15 Years, One Night (Part 2)

Summary: One by one, Alyssa's friends arrive. As usual, they can't seem to keep their hands off of her. Alyssa endures it and focuses on being a good host. She knows who will have the last laugh.
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(Part 2)
Just then, the doorbell rang and the two of them sighed. “Oh well. Arm wrestling can wait I guess. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll see who it is.” Alyssa wandered up to the door and opened it. The woman standing outside looked back at her through eyes layered in heavy black eyeliner. Stage makeup covered her face, making it paler than any natural skin color. A mop of slightly ruffled black hair rested atop her perfectly oval head, two star-shaped earrings hung from her ears, a fancy chain necklace adorned her exposed neckline, and a black leather jacket hung loosely over her shoulders. This meant she couldn’t possibly be Brianna, who had always treated clothes as nothing more than a means to avoid exposing herself. On the other hand, beneath that jacket, this woman wore nothing more than a plain white tee shirt and jeans, and most alluring of all, a pair of gothic heels. A set of toes sporting black nail polish teased her from the front. Regardless, this all seemed far too casual for prim and proper Hannah. Alyssa couldn’t for the life of her tell who her guest was. Had some punk rocker gotten lost and wandered into the neighborhood?

Then the woman flashed a grin and spoke. “Alyssa, it’s been too long. It is truly a pleasure to see you again!” Her voice was melodious and she spoke as if she were onstage. Then everything else began to fall into place. The proud, upturned nose, the thin arched eyebrows, the light-green eyes that idly searched Alyssa’s face and body for any clues about her disposition, and of course, the fact that nothing on her looked out of place.

“H…Hannah!?” Alyssa squeaked. She still could hardly believe herself as she said it.

The woman smiled, tilted her head back and rolled her eyes, “Yes, it is me. Would a Beyoncé duet in the front lawn convince you?”

Alyssa put her hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle. “No, I think you’ve convinced me, already. I’m just busy coming to terms with the truth.”

Hannah laughed at Alyssa’s expression. “I imagine you must be surprised to see me like this. I certainly am whenever I look at myself in the mirror, but there doesn’t seem to be much of an audience for bands dressed in my usual attire.”

“So you’re the singer for a band now?”

“Singer AND guitarist,” Hannah corrected nodding to herself with her nose high. “As you can see, I had to make a few sacrifices with my image, but it was all worthwhile.

“Well, you look great, even if you really don’t look yourself,” Alyssa said. Sure enough, even with black and white makeup, the graceful beauty in her eyes still shone through, and her stylish black sandals seemed to bring out the sexy curves in her feet. Ironically, being dressed as the embodiment of free-spirited chaos only drew more attention to how perfectly every part of her fit together. “So, did you just come from a gig, or was it just that you really wanted to let me know that you were part of a band when you showed up for the slumber party?”

Hannah fold her arms. “You offend me, Alyssa. Can you imagine what people would say if they saw me, the lead singer of my alternative rock band, dressed in my usual blouse?”

Just then, Alyssa heard a whispered “Holy shit!” behind her. Sandra had just stepped out, and she stared speechless at Hannah. She brushed past Alyssa and looked Hannah up and down. “What’s going on? I heard Hannah’s voice, but you’re Black Seraph from Wrathful Angel. If you tell me that you two are both the same person, I think I’m gonna faint.”

Alyssa giggled. “So, your name is now Black Seraph huh? It looks like you have a fan, Black Seraph. Honestly, I think I’m as surprised as Sandra here.”

Hannah sighed. “Well excuse me for pursuing a new path in my life. I do not see any differences in you right now. You have the same striped shirt, orange highlight in your hair, I suppose the black spandex are new…” The inner halves of her eyebrows then slanted downward and a shallow grin formed on her lips. “…oh, and the same spider on your shoulder…”

Alyssa jumped. It was obvious that Hannah was joking, but she could never be too careful when it came to spiders. “What!? Where is it!? Which shoulder!? Tell me!” Her breath caught in her throat. She spun around and began patting at her upper body, dreading that she would feel something large, fuzzy and very unwelcome on her hand. She could feel some legs skittering across her, unless she was just imagining it. Something skittered up both her sides at once and she screamed loud enough to make Sandra jump back and cover her ears.

