When she woke up she was slightly disoriented and then realized after looking at her clock that Mom had let her sleep until MUCH later than she usually did. She got up and went in search of her to see what was up. She found her Mom in the basement working on some craft things. She often disappeared down there for hours on end making things, all manner of things. There was also a door in one side of the basement that led to her “play room” Cynthia wasn’t sure what exactly was played in there but her Mom never left it unlocked and the key was never available. When she asked her about it, the answer was always that when she was older it would be explained to her and not until then. If she asked when she would be old enough the answer was always, “When I decide you are.” Sometimes her Mom and Dad would go down and lock themselves in that room. Lots of times Mom would take her friends down there. All Cynthia had ever seen of the room was a few times she had tried knocking on the door when they were in there, hoping to get a peek but all there was to see was a curtained cover on the other side and the last time she had tried that her Mom had really warmed her butt up. She had then decided that she would just put it out of mind and when ever the time came that would be fine…but she hoped that this night would make it so.

“Hi Mom, what ya makin?”

“Oh, hi Baby, did you get your nap out? I’m making a center piece for the table tonight.” She was putting the finishing touches on a beautiful dried flower arraignment with beautiful blue bows and glittery spider webbing all over it.

“It’s gorgeous! I didn’t mean to sleep so long, I expected you to wake me.”

“I would have in a little while; I just wanted you to be well rested. Tonight is a big night for you.”

Cynthia was looking forward to tonight’s festivities but was a little unsure about what exactly it was all about. She knew that it was tonight because tonight was a full moon and they always met on the full moon. She used to kid her Mom about it being a werewolf club or something and that always made her laugh. This was the one closest to her 18th birthday so this would be her introduction into the club. Her Mom had assured her that it was a club she would want to be a member of. Her Aunt Pam her Mom/s twin sister was a member and most of her Moms closest friends were as well. Her Moms younger sisters were not and it had always seemed to her that there was always a little coolness between them that wasn’t there with Aunt Pam. Cynthia wondered if them not being in “The Club” had something to do with that.

“Mom, why is tonight so special? I mean, I know that I am going to be of legal age and an adult and all of that but really I am only going to be a year older than last year. I am happy that you and Aunt Pam are letting me join you in the club but I’m a little nervous. It seems so important to you and I don’t even know what kind of club it is.”

Her Mom turned to her and held out her arms. “Come here Honey.” She pulled her to her and held her close like a baby almost. “There is nothing to be worried about. Tonight will answer a lot of questions and open a lot of doors for you. I want you to just relax and do what ever is asked of you without a fuss. OK?”

This did little to allay her fears but she knew that she wanted to please her Mom very much. “Yes Ma’am I will be good. You will be proud of me.”

“I already am proud of you Sweetheart, I will be proud of you no matter what. You don’t have to worry; you will come through with flying colors. I know this; you have the blood, the signs and the mind. You will have no problems.”

“I hope so Mom.” She was even more nervous now and knew that asking questions would get her no more that she already had.

The day seemed to drag by and then right at the end go whoosh and rush to the end. She bathed and put on her New Dress, it was just so beautiful. Black and made so it fit her like a second skin. When she looked in the mirror she couldn’t believe how sexy she looked in it and that her own Mom had, had it made for her. The bottom was angled from mid thigh on her right to just above the knee on her left. The left was slit op the thigh though nearly to her hip. Though it was tight looking she felt a freedom of movement in it that made her feel almost naked. In the black thigh high hose she thought she looked smoking hot. The calf length stiletto heeled boots and the shear black shawl made the entire thing look sinfully sexy. Her Dad had given her a gold herringbone necklace and these big hoop gold earrings to go with it. There was a tiny silk purse and she was done. When she went down stairs her Dad took one look at her and howled like a wolf and her Mom, who was dressed to nines in a somewhat similar outfit, beamed at her.

“You look like a million bucks Baby.” Her mom said.

Dad just shook his head and wondered where his little girl had gone and who this ravishing vision of beauty was. This all made her blush and pleased her at the same time. At 7pm exactly they left the house and her mother who usually let her do the driving took the wheel and drove. They went into town and in the older downtown section pulled their car up to a gate in an old big building. The gate swung open and allowed them in after only a few seconds and they drove into an underground garage that was filled with cars. Cynthia had seen the old building all of her life and yet never paid it any mind because she had never seen anyone enter or leave it. It was three stories and looked like one of those old fancy hotels that people used to live in.

Looking at all of the cars she wondered what all went on here. She was expecting a gathering of her Mom’s friends, maybe 12 or 15 people. There must be 50 cars in here. “Mom, how many people are going to be here tonight?”

“Oh, I don’t know, the last time we had an initiate there were 75 I think, so some where in that area.”

Cynthia was shook, 75 people, she never imagined her Mom knew 75 people; much less 75 people that would be interested in meeting her teenage daughter. “Mom, are they all here to meet me!?”

“Every one of them Baby, you are special and they are all here to welcome you into adulthood.”

“I’m special to YOU mom, but not special, special.”

