The Pledge Mistress
Copyright 2006 by EC
EC's Erotic Art & Fiction - http://www.ecgraphicarts.com/

(warnings: erotic discipline, sex between adults, medical fetish, public nudity, 
sexual hazing, violence)

Chapter 34 – Pledge Brittany

The following week marked a subtle, but significant change in the relationship 
between Lisa and Kathleen.  What went on between them had to be conducted out 
of sight of Tracy and the other pledges, but the two lovers understood that Lisa 
now was in charge of Kathleen's life.  Kathleen's eagerness to please Lisa and 
make up for the incident at Burnside's party forced her to ask permission before 
doing anything.  In subtle ways Lisa let her lover know that asking permission to 
do even the most routine things was what she would expect for the future.  As for 
sex, that would be on Lisa's terms, although both lovers understood that Lisa had 
an obligation to satisfy Kathleen's needs as much as Kathleen had an obligation to 
obey Lisa.

Another part of the understanding between the two women was Kathleen's 
eventual punishment.  It was very unlikely that Lisa would have the opportunity 
to punish Kathleen prior to swearing in, but that delay did not mean the 
punishment wasn't going to happen or that its severity would be reduced.  Every 
so often Lisa dropped a reminder about the upcoming chastisement, or patted 
Kathleen's bottom to let her know that she had not forgotten.

At that point Lisa still did not know that her lover had cheated with Ken.  Had she 
known that detail, she would have realized that she was very close to her fulfilling 
her fantasy about the two most important people in her life.  What she did notice, 
when she caught fleeting glimpses of him, was that Ken's behavior was somewhat 
nervous and that he seemed uneasy about something.  As soon as she had a 
chance to be alone with him, she would have to find out what was bothering him.  
However, as the summer semester began drawing to a close and the pressure of 
finals intensified, Lisa knew that her chances to talk to Ken alone were greatly 
diminished.

----------

The week after the "Skins and Shirts Ball" was even less pleasant than the week 
that preceded the dance.  The pressure was on to study, prepare for the pre-
swearing in PT test, and memorize the rules, history, and traditions of the Four-
Beta Sorority.  Before swearing in, the pledges would have to formally present 
their grades to President Alexandra to prove they were competent students.  Once 
they had proven themselves academically, the pledges face two final challenges.  
They had to perform PT to military standards and they had to be interviewed by 
the Four-Beta officers about their knowledge of the sorority itself.  Following the 
interviews, the officers would prepare a report about each pledge for presentation 
to the membership for a formal vote of admittance, which would be held at the 
Friday meeting on August 12.  Formal swearing in would be the following day, at 
a ceremony held at midnight.

There was another duty awaiting the pledges: volleyball.  At the beginning of 
every fall semester the sororities held volleyball tournaments against each other, 
the rule being that only freshmen and sophomores were allowed to play.  The 
previous year the Four-Beta's had come in second out of 23 participating 
sororities, but unfortunately all of last year's players now were juniors and 
ineligible to play.  As for Elaine's group, there were only two players who could 
hold up in a volleyball court and not make total fools out of themselves.  Other 
sophomores had athletic talent, but it was not playing volleyball.

Tracy took her pledges out to the back yard to have them practice and see if any 
might make suitable volleyball players.  It turned out that all of them had some 
experience playing volleyball and that each pledge had different talent.  
Bernadette was very good at serving, while Lisa's height made her a natural for 
spiking the ball over the net.  Kathleen was quick on her feet and good at making 
saves and passing the ball to other players.  Cherine was the most versatile of the 
pledges, able to play any position competently.  As soon as she saw her group in 
action, Tracy realized that, when the pledges were combined with the two 
sophomores, the sorority already had the core players for that fall semester's 
team.  Hopefully the fall pledge group would provide some alternates, and the 
Four-Betas could come close to matching the previous group led by Shannon.

