Lunar Bachelorette

Hello My faithful Followers, I know it has been a long time. So much has happened in my life, which I won't bore you with, but I have had a lot of time to go over my stories. I have a few new beta readers and a new editor, the sexy devil, and they have helped me realize that my story was choppy and needed fixing. So, I have altered the story originally titled "The Bachelorette". Any of you that have read the original, this is different, and yet the same. I have taken time to flesh out parts of the story, some things that were much needed, and add more character depth for those that were confused about some things. My Beta's have liked the changes and my Editor was very pleased with how the new story flows. I am trying to remove the old story, however with the way things are set up now, it is going to take me a while. I love each and every one for you for sticking with me, even through my REALLY long Hiatus. **Kisses** HA

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Have you ever found yourself looking back to a simpler time, when the biggest decision on your plate was whether or not your best friends could feasibly sit beside someone for more than ten minutes at a time? Sam wished she could go back to that moment, that blissful chunk of chaotic time. Sitting in a dank basement without real light will do that to a girl. Her arms ached, from where she was strung up to the wall at one point, but there was new blood, so now she sat on the floor with a small length of chain connecting her to three or four other women. In the darkness she remembered how she got here, she could remember her life before this, and how much she wished she was back there. Down here in the darkness, her ears played tricks on her. A deep throaty laugh made her cringe and a startling howl made all the women shake. Sam closed her eyes and pressed herself back into the damp wall, trying desperately to hold onto her memories, hoping they could save her.

Darkness, but a different kind of darkness, enveloped her. Sam was excited here, she knew that her friends were up to something and the moment that she had gotten into the car with Melinda she knew that it was going to be good. Pressured by her friends, she bought the ridiculous "Bachelorette party" shirts, and each one of the group was supposed to be wearing them. Melinda was on time, as usual and she rushed Sam out to the car and into the passenger side quickly, but before the door was closed, a blindfold was placed on her eyes. "What the hell Mels?" Sam reached to take the offending material off, but Melinda slapped at her hands.

"Its a surprise Sam! You can't ruin it by being impatient. Besides, Halea will kill me if you took the thing off. You made her the Maid of Honor, you have to live with it." Melinda slid into the drivers side of the car and headed off to only she knew where. Sam sat back and enjoyed the ride knowing her best friends would take care of her, and there was no need to worry. After what seemed like forever, they arrived at a destination. Melinda helped her out of the car and into some building, they took some steps and she could hear loud pulsing music. That got her wondering. She struggled to hide her excitement as she was led, blindfolded, through a loud smokey room. She could hear her bridesmaids' giggling behind her as she was led up some more stairs into what she presumed was a private room.

"I think it's safe to take the blindfold off now Mels." Sam heard her best friend Halea's voice come from somewhere in front of her. She took a steady breath and closed her eyes in preparation for the removal. "Welcome to your Bachelorette party Sam!" Melinda spoke from behind her as the blindfold was removed.

When her hazel eyes adjusted to the lighting she had to blink a few times before the room came into focus. She was not positive the color of the room, except that it was dark. There were strategic black lights spread throughout the space, illuminating various lewd pictures. A large sectional couch sat off to one side, the black leather was a stark contrast to the white and purple throw pillows. Sheer purple curtains divided the space in two. On the other side sat a clear and chrome table with a giant pink penis sitting in the center.

"What the hell is that?" Sam asked trying hard not to laugh.

She looked over to her left to see Halea giving her a blank stare. "Well since none of us have seen Jake naked, we had no idea what size to get you, so I guessed." Halea said it with such conviction and with such a straight face that Sam could not help but let the out the bubble of nervous laughter. Halea was thin and willowy, but quite muscular. She was always trying to get Sam to hit the gym with her, 'Kick boxing would do you good you know, loose a bit of that pudge around the middle you keep worrying about for no reason. Besides, you could use it for self defense if it ever came down to it'

"Oh my god! I cannot believe you just said that, and with a straight face too." Sam laughed as Mel glided her over to a tall chair and plopped her down. Melinda was a bombshell, on the shorter side, but curves for days. With her you never had to choose between brains and beauty, because she had them both. Computers were her life, inside and out she knew them like the back of her hand. Flame red hair on her head always had the men on high alert, but with her large doe eyes and her plump pink lips she pulled off this naughty innocence look that everyone wished they could pull.

