock on the wall on the other side of the room. It read just before 6am. Still somewhat groggy, she started to recall the events of the night before:

At just after 6pm, they were led downstairs to the lower level of the Sorority House. The Sisters called it the basement; however, this was unlike any basement the pledges had ever seen.

The "basement" had wall-to-wall plush carpeting, a full bar in one corner and a pool table in the opposite corner. Several steel-tipped leather chairs and matching tables were spread out around its perimeter. The room was filled with all types of freshly-cut flowers in heavy, antique vases, giving the room a sweet-smelling fragrance. The pledges also noticed the exotic, ethnic artifacts on the tables and the expensive artwork adorning all of the walls.

Unfortunately, the pledges couldn't readily appreciate their surroundings because immediately after they were situated, the Sisters put them through a rigorous pledging session from 7pm to 2am that morning.

Being drilled on pledge history, being embarrassed, being ridiculed and being tormented made up their seven-hour marathon pledging session. The pledges did their best to keep up, but found themselves no match for the twenty-two Sisters of Rho Sigma Tau.

Finally, just after 2am, the Sisters abruptly ended the session and left the pledges in the basement, trembling, exhausted and scared out of their minds.

Still sitting up against the wall and watching the clock inch closer to 6am, Nadia frowned when she suddenly heard a set of feminine voices. She looked around at the other pledges, but they were all still asleep.

"What the hell?" she said, looking around. "Am I going crazy?"

Then she looked up to see a dark space just above her, covered with silver-plated metal rods. "Are those voices coming from the heating vent?" she wondered.

Once Nadia quieted herself and strained her ears to hear, surprisingly, she could make out the voices pretty clearly. She bristled once she realized that the Sisters were talking about her and her pledge line sisters. Using her keen powers of deduction, but still a bit tired and groggy, she figured out that the room above them was most likely the study, and that the voices were most likely those of Lina and Miko.

Then, in an instant, everything went silent.

She sighed as she rested her head back against the wall. "I wonder what this day is going to bring," she mused as she watched the clock inch even closer to 6am.

~~~

At that exact moment, Lina stood in the kitchen pouring herself a glass of orange juice. Noting that the clock on the wall was about to strike 6am, she yawned and stretched. Dressed in a tiny white tank top and a matching pair of boyshorts, her lithe, cinnamon-colored dancer's body was nearly nude, but yet proudly on display.

"Ready for another pledging session," she said as she took her glass and padded barefoot back to the study. She'd been there for the past hour making notes for the upcoming lessons she wanted the pledges to learn. She frowned at the sight of all of her papers scattered across the desk.

"You're so messy," she laughed as she began putting the papers in order.

A minute later, she was almost done gathering up the documents when she heard a knock.

"Hey girl," Miko said, as she strode into the room. "Ready for the 6am pledging session?"

Lina laughed. "More ready than we were when we were pledging!"

Miko smiled and put her hands on her hips. As she did so, the thin, lacy soft-pink camisole that hit just under her firm, rounded ass, raised even higher. "Well, just for the record, I think you're doing a great job getting the pledges in shape."

Not having made love to anyone but herself for the past few weeks, Lina took a long, seductive look at Miko's soft, silky skin, but quickly composed herself. "You do, Soror? You think I'm doing a great job with them?"

"Absolutely," Miko said. "I mean, when we were pledging, we had it rough. You know that." She pursed her lips as Lina shuddered at their memories of freshman year.

"Rough is an understatement. We were flat-out hazed," Lina mused.

"True," Miko said, "but with these girls? You've been nothing but fair. And I respect that."

Lina smiled. "Thanks. Thanks a lot. I needed that."

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Miko asked.

They spent the next minute or so going over the day's lessons and assignments. Each of the pledges individually, and as a group, had daily Sorority history that they had to learn. They also had a daily volunteer activity and a daily gift that they had to present to the Sorors and the Sorority as a whole.

Sometimes the gift had to be a handmade item, but most of the time, the pledges gave daily gifts consisting of just verbal speeches about what the Sorority meant to them. Each and every day, Lina wanted the pledges to show appreciation to the Sorority and respect for its rich history. By doing so, Lina wanted to install into each pledge, a sense of pride and belonging to her beloved organization.

Though the Sorors were tough and oftentimes stern, they each loved the pledges and wanted to induct them into the Sorority with lots of love and affection. To insure this, their stringent selection process made sure that each of the pledges would be proudly accepted by each and every one of the Sorors.

Additionally, what the pledges didn't know, and wouldn't find out until the very end of their pledging process, was that each Soror prepared a daily gift for each of the pledges in return. Thus, on the night that the pledges crossed into the Sorority, each Soror would shower each pledge with the gifts they'd made and bought over the pledging period.

As a result, most of the time on their Induction Night, also known as their Crossing Night, each new Soror received upwards of several hundred gifts each. The gifts were most often small Sorority trinkets and handwritten poems and letters, but also included elaborate handmade paddles and other Sorority paraphernalia, cute, yet expensive clothing with the Sorority's letters emblazoned on them and generous gift certificates for clothing and beauty & spa treatments.

And, despite the undergraduate Sorors' lavish generosity, these items didn't include the gifts they'd receive from each of the Alumni Chapter members.

"How's that sound?" Lina asked. "Think their daily assignments sound good?"

"Sounds great!" Miko said, returning her smile. "But between you and me, Soror, I'm gonna go back upstairs, get dressed and get ready to give them another verbal beatdown!"

Lina chuckled as Miko gave her dap. Then she watched the gorgeous, Asian Amazon leave the room, swishing her pert ass all the way.

"I wonder what this day is going to bring," Lina mused as she continued gathering her papers.