So…every night volleyball practice was added to the endless list of duties and 
responsibilities the pledges had to fulfill.  The days and nights were full and the 
pledges were exhausted, but everyone, with the exception of a single sorority 
officer, took it for granted that four new members would swear in at the end of the 
summer semester. 

----------

Heather understood that the chapter presidency, which only a few weeks before 
had seemed assured to be hers, was gone.  If she did not have the support of 
Elaine and Shannon, she would not be able to count on the votes of very many of 
the sophomores and juniors.  She realized that if her position continued to 
deteriorate, it was quite likely that several seniors would vote against her as well.  
As for simply staying in her current position as Sergeant-at-Arms; no, that was 
unacceptable.

Heather's soul filled with anger and hatred over what she felt was a betrayal of 
everyone in the sorority.  The presidency was rightfully hers.  How dare all those 
stupid bitches turn against her, after all the time she put into making the sorority 
such a great place?  And just who was it that was taking away what rightfully 
belonged to her?  That miserable butch soldier-girl, with her nasty attitude…  And 
why?  Because…because of that bi-sexual California slut Lisa Campbell…that 
kiss-up who didn't even have the decency to pledge as a freshman.  No…that 
Californian had to wait, so she could come in as Pledge Know-it-all.  Oh yes, the 
slut princess of the Economics Department…

Throughout the middle of July, Heather's bitterness, resentment, and hatred 
intensified against Tracy and Lisa.  She began to obsess about the pledge even 
more than her rival, thinking that it was Lisa who had made Tracy so popular.  
What to do?  How could she get even?  She took it for granted she no longer 
could win the Four-Beta presidency, but at least she wanted to get revenge against 
Lisa for ruining her life.  

Then Heather's thoughts took another turn.  Tracy wouldn't be where she was 
without Pledge Lisa.  What would happen if she somehow could get rid of Lisa?  
Perhaps, if Tracy's star pledge were eliminated, her popularity would collapse and 
Heather would remain the top contender for the sorority presidency.  From that 
initial idea, Heather's thoughts began to move in a very unfortunate direction…

Get rid of Lisa…get rid of Lisa…get rid of Lisa…

Tracy and Heather carefully watched each other throughout the first weeks of 
July.  Each knew what the other was thinking: that Heather was looking for an 
opportunity to strike at Tracy, while Tracy fully anticipated that something was 
going to happen and would have to counter.  The nature of the fight and the two 
women's personalities gave Heather had one advantage over her rival.  Tracy 
never struck first in a fight.  She waited for her opponent to do something, and 
then countered.  Her reluctance to initiate any confrontations gave Heather the 
luxury of waiting for an opportunity…

----------

On Wednesday night of the third week in July, the familiar pattern of the final 
weeks of pledging was disrupted in a big way.  Very late that evening Tracy led 
her pledge group from the campus library back to the sorority, weighted down as 
usual, with library books.  As they passed the small park near the sorority, Tracy's 
keen senses alerted her that something was wrong.  She decided to investigate, 
ordering her group to wait for her on the sidewalk.  

The Pledge Mistress disappeared into the darkness.  Then the pledges heard a 
cough and what sounded like gagging.

"Wake up!  Wake up!  Please…you've got to wake up!"

Tracy's words were followed by more gagging and another cough.  The pledges 
immediately ran into the park, only to be confronted by very grim sight.  The 
Pledge Mistress was sitting on the ground holding another young woman.  Both 
were covered in vomit.  The other woman's face was partially obscured by torn 
duct tape, which also covered her wrists and ankles.  The woman's feet and hands 
still were bound, because Tracy had not yet had the opportunity to take off 
anything other than the tape covering her companion's mouth and eyes.

"Cherine, get the tape off her hands!  Kathleen, you get my phone out of my 
backpack and call 911!  Alcohol poisoning and asphyxiation!  Very shallow 
breathing…victim semi-conscious!  Bernadette, go out to the sidewalk and watch 
for cops!  If you see one, flag him down!"