"I thought the look on your face was priceless. If Penelope had been here I'm sure she would have labeled it as "Horrified Arousal"." Halea said as she pulled some hot pink drinking cups out of what appeared to be Mary Poppins carpet bag... It was bottomless. "It's just for decoration Sam; come on it's your last night of freedom."

"I hate that term." Valerie spoke up quietly as she stepped into the room and stepped aside so that three more women could join them. Sam turned to the woman she barely knew, she was one of Jake's very best friends. He told her once that he swore Val was the only reason he graduated top of his class in college. Val knew her stuff about chemistry, and medicines. 'She is gonna go places Sam. That brain of hers? Look out, I swear she knew more about chemistry than our professors, and in biology she knew more things about animals than anyone else.' Val was also a redhead, but she downplayed her looks with baggy clothes and messy updos. She never wanted to call attention to herself, which made Sam rather curious.

"I agree with Valerie, that term is not very acceptable anymore. It's not like my brother is going to keep her on some sort of leash." Mary Anne Harper said coldly as she stepped into the darkened room. Mary Anne was the least favorite of Jake's sisters, the was very much the spinster of the Harper family. Mary Anne was tall and thin, but rather old fashioned. Her hair was always pulled back rather severely, into a bun of some kind, glasses always perched on her nose. The only thing she seemed to be missing, in Sam's opinion, was a ruler to smack your knuckles with.

"Mary Anne, she was just kidding, Calm yourself." Sam said shrugging her future sister-in-law off. She was used to it by now. Mary Anne was the oldest of the three Harper sisters, and took her job as eldest child very seriously. "Where is the rest of the gang?"

"Most of them were behind us, but they stopped at the bar to order some drinks I think." Alice said as she sat down beside Sam. As the youngest of the three Harper women, she was one of the most fun to be around. Tall, like her sister, around five foot nine Alice was full of life. Her lackluster attempts at dating have taken some of the joy out of things, since Jake's proposal, but she still was a riot. 'Do you know how hard it is being a tall woman? Sure you would think it's great! You can reach everything in the kitchen, and you can touch the top shelves on bookcases, but men can be so intimidated by that. I want a guy I have to look up and see, do you know how difficult that is?'

Alice had Drunkenly let it slip about some of her less than stellar dates a few nights back , and Sam felt for the poor girl. She was still young, she had time.

Elizabeth Harper, the middle sister took a spot on the other side of Sam and just grinned. Her bottle red locks were curled up around her head, her makeup lightly applied, and just the hint of naughtiness surrounded her. Sam had to do a double take to make sure it was her because she had never seen Beth in such girly clothes. "Wow Beth, no grease! I'm impressed!" Beth laughed and shoved at Sam's shoulder.

"I clean up good huh? Its a good thing you told me about this in advance, if not I would never have just walked away from my shop for a whole day. I cannot trust some of those idiots with my babies!" Beth laughed and grabbed up a cup from the table. Sam shook her head and Alice snorted into her cup. "I had a few new trucks roll in the other night, all needing a bunch of work. Looks like the garage they were stored in was vandalized. I would love to know what the hell put those gouges in the side of an escalade, but no matter, I will fix it."

Jannae Roberts was the first one to come blushing up the stairs. Her innocent blonde curls bouncing with the last step. Sam watched the poor girls face as she looked about the room, color slowly fading. Sam got up and walked over to her, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "You are gonna be fine! You will not have to do, touch, or say anything that you do not expressly want to do alright?' Sam was not clued in 100% on Jannae's story. She knew there was one, but other than the fact that she was not a big fan of men, loud or sudden noises, and she blushed like a harlot in church at the mention of anything sexual, she was kept out of Jannae's business. Sam would never pry, but Jannae knew that if she ever needed to talk, Sam's door would always be open for her.