~~~

At that exact moment, Sierra opened her eyes and immediately checked her alarm clock. Finding that it was almost 6am, she yawned, stretched out her milk-chocolate nude body and lay there for a moment.

Still missing Lina's body next to her, a feeling she hadn't had in weeks, she sighed. "I hope we get this right," she said as she gazed at the ceiling. "I hope we get back to where we were."

Finally, Sierra tossed off the covers, jumped out of bed and headed for her bathroom. Turning on the faucet for her glass-enclosed shower, she frowned. "I wonder what this day is going to bring," she said as she stepped into the steaming hot spray.

~~~

At that exact moment, Monica was lying in her bed, upstairs in the sorority house, watching her wall clock inch closer to 6am. She remembered that the pledges were still downstairs and that there was another pledging session scheduled to take place in just a few minutes.

However, she had something else on her mind. She stretched and her head began to throb from the events of the day before.

She remembered meeting Luci after their chemistry class. Monica tried to talk to her, tried to console her about not getting to pledge Rho Sigma Tau. However, Monica soon learned that Luci was dealing with much more than just pledge rejection:

In an instant, Luci broke down in Monica's arms, saying that she'd done something terrible.

However, she wouldn't give any information. She just cried and apologized over and over. It took all of the skill Monica had to get Luci to at least agree to come to the sorority house. As it were, Luci was scheduled to arrive first thing that morning.

"I wonder what this day is going to bring," Monica said as she got out of bed and headed toward the shower.

~~~

At that exact moment, upstairs in her Vice-President's suite, Tamryn slipped on her midnight-black, oversized Sorority sweatshirt. She'd already put on her black biker shorts, black socks and black gym shoes.

Wearing the ominous black outfit that she reserved solely for pledging sessions, she quickly pulled on her fingerless black leather gloves.

Her long, jet-black hair pulled into a tight ponytail and secured by a black headband, she turned and she admired herself in the mirror.

"Ready, Chief?" she said as she winked in the mirror. Then she checked her alarm clock. At 5:59am, she grabbed her pledge paddle and her keys.

"I know exactly what this day is going to bring," Tamryn grinned as she opened the door. "Pledge torment and abuse!"