As Kathleen nervously pulled out Tracy's phone and dialed 911 with trembling 
hands, Cherine and Lisa began tearing at the duct tape wrapped around the other 
woman's ankles and wrists.  They were amazed at how much tape had been used 
to bind their companion and at how long it took to get it off.  Tracy continued to 
concentrate on the woman's face, trying to make sure she was breathing and that 
her air passage was not blocked.  It was quite probable that she had inhaled some 
vomit into her lungs, but there wasn't much Tracy could do about that.  The 
Pledge Mistress and Lisa held the semi-conscious woman upright as vomit and 
mucus continued dribbling out of her nose and mouth.

Bernadette came back within a couple of minutes with two cops running behind 
her.  Immediately they took over, one of them grabbing Tracy's arm and rudely 
pushing her out of the way.  An ambulance pulled up to the entrance of the park, 
and Bernadette ran back out to flag down the medics.

As for directly helping the victim, the Four-Betas were finished.  However, their 
involvement in the case was far from over.  The police ordered the women to get 
into squad cars to go downtown for questioning.  

What started out as a simple good deed turned into an all-night odyssey.  The 
police separated Tracy from the rest of her group and interrogated her about what 
happened.  The cop clearly was very angry, shouting at her that the emergency 
was the fourth sorority-related alcohol-poisoning incident that week.  She held up 
her hands:

"Officer!  She's not my pledge!  I don't know who she is!  We just found her, all 
tied up!"

With that Tracy recited what happened, a story confirmed by the separate 
interview of each member of the Four-Beta group.  It became obvious that the 
women were telling the truth, partly because of their uniforms, and partly because 
their health and appearance were nothing like the condition of the young woman 
in the emergency room.

While the women of the Four-Beta Sorority waited to answer questions and fill 
out witness declarations, the medics took the poisoning victim to the emergency 
room where she had her stomach pumped, her lungs cleaned out, and a breathing 
tube with oxygen inserted into her mouth.  She needed to be re-hydrated and get 
some rest, but soon it became apparent that she narrowly had escaped any lasting 
damage to her health.  Actually, she narrowly escaped dying asphyxiated by her 
own vomit.

----------

Oddly enough, in spite of her condition, the patient remembered some of the 
details of her rescue, something about a tall, dark-haired woman pulling the tape 
off her mouth.  She wanted to see her rescuer, partly to thank her, and partly to 
piece together what happened.  She refused to go back to sleep until the hospital 
contacted the police station to find that dark-haired woman.  Finally, at 3:00 a.m. 
the night nurse relented and placed a call to see if Tracy still was with the police.

Upon getting the phone call, Tracy gave up on the idea that she might get any 
sleep that night, so she called a taxi and ordered her pledges to return to the 
sorority.  She knew that she was letting them out of her sight for the first time in 
over a month.  However, she did not see how she could avoid going to the 
hospital and the pledges absolutely had to get some sleep.  The pledges, who by 
that time were accustomed to trailing behind Tracy without interruption, were 
uneasy about being separated from their mentor, but the need for sleep overrode 
any other concerns.  They were quite glad to be headed back to the sorority.

An officer took Tracy to the hospital and led her to the young woman she had 
rescued.  She was pale and disheveled, but certainly looked much better than she 
looked when Tracy first saw her in the park.  Tracy introduced herself and calmly 
asked her companion her name.  The woman in the bed introduced herself as 
Brittany.  Upon learning her name, the Four-Beta Pledge Mistress asked Brittany 
how much she remembered about what happened in the park.

"I…I remember you…and choking…and…how dark it was…I guess that's about 
it."

"You don't remember how you got there?"

"Yeah, I kinda do, but it's a secret.  We're not allowed to talk about it."

"Well, Brittany, I think, since me and my pledge group gave up our night helping 
you out, you're gonna have to talk about it, whether you're allowed to or not.  
You owe me an explanation.  You asked to see me, and I'm here.  Now that I'm 
here, I want to know what the fuck you were doing, drunk and tied up by yourself 
in a park at 10:30 at night."