"Welcome to the party girl!" Mel smiled at Jannae and pulled Sam's arm off her shoulder, replacing it with her own and dragging her over to the seating area with Beth and Alice. "I love the outfit sweetie! Much better than the formless clothes you normally wear." Mel winked and pushed her into the spot Sam vacated moments before. "Please, help yourself to the munchies and he drinks. Pop is in the white cups, the purple ones are alcohol for those that want it!" Mel turned and walked back over to the steps to greet Cindy Houser. "Cindy, don't you dare run off, you agreed to this party, and none of your blushing schoolmarm comments are going to get you out of this. I will take those fuzzy handcuffs and strap you to the chair if I need to." She laughed at the look of worry on poor Cindy's face.

To say that Cindy Houser was a schoolmarm was putting it mildly, like Mary Anne, she wore her hair back from her face in a strict bun, she went to church every Sunday and helped with Sunday School for the little ones. Tall and naturally beautiful, she hid her looks in loose fitting clothes, and never wore anything even remotely revealing. How Sam and Cindy became such good friends seemed like a mystery, if they never worked together at the hospital, Sam was certain that they would not have become close. Cindy had such a way with patients, she could calm the most volatile of people, and she had the patience of saint. Putting up with Sam's friends was very taxing for the poor dear.

"Leave the poor girl alone, she looks frightened half to death." Abby muscled her way over to Cindy and placed her hand on her shoulder like a protective mother hen. "I don't think that scaring the wee girl is going to get you anywhere." Her rough Irish brogue coming to the forefront. Abby's strawberry blonde hair bounced with natural curl and added to her beauty. As a foreign exchange student at Sam's college, she hailed from Ireland, but decided to make the Sates her home. They shared a few basic college classes, with Abby leaning more to food and literature and Sam leaning more to the medical field they saw each other off and on and kept their friendship intact.

"Abigail, I don't believe she meant to frighten her. It's more of a shock and awe campaign." Sam laughed and sat down in her place of honor. Looking at the remaining stragglers coming up the steps. "Penelope! Patty! I'm glad you could make it! Caitilin, it's so good to see you again. I'm glad Drew could get ahold of you. I know this place isn't your cup of tea but it's great to see you. " Sam looked over each girl in turn.

Penelope was a voluptuous, rambunctious, perky art student. Shorter than her sister, she was curvy in all the right places with beautiful ringlet blonde curls that fell around her face. She wore purple tonight, fitting the theme of the club, and seemed to vibrate with excitement. Patty, her sister, was staring around the room with that cool poker player stare. Sam never knew the story but knew that Patty played a lot of poker and she was good at it. Penelope told her once, that times were hard on her and her sister growing up and that Patty, as the older sister, felt like it was her job to make things less tight. Patty learned about the seedy underground and learned how to play poker. At the time it seemed like some romanticized spy novel, but she had seen Patty wipe the floor with Jake and Drew.

Caitilin was the last of the three and somehow she seemed the most striking. Willowy and pale with rich chocolate hair chopped into short layers emphasizing her face. Cait was Drew's only sister, and Drew was Jake's right hand man. Sam had seen quite a bit of this shy girl, usually with her nose buried in a book, or surrounded by stacks of paper. She seemed totally out of place here, but Sam knew that she would be fine. Perhaps she should talk to Mels about putting Cait and Jannae together...

A Sharp noise from above rattled Sam from her daydream. Gods it hurt, she realized that it hurt more and more to think about it. To think back to that night she can only remember bits and pieces, she can remember the show the strippers put on, and the assortment of sex toys that were paraded in front of her. She remembers Halea said something about hopping on a bus she rented and going to one of the popular clubs, and that after they got in the bus it was not long before the bus crashed, and all the women were taken captive.

Jake... Gods she missed Jake...

Jake Harper was everything she wanted in a man; Kind, smart, funny, attractive... there was a scream from upstairs and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make herself appear as small as possible. Something was different today. She could feel something on the air, Abby would know, Abby was always good with things that she had no clue about. Her mother called Abby a new aged witch once, of course Abby took no offense because she liked Sam's mother, but she told Sam that she was just following the traditions of her family and to not judge her for it. Snarls sounded on the floorboards above her and she cringed. Her eyes opened to look around in the darkness. No one appeared to have heard what she did, from what little she could see.