She whistled gleefully as she left her room, hopped on the elevator and headed toward the lower level.

~~~

At exactly 5:59am, and still seated against the wall, Nadia nudged Kara until the caramel-colored girl began to stir. Then Nadia tried to shake Mickie awake, but Mickie was too far gone. Nadia glanced down at Roxie who was still fast asleep, her head cocked oddly to the side.

Kara yawned as she slowly opened her eyes. "Are we still here?" she murmured.

"Yeah," Nadia whispered. "But maybe we'll get to leave soon."

Kara, smoothing back her jet-black curly hair that had been pulled into a low bun, shot a hopeful look at her pledge line sister. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," Nadia answered.

Then they laughed together, leaning against each other, until they both dissolved into giggles. "Probably not," they said in unison.

As they settled down, Nadia perked up. "Oh yeah. Guess what?" She pointed to the ceiling above them. "See that heating vent up there? Did you know that you can hear –"

All of a sudden, Nadia was interrupted by the ding of the elevator bell. They looked at each other, not having any idea what was to happen next.

"Rise and shine, pledges!" Tamryn boomed as she stepped off the elevator. "Time to begin your early morning activities! So stand up and come to attention!"

Her smile quickly turned into a frown as the pledges struggled to stand.

"Hurry up!" she barked.

The foursome stood on wobbly legs against the wall. Before they could fully orient themselves, Tamryn pointed her paddle at them and started barking orders.

"I want to hear the Greek alphabet. Now!"

The foursome took a deep breath. "Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, – "

Throbbing veins seemingly popped out of Tamryn's neck and she exploded. "Excuse me!" she screamed. "Where is my greeting? How dare you forget my greeting!"

"Yes Big Sister Tornado!" they said in unison. The pledges immediately launched into Tamryn's personalized greeting:

"Greetings, Big Sister Tornado, seer of all that is right, protector of all that is good! We are but worms, worms that slither on the ground! Worms that need direction and focus and discipline! And if we prove ourselves worthy, then maybe, just maybe, our beloved Big Sister Tornado will see fit to provide us with the direction, focus and discipline that we so desperately need to become worthy members of Rho Sigma Tau!"

Tamryn glared at them as she twirled the paddle in her hands. "I swear, you four are the worst pledges I've ever seen! You worms know better than to forget my greeting!" she barked. "All right. The Greek alphabet. Now!"

"Alpha, beta, gamma, delta –"

"Tamryn, calm down," Lina said as she walked down into the basement. She took a look around, then she sighed. She turned to the four girls who were standing against the wall. "Pledges stop," she said quietly.

Tamryn shot Lina an icy-cold look. "They were in the middle of the Greek alphabet, Lina!"

Lina formed a sharp retort, but chose to close her mouth in front of the pledges. She motioned Tamryn over to the corner of the room.

Once they were alone, Lina put her hands on her hips. "I know what you're doing, Tamryn. But we first need to make sure that they're all right. They had a rough session last night."

Tamryn snorted and shook her head. "We weren't coddled when we were pledging. Why should we coddle them?"

Lina rolled her eyes. "Making sure they're physically okay is coddling them?"

Tamryn gave her a steely gaze. "Lina, you know we were pledged way harder than they were. All that mess that happened to us? That shit was borderline hazing. Remember when we were left out in the friggin' cold to fend for ourselves for over three hours? Remember when we were paddled to within an inch of our lives? Remember when we didn't eat for three days straight?"

"Yes, and I remember how demoralizing that was," Lina said softly. "And that that shit had nothing to do with the true bonds of sisterhood. And you know that I vowed not to do that to anyone else."

Tamryn sighed. "Yeah, I know. But I still think you're being a pussy about this."

Lina cut her a cold look. "Like you've gotten any lately. I'm surprised you still know what it is," she shot back. Then Lina turned and left Tamryn standing in the corner with her mouth open as she went to rejoin the pledges.

Lina clapped her hands. "Alright ladies. Listen up. You're going to have thirty minutes to eat. We have some things upstairs in the kitchen, so go help yourselves. And after you eat, you'll wait for our instructions. So go upstairs, now!"

The pledges scrambled upstairs, in sheer disbelief for their luck.

"Now what?" Tamryn asked as she rejoined Lina in the center of the room.

"We wait thirty minutes. That'll put us at just about 6:30am. The rest of the Sisters should be up, so we can get started with their session then."

Tamryn shrugged. "All right. But I still think you're being soft on them."

"Anyway," Lina winked, "who said their session was going to be short? Hell, we still have a lot of morning left!"