None of Brittany's story surprised Tracy.  She was pledging an un-chartered 
sorority that was one of the Four-Beta Sorority's bitterest rivals.  Brittany's 
sorority was everything the Four-Beta's were not, a smaller, cliquish, rather 
disorganized group living in a totally trashed house with a social life that mostly 
revolved around drinking parties and an associated fraternity.  

Brittany had undergone two hellish months of various hazing rituals that focused 
around constant drinking, performing oral sex on fraternity members, and random 
humiliations.  For some reason, tying their pledges with duct tape and leaving 
them in isolated spots seemed to be a favorite activity of the members of the rival 
sorority.  The park incident was not the first time Brittany had been duct-taped 
while drunk and left alone for several hours.  The previous week she had been 
duct-taped and left sitting in a pond, and when she finally was pulled out she had 
several leeches attached to her body.

Tracy's training as a psychologist and Brittany's need to talk to someone about 
her unpleasant life resulted in a very long conversation.  Tracy was interested in 
helping the younger woman and realized that she deeply regretted signing on as a 
pledge with her sorority.  There wasn't anything Brittany could do, however, 
because once a freshman committed to pledging, she was prohibited from leaving.  
The sorority members stated quite plainly that anyone who attempted to leave 
their pledge program would be beaten up upon leaving the house, and then 
harassed until she left the university.

As she continued to talk, Brittany realized how much she hated her sorority and 
the life she had gotten herself into.  She was tired of being drunk or hung-over all 
the time, tired of dealing with drunken fraternity guys, and very worried about the 
fact she was failing her summer classes.

"I don't know why I even did this.  I've had it.  I can't take it anymore…I 
just…can't take it anymore…"

There was another concern that Brittany had, a worry that loomed ever larger as 
her mind cleared of alcohol and she sobered up.  Because she had to be rescued 
by a stranger, undoubtedly she would be beaten up for inadvertently divulging 
information about her sorority's hazing practices.  She became increasingly 
scared at what was going to happen once her sorority sisters found out what 
happened and came to the hospital to pick her up.

Tracy sat back, mulling over her companion's problems.  How stupid, she thought 
to herself, how stupid.  They practically killed this poor girl and now all that's 
gonna happen is she's gonna get beat up.  That's total bullshit.

The matter could have ended at that point, Tracy leaving the hospital and Brittany 
to her fate.  However, simply leaving someone if they wanted assistance was not 
in Tracy's nature.  She wanted to help, because it was obvious that the freshman 
needed to extricate herself from her situation but couldn't do it on her own.  

There was a second consideration on Tracy's mind.  As Pledge Mistress, it was 
her duty to be constantly looking for potential new members for the sorority.  If 
Brittany was unhappy with her current sorority, what was to prevent her from 
joining the Four-Beta's?  She would have to wait until September to begin 
formally pledging, but in the meantime she could live at the sorority house, 
recuperate her health, and try to salvage her grades.  Her current sorority would be 
livid over having one of their pledges defect to a rival sorority and undoubtedly 
try to strike at her, but so what?  To get at Brittany they would have to get into a 
sorority house guarded by 80 women in excellent physical shape who had taken 
endless hours of personal defense training.

"You know, at the Four-Beta house we do things totally differently."

"Yeah, I know.  They told us all about you."

"Well, did they tell you that at the Four-Beta house we don't drink?  We don't let 
our members get drunk, and there's no way we'd let a pledge touch alcohol.  We 
don't even allow alcohol on our property.  During the semester, if we catch 
anyone drinking, they get put on probation.  We catch 'em drinking again, and 
they get kicked out.  We catch anyone with drugs, they're gone immediately.  We 
don't want any of that shit in our lives."

"Yeah, they all make fun of you because of it."

"…and you think the way you do things is better?"

"No.  I mean, I thought the drinking would be fun, but it's not.  I feel like shit, all 
the time I feel like shit, and I'm sick of it."

"We don't let our members feel like shit.  We exercise and eat right so we don't 
feel like shit.  Life's too short to live feeling like shit."