Her Mom laughed at that. “Believe me Baby you are indeed special, special and after tonight you will understand. Now come on and remember, do as I ask and everything will be OK. It is real important to me that you do as you are asked tonight, no matter how strange or unusual the request might seem.”

“I will Mama; I know this is important to you. I just wish I knew what it was all about.”

“This night is important to both of us and after tonight there will be no more secrets and no more questions that I can’t answer.”

“You mean that after tonight I will finally be “old enough”?”

“Yes Ma’am after tonight you will be an adult. That won’t mean that you will be able to disobey rules, but you will at least understand why the rules are there and why you have to obey them.”

They gathered in her Mom’s arraignment and went to an ornate elevator door. Her Mom took out a key and put it in a slot and turned. The door opened and they got in. A different key in the keyhole with a 3 beside it sent them up to the third floor where when the door opened they were greeted by a sight of amazing bizarreness. The door opened into a room that must have taken up nearly the entire third floor.

There must have been a hundred women, all dressed in the most beautiful clothes imaginable and all waiting for them. When the door opened they all lit a candle and lifted it over their heads. The lights went out and the scene was some how compelling as they all moved to open a way. Her Mom handed the arraignment to her Aunt Pam who was standing beside the door and she in turn passed it off to a woman Cynthia didn’t know.

With her Mom on one side and Aunt Pam on the other she was led through the cleared path to a chair in the front backed up to a raised stage where she was seated with her escorts flanking her one on each side. There then started a procession in which each woman came to her and introduced herself formally to her and shook her hand. Cynthia started to rise when the first approached her but Aunt Pam leaned over and told her that it was custom for her to remain seated. Even people she had known all of her life came and in their time made their formal introductions. When the last of them had passed, the eldest of them, a Lovely older Woman named Louisa, took the place behind and above her. Cynthia tried to turn in her seat but her Mom put a hand on her shoulder to still her.

Louisa cleared her throat and all grew quiet. “We come together again my Sisters to again welcome into our midst a new player. Since time immemorial we have met as such to insure that all who passed were of sound mind and strong character. Tonight Cynthia Anne Bartholomew has been presented for our approval. We all welcome her but also before offering her full enlightenment must ask of her a few questions and ask that she offer up proof that she is worthy. First we will ask the 7 questions.”

From the crowd stepped a Woman whose name had passed through Cynthia as a wind and was now gone. “Cynthia, if you make a promise, can and do you keep it?”

A little confused she answered it truthfully, “Yes Ma’am. A promise is safe with me. I don’t make many of them and keep the ones I make as I was taught by my parents. A promise is never made lightly and never broken.”

The Woman nodded and then looked at her Aunt and Mom. They spoke as one, “We attest that this is true.”

A second Lady stepped forward, “Cynthia, if you could steal something and knew that there was no way that you would ever be caught and no one would ever miss the thing you took, is there any reason not to take it?”

This was easy, Cynthia answered, “Stealing isn’t defined by being caught or anyone else knowing. I would know and that would make me a thief. I am not a thief!”

Again the Sisters answered as one the unspoken question. “We attest that this is true,”

The next question was put fort by a young woman surely not much past her early twenties. “Do you believe in the sanctity of love and understand its value?”

This was a hard one. “I am young and truthfully not very experienced in love and not sure of its true nature. I have loved and always tried to honor those that I love and that love me. Love is a little like a promise to me, I don’t throw it around but it means a lot to me when I feel it.”

The answer seemed to please and her Mom and Aunt agreed to the truth of what she said. Cynthia was getting real nervous but trying real hard to answer truthfully and thoughtfully.

The fourth question was asked by a friend of her Mom’s that she knew. “Hi Cindy, what would you do with it if you had the power to change a person; just one. Who would you change and how.”

Surprisingly this was an easy question for her. “I would change myself and make myself a better person, stronger and better able to do the things that need doing in this messed up world we all live in.”

This answer stirred quite a bit of murmuring but it was silence when the Mom and Aunt barked out their, “We attest that this is true.” Cynthia was afraid that her answer had been wrong but a quick glance at her Mom stilled that fear, she was beaming.

The fifth was simple and straight forward. “Are you a virgin?”

The answer was equally straight forward. “No I am not.” The chorus was the same though she glanced at her Mom to make sure that this was what she had wanted to hear. They had talked about boys and her Mom had known when she had given up her virginity a year ago. She had come to her about protection and they had gone together to the doctor and taken care of it.

The Sixth question puzzled her. “Have your bowels been cleaned?”

Blushing she assured them they had been and her Mom and Aunt agreed.

The Seventh question scared her. It came not from one of the women out in front but rather from behind her. “Are you willing to be tested and prove that you are worthy as your sponsors assure us you are?”

Cynthia was so nervous that she was fighting back tears as she answered without turning or looking back. “Yes Ma’am if that is what my Mom wishes, I am willing.”

This time her two sponsors answered as one again but said, “She is ready, so shall the test begin.” They each took an arm and helped her up. She was led up to the dais where Louisa had been. There was a curtain and when it was drawn back there was a strange looking piece of furniture there. She was led to it and to her horror she realized as she was positioned that it was a spanking bench.