~~~

At just after 8am, the doorbell to the sorority house rang. With all of the Sisters in the basement crowded around the pledges issuing orders, demands and instructions, Monica was the only one who heard the bell.

Hoping it was Luci, she headed for the doorway. "I'll get it," she said over her shoulder as she climbed up the stairs.

She ran all the way to the front door and threw it open. She saw Luci standing there, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"Luci?" Monica said, staring at the distraught young woman.

"Monica!" Luci cried. "Oh, Monica, I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

When Monica reached for her hand, Luci broke down sobbing. Monica quickly put her arm around Luci's waist.

"Come on in, Luci," Monica said, ushering her into the study. "Come on in and tell me what's wrong. Tell me right now!"

~~~

"All right, ladies," Sierra said, walking in front of the pledges, eyeing them one by one. "I want to hear the Sorority Motto. Now!"

As the pledges launched into yet another test of their knowledge about the Sorority, Monica came downstairs and went right to Sierra. She whispered in Sierra's ear for several long moments.

Everyone watched silently as a deep frown crossed Sierra's face. Finally, Monica stepped back and waited for Sierra's reaction.

After several long moments, Sierra finally spoke. "Ok, pledges, we're taking a break. Go and sit down right over there," she said, pointing to the same spot against the wall where they'd sat earlier that morning. "And don't move, or even speak, until I come and get you."

The pledges scrambled and went to go sit against the wall. They huddled next to each other, waiting for further instructions.

Then Sierra turned to the rest of the group. "Sisters, I need all of the members of the Executive Board to meet me and Monica in the study."

Instinctively, Nadia looked up at the heating vent just over her head, but obediently kept quiet.

"Aww, come on, Sierra," Miko grinned. "We were just getting started on these worms!"

"Not now, Miko," Sierra snapped. "Just go into the study with the rest of the E-Board!"

Miko raised her eyes, but obediently followed Tamryn, Brandi, Lina, Angela and Candace upstairs and into the study.

Then Sierra turned to the rest of the Sisters. "Everyone else wait in the living room until we're done, okay?"

Everyone nodded and went to follow Sierra's instructions to the letter.

~~~

When the Executive Board walked into the study, they saw Luci sitting in the chair near the desk. Sierra took her seat behind the desk as the other six E-Board members filed into the room. Lina, Tamryn, Candace, Brandi, Miko and Angela all sat on the two sofas that sat on either side of the small, but quaint Victorian-era designed room.

Sierra looked around at everyone. Luci, her head down, had clearly been crying, as she was still dabbing at her reddened eyes with a tissue. Monica, a stern look on her face, had her gaze coldly fixed on Tamryn.

Strangely, Tamryn was silent. Her eyes were fixed on the carpet. The remaining five Sisters just sat there, confusion written all over their faces.

Sierra cleared her throat. "Ok, everyone. Here's the deal." She chose her next words carefully. "We have a...a situation. And it involves Luci."

Sierra turned to the trembling girl, still hunched over and still sniffling. "Luci, why don't you tell us what's going on."

"Wait!" Tamryn interjected. "She's a reject! Do we really have time for anything she has to say? I mean, this is nonsense! We need to get back to our business downstairs!"

"Tamryn, quiet down," Sierra warned, anger rising in her like quickfire. "And keep quiet until I say otherwise!"

The Sisters raised their eyebrows at Sierra's scolding tone, but they all kept silent.

"Ok, Luci," Sierra said. "Begin."

Luci looked around the room at the expectant faces. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, blocking out the penetrating glares. "Well...it all started with Jade. You know Jade, the president of the Mu Lambda Sorority? Well, Jade...she...she wanted to get even with you all."