Brittany said nothing, but her blank teary stare clearly expressed what was on her 
mind.  She knew that she had pledged the wrong sorority.  Tracy continued:

"Academics is another thing we don't slack on.  My sorority's grade point 
average is 3.7.  We bust our asses making sure we get good grades, because that's 
why we're here at the university, to go to class.  You can't put down how many 
keg parties you've been to on a resume, so we don't waste our time with that 
shit."

Brittany sat silent.  Then she noticed a tiny detail that would change the course of 
her life.  Adhesive from the duct tape still was stuck to her wrist.  She wanted it 
off and began picking at it.  Tracy commented:

"Having duct tape stuck on your wrists is your choice.  You could make this the 
last time you ever have to pick duct tape off yourself, because we don't do that to 
our pledges."

"But…I can't quit."

"Why not?"

"Because…I…"

Suddenly Tracy's words "you could make this the last time you ever have to pick 
duct tape off yourself, because we don't do that to our pledges" registered in 
Brittany's mind.  She looked up.

"Brittany, I'm issuing an invitation for you to come with me to the Four-Beta 
house, because it doesn't bother me in the least to grab a pledge from another 
sorority.  You're not happy where you are right now, so I'm giving you a chance 
to get out."

"…you mean, like…join the Four-Beta's?"

"What I mean is initiating the process of becoming a Four-Beta pledge.  Your 
formal training wouldn't start until September.  Before that, there's a lot of shit in 
your life you've gotta fix, starting with your classes.  If you come with me, I can 
tell you exactly what you're gonna be doing tonight.  You're gonna sit your ass 
down in the Four-Beta library and start getting caught up with your coursework.  
We can't let you pledge if your grades are fucked up."

The thought of spending a night quietly studying, not drinking or being subjected 
to beer bongs, not having to suck some guy's dick, not having to be tied up and 
dumped somewhere, not being insulted or kicked, sealed Brittany's decision to 
leave the hospital with the no-nonsense woman who had saved her life.

----------

President Alexandra showed up at the hospital a few minutes later driving a Tri-
Alpha minivan.  With her she had an extra T-shirt and shorts for her fellow 
officer, knowing that Tracy's clothing was completely soiled from her encounter 
with the woman she rescued.  Instead of putting the clothing on herself, she 
directed Brittany to get dressed and put her own reeking clothes into a hospital 
bag.  She quickly explained to Alexandra that Brittany would accompany them 
back to the sorority.  When she heard Brittany's story, Alexandra quickly agreed 
to take the in wayward pledge as a guest and prospective member.

Just as the sun came up and the three women were leaving the hospital, a security 
guard ran up to the group and told them that Tracy had to go back to the police 
station to resubmit her declaration.  She took a deep breath and objected:

"But I already gave a declaration.  Why do I have to go back?"

"They can't find it, and they're planning send some officers over to talk to that 
sorority about the drinking violations.  They need your statement because they 
might be writing up some arrest warrants."

"Look.  I got class.  I got my own pledges to deal with.  I'd be happy to come 
back later…"

"You gotta go, now.  I'm told to get you and that's what I'm here for.  You don't 
have no choice."

Both Brittany and Tracy were very worried about the turn in events that would 
force them to separate.  Instead of going to back to campus with Tracy, she had to 
go with someone she had just met and tell her story all over again.  Tracy was 
worried about something far more serious.  If she didn't make it back to campus 
soon, Heather would be left in charge of the pledge group.

To her credit, Alexandra quickly sympathized with Brittany.  She was easy to talk 
to and her diplomatic way of expressing herself contrasted with Tracy's bluntness 
and military vocabulary.  Brittany had to retell her story, but soon it became 
obvious that Alexandra was just as determined to extricate her from her drunken 
sorority as was Tracy.