A rough voice above her made her still, the words were too far away to hear, but something there gave her pause. It made her hurt and fear slip further back in her mind and some protective instinct rise within her. Moving away from the wall, she positioned herself in front of the women she was chained to in this little room. A cell would have been a more apt word for the small space. The creak of a door somewhere off to her left made the women behind her tense. "It's good to see you taking an interest in what your brother is doing." The voice slid down Sam's spine like oil, "You will be rewarded, take your pick." She could hear the click and creak of doors being opened down the hall and muted footsteps. Her door opened and she had to blink quickly to let her eyes adjust to the light being let in.

Someone walked into the cell, she could smell him, it was not very clear how she knew what she smelled was him, with all the foul scents floating around in the cell, but he smelled of death, pungent and decaying. There was something else there, something... obnoxious and spicy. She was still hunkered down on the floor, but she glared up at the man. He was paying little attention to the women, but there was another man just outside the door who saw her. Her gaze leveled at the newcomer and she did not relent, she stared at him, almost daring him to do something. The first man must have seen the second starting at her, and he turned to Sam. "See something you like then? Good." He shoved Sam to the side and unlocked her shackle, grabbed her by her hair enough to make her yelp. "She's all yours," He tossed Sam into the second man and smiled, Sam swore she could see the hint of an elongated canine.

. Sam was led up the stairs, her eyes trying desperately to adjust to so much light after so long in the darkness. Two flights of stairs and a few turns later she was led into a bedroom, she stumbled and grabbed at the bed for purchase. The door closed, yet she could feel the second man behind her. "Get up." His sudden yet gruff voice startled her. It sounded like someone who had smoked too many cigarettes. She rose off the bed and squared her shoulders, trying to seem bigger than she was, she turned to him and looked into his eyes yet again. Clear blue stared back at her for a few moments before he removed his gaze from hers. "Come on." The voice spoke again as a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into a small bathroom off of the bedroom. His touch was surprisingly gentle for such a large man and the situation. "There is no way out of this room except this door. That window will not break, and it does not open. Shower and clean yourself up. Here are some towels. When you are done knock on the door." He pushed her towards the shower and closed the door behind her.

Sam waited a moment before she tested the door, once she was sure that it was locked and that she was alone, she felt herself tremble. Tears slowly started to leak from her face and she glanced about the room, quickly trying the window and seeing that it did not open, just as he had said. Knowing that she had no real options, she slowly stripped off her clothes and looked at herself in the mirror over the sink. She really was filthy; could she even remember the last time she bathed? She looked too thin, and she knew it was lack of proper nutrition that did it. A sudden thought stuck her,

what pudge Halea?

A sad sob was ripped from her lips at the thought of her friends,

where were they? Where they okay? Were they alive?

She turned the shower on and waited for it to warm up a moment before stepping in under the warm spray. She saw shampoo and conditioner on the side of the tub and grabbed the shampoo and lathered her hair. As she went to rinse, the hopelessness of the situation caught up to her and she cried.

Jake, Halea, Melinda, Drew, Caitilin, Penelope, Patty...

the list grew and grew, people she loved, people she cared about that she had no idea where they were or how they were.

How long was she here? How long were they trapped? Did anyone make it away from the Bus?

She knew not how long she cried, but the water started to cool down and she hurried herself along. There was a razor on the tub and she shaved her legs and under her arms, and trimmed up her pubic hair to feel a little more like a human being again.

Once she stepped out of the tub she dried off and walked over to the sink to see some small toiletries there, a toothbrush, a hairbrush, tooth paste, mouthwash, floss, lotion, hand soap, and face soap. She pulled the toothbrush out of the plastic and brushed her teeth, rinsing with the mouthwash. Looking up into the mirror she saw her now puffy eyes, she decided she did not want them to see her cry, so she scrubbed her face and then let herself calm down. She ran the brush through her hair, and continued to do so until it seemed like the hair was drying. It took no time, since her hair was just above her shoulders and it had cute choppy layers cut into it, or it did before.