As she rode back to the university with Brittany, the Four-Beta president made a 
series of calls from her cell phone.  The first calls were to the professors of the 
two classes that Tracy had to miss that morning.  She simply told a portion of the 
truth, that her Pledge Mistress had to help a patient suffering from alcohol 
poisoning.  After the calls to the professors came a call to the Four-Beta chapter 
vice-president to prepare an orientation packet for a prospective pledge.  When 
the president hung up she turned to her companion:

"You'll need to formally interview the sorority officers once we get back to the 
Four-Beta House and start reading the orientation package.  However, I want you 
to just take a quick look at it, because we're more worried about your finals.  
You'll have plenty of time to deal with orientation at the end of August."

As she sat listening to Alexandra's words, Brittany realized the seriousness of 
what she was doing.  Her new mentor was not kidding in the least: she really was 
about to change sororities.  

Alexandra asked Brittany the names of her professors and called each to make an 
appointment for the afternoon.  By the time she hung up, the two women already 
were on campus.  While they waited to talk to the first of the freshman's three 
instructors, Alexandra got on a computer to access her campus account and pulled 
up a letter, on formal Four-Beta letterhead, which Brittany would have to sign as 
an official resignation from her sorority.  She pulled up a second letter that 
Brittany would sign to authorize any Four-Beta officer to go to her former 
sorority and retrieve her personal property.  The two women would take both 
letters to the university's student center to have them notarized.  That weekend, 
while Brittany continued to study, her Pledge Mistress or Sergeant-at-Arms would 
go over to the rival sorority to get her things.  Undoubtedly there would be a nasty 
confrontation and possibly a physical fight, but Tracy would be presenting legal 
documents and the weight of the law would be on her side.  If need be, she could 
return with a cop.

There was one final call Alexandra made on behalf of Brittany, a call to her 
parents.  The president dialed and handed the phone to her companion:

"I expect you to let them know what happened and why you're getting out of your 
sorority.  They'll find out anyway, when their insurance gets billed, so I think the 
explanation about the ER charges ought to come from you.  When you're done, 
you can put me on, if you want."

"President Alexandra, please!  I can't…"

"It's ringing.  When they pick up, you'd better start talking."

Brittany discovered that Alexandra's demand that she talk to her parents 
immediately actually was the best thing she could have done.  She didn't have 
time to think up any stories or soften what had happened to her the night before.  
Within 15 minutes Brittany's parents learned more about how she had spent her 
summer semester than they had found out during the prior two months of listening 
to her brief, evasive conversations.  Needless to say, they were quite horrified.

Finally Brittany's mother asked to speak to the Four-Beta chapter president.  
Brittany handed over the phone and listened to Alexandra's side of the 
conversation:

"Yes, ma'am…I'm the Four-Beta chapter president…No, ma'am I wasn't there, it 
was my Pledge Mistress who picked her up…No, ma'am, we'll let her stay at the 
house, but she's not exactly going to be a pledge…Well, the reason for that is her 
grades.  She'll need to pass her summer classes to be eligible to formally pledge, 
which is what we're going to check on in a few minutes…I'll see if she's got any 
hope of passing her classes; that's what'll decide whether or not we can let her 
pledge…I understand that, ma'am, but academic performance is a prerequisite for 
joining the Four-Betas, and we're inflexible about that…No ma'am, we don't 
drink…Well, that's them.  We're different because we don't allow alcohol…No 
ma'am, none at all.  We don't allow it…Yes ma'am, we do haze our pledges, but 
not in the way your daughter was being hazed.  Most of what they do involves 
exercising and studying…Not really, it's not that big of a secret.  Our prospective 
members get an orientation packet that explains what we expect from them…I 
guess the best way to describe it is that it's kinda like Basic Training in the 
military, especially with the Pledge Mistress we have right now.  She's been in 
the Army and…Once again, ma'am, I'm not sure.  It depends on whether or not 
she can pass her classes…Yes ma'am, if she stays with us we'll do what we can 
to help her pass.  We've got some pretty good tutors and she's still got three 
weeks, but a lot of it'll depend on what I hear from her professors in a few 
minutes…"

An hour later Alexandra and Brittany had their answer.  Although she was failing 
all three classes, there was hope she could pass two of them just by doing very 
well on the final.  The third professor was a man who had spoken with the Four-
Beta president several times in the past and liked her.  He was willing to allow 
Brittany to re-submit a poorly-written term paper, which, combined with a high 
score in her final could conceivably give her enough to get "C-".

"There's your answer.  If you work hard enough over the next three weeks you 
can salvage your semester."

----------

Alexandra took Brittany to the Four-Beta house and ordered a sophomore to give 
her lunch in the kitchen.  As the visitor peeked out the window she had a bit of a 
shock; all of the women in the pool area were completely naked.   Wow!  So that 
part of Four-Beta life isn't an urban legend after-all, thought Brittany to herself.  
They really do run around with nothing on.  

After lunch Alexandra turned Brittany over to her sophomore class leader.  Elaine 
took her companion to the basement, issued her a toothbrush, a towel, a pair of 
Four-Beta pledge shorts, and an unmarked T-shirt.  She ordered Brittany to clean 
up.

The final step was the formal interview with President Alexandra, her vice 
president, and the sorority's social director.  Alexandra's calm, serious manner of 
talking helped put Brittany at ease and gave her hope that her time with the Four-
Beta sorority would be more productive than her time with her former sorority.  
The interview ended with Brittany signing "an intent to pledge" statement, which 
gave her provisional status and the right to stay in the house as a guest over the 
next three weeks.  Because she was not yet officially a pledge, she did not have to 
strip or kneel when talking to members.  However, she had to have an escort at all 
times and was not permitted to use any of the amenities such as the pool.  For the 
next three weeks, the only purpose in her life would be to get caught up in her 
classes.  She would have to study as though her life depended on passing her 
classes, which in fact, it did.

"OK, Brittany, it's library time!  I'll pair you up with one of our members who's 
taken your expository writing class, and you can get started on that one first.  
You'll have to ask her permission to do anything, and that includes going to the 
bathroom or getting a drink of water.  When Pledge Mistress Tracy gets back, 
she'll be the one in charge of your day-to-day life."

----------

While Brittany was settling in, Tracy spent several anxious hours at the police 
station.  She had to wait to give her statement, then was interviewed at length 
about what happened the night before, then told to wait again.  

After lunch, a cop from the university police department interviewed her yet 
again.  Upon finding out that Brittany was staying at the Four-Beta house, he 
asked Tracy if she thought she could get the freshman to give a second declaration 
to the university police.  Finally, Tracy found out why both police departments 
were so interested in talking to her:

"We've been trying to get that sorority for the past four years, ever since the death 
of the Thompson girl.  If we can get you and Brittany to testify, we've finally got 
what we need to nail 'em.  I say that, because in the past they've always 
intimidated their witnesses."

Tracy smiled:

"Well, Officer; they won't be intimidating me.  And they won't be able to get at 
Brittany, 'cause our pledges are always escorted.  I'll help you nail 'em."

"So, she's going to be joining your sorority?"

"I guess she's gonna have to."

----------

Finally, at 3:00 in the afternoon Tracy left the police station.  She was desperate 
to get back to the Four-Beta house, very worried about what might happen 
between Heather and Lisa.  Shannon picked her up in a Tri-Alpha minivan.  Tracy 
ordered the junior to get into the passenger seat and got behind the wheel.  She 
needed to return to the Four-Beta house quickly, and felt that Shannon was too 
cautious a driver.

"We've gotta get back, before Lisa gets out of class.  She's gonna be fucked if we 
don't."

The trip out of downtown was quite slow, because already rush-hour traffic was 
clogging the roads that led out to the university.  As the Pledge Mistress crossed 
several suburbs and approached her destination, the roads cleared, but then the 
Four-Beta officers realized they had a much more serious problem to contend 
with.  They were being followed by three carloads of young women.  Tracy 
recognized some of the group as officers from Brittany's sorority.

"Call Alexandra.  We've got company."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Just tell her where we are.  Be quick about it.  We're too far from the Four-Beta 
house for anyone to help us.  Let her know what's happening and that we'll give 
her another call when we're done."

Shannon nervously dialed, knowing that, as soon as she hung up, Tracy planned 
to pull to a stop and confront the women following them.  Great.  That's what we 
need, she thought to herself, a fight against a dozen drunks.  However, Shannon 
knew that the Pledge Mistress was not one to back away from battle, especially if 
it involved protecting the life of another person.  

While Shannon was on the phone, one of the cars following them raced past the 
Tri-Alpha van.  A beer bottle narrowly missed Tracy head, instead slamming 
against the window behind her and smashing it.  The other driver quickly pulled 
in front of the van and jammed her breaks as hard as she could, but Tracy 
anticipated that and hit her own breaks as hard as possible.  The van screeched, 
but narrowly avoided hitting the car in front.  Instead, Tracy and Shannon got 
rear-ended by the carload of women still behind them.  They were struck quite 
hard, the force of the impact shattering the van's back window.  The airbags in the 
car ramming the Four-Betas deployed, stunning its occupants.  Already the assault 
by Brittany's sorority was not going according to plan.  

Tracy put the minivan in park and turned off the ignition.  She calmly commented 
to Shannon: 

"OK, it's show-time!"

Both women jumped out, knowing that it was vital for them not to get separated.  
Three sets of car doors opened and a dozen women charged the Four-Betas. 

At first it seemed that the odds were totally against Tracy and Shannon, given that 
there were only two of them against 12 assailants.  However both of the Four-
Betas were in top physical shape and had taken hours of personal defense training.  
On top of her Four-Beta training, Tracy had taken several courses from the Army 
in hand-to-hand combat and was a brown belt in karate.  Their opponents' 
unexercised bodies were trashed by several years of hard drinking and partying.  
None of them had any hope of matching either of the Four-Betas one-on-one.  On 
top of that, two members of the group were stunned from being hit in the face by 
airbags.  The fight was much more evenly matched than the assailants realized.

The rival Pledge Mistress started by swinging a tequila bottle at Tracy, which she 
neatly blocked.  The bottle flew out of her opponent's hand and shattered on the 
street.  Two other women moved on Shannon, only to have the wind knocked out 
of them by fast punches to the solar plexus.  Tracy's foot landed hard into the 
stomach of another assailant, doubling her in pain and sending her staggering 
against the side of the minivan.  She fell to the ground and vomited, clearly out of 
the fight.  The largest woman from the rival group grabbed Tracy from behind, 
but the Pledge Mistress dropped, leaving her opponent's face exposed to a fierce 
punch from Shannon.  Shannon's fist rammed hard into her opponent's nose, 
breaking it and forcing her to loosen her grip on Tracy.  Tracy finished her off 
with a savage blow with her elbow to the stomach.  Another assailant managed to 
land a punch on Shannon's mouth and cut her lip, but she countered with a much 
more effective blow to the stomach that incapacitated her.  Tracy then landed a 
beautifully executed karate kick into the chin of yet another assailant, sending her 
staggering backwards onto the pavement.

The members of the rival sorority realized that they were not winning the melee.  
However, they kept at it, motivated by hatred, adrenaline, and alcohol.  Within a 
few seconds two more of the assailants had the wind knocked out of them and 
another was stunned from a cruel blow from Tracy's foot to the side of her head.  
As for the Four-Betas, Tracy had taken several blows to the face that would leave 
bruises, but nothing that diminished her ability to swing her fists and feet.  
Shannon's lip was bleeding, but that was her only injury.

The wail of a siren put a quick end to the street fight.  A cop jumped out of his 
car, pulled his gun, and screamed at everyone to "freeze" and get on the ground.  
The women gasped for breath as several additional squad cars pulled up.  
Moments later all 14 combatants were sitting on the pavement in handcuffs, 
awaiting transportation to a nearby police station.