“Jesus! Get your arachnophobia under control!” Sandra snapped.

“You can relax, it’s just me,” Hanna sighed. “We’ve known each other for over 15 years and you still fall for that trick?”

Alyssa felt her heart rate subside, but she was still doubled over and laughing as Hannah continued to skitter her fingers across her sides, easily tickling through the thin fabric of her tee shirt. “Ohohhoho! Yoohohohohou suck! Hahahaha!” Alyssa laughed.

“Oh my goodness! I forgot how much I’ve missed that laugh of yours,” Hannah teased. “You’re like a thin, artsy Tickle-Me Elmo. Honestly, we should spend the rest of the day doing just this. Would you like that?” Hanna’s teasing was almost as bad as her tickling. Embarrassed by the sound of her voice, Alyssa tried to control it. She bit her lip, and tried to regulate her breathing, but she only lasted a few seconds before her laughter burst forth louder and even more high-pitched than before.

The judo master in her was shaking her head in disappointment. She could think of a handful of reversals and counter-throws that would leave Hannah sprawled on her back in the front lawn, but that was supposed to be a surprise for later, so she forced herself to endure the humiliation.

However, she then felt Hanna’s fingertips slip past the waistband of her spandex and press into her hips. The feeling was intense and unnatural and she badly wanted it to stop. “OOOOOH NONONO YOU BITCH! HAHAHAHAAHAHA!” She dropped to her knees, but Hannah followed right behind her and refused to release her grip on Alyssa’s hips, making her kick her bare feet up and down against the grass. “PLEHEHEHEASE STOOOOOOOP!” she shrieked.

A neighbor watering his plants turned his head, as did a woman walking her dog. Alyssa could sense all the eyes on her, and Hannah supposedly did as well, since she then released her death grip on Alyssa’s waist and reached down to help her up. “Eeesh! I apologize for that. We’d best end it there before some concerned individual decides to call the police.”

“Sounds like a great idea,” Alyssa huffed as she was helped to her feet. “That was some way to greet me.”

“Well, a reunion like this would hardly be fitting without a friendly tickle. That would be like going to the Cheesecake Factory and not getting any cheesecake.”

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. “So after all these years, I’m still just ‘The ticklish one’ to you? How many duets have we done together?”

Their smarmy back and forth was interrupted by the approach of another woman. “I heard some laughter. I should have known I’d find you guys.”

“Brianna!” Alyssa, Hannah, and Sandra exclaimed in unison. Alyssa felt a touch of relief to know that she was not the only one who hadn’t undergone a serious lifestyle change in her college years. The woman standing before them, in a loose-fitting red tee shirt, plain tan shorts and sandals, was undoubtedly Brianna. From a distance, her loose tee shirt, functional shorts and plain sandals made her looks like a typical awkward nerd. However, as she approached them, the finer details, like her perfectly upright gait, short but well-maintained almond hair, and those straight eyebrows and equally straight lips, began to surface.

“How have you been Bri?” Sandra asked.

“Well enough,” Brianna answered.

Sandra and Alyssa exchanged glances. “‘Well enough’? That’s not much of an answer.”

“I’ll be happy to answer more questions later, but I’ve got something else that needs to be dealt with first.” She turned to Alyssa. “It’s been two years, Alyssa. I need to see the state of your computer, pronto.”

Alyssa sighed. “Sure, we can do that but can’t it wait until we’ve all finished catching up on the two years we’ve spent apart?”

“Alyssa, it’s Brianna,” Hannah said. “You know as well as I do that this computer issue must be addressed if we want even a fraction of her attention in this reunion. You two go ahead.” She turned to Sandra. “Care to do some catching up in the living room?”

Sandra did not even hesitate. “Sure thing, Black Ser-I mean, Hannah. Hoo boy, this will take some getting used to.”

“Can I at least get you guys some refreshments?” Alyssa offered.

“No need to worry, Alyssa. We still remember where the kitchen is,” Hannah said before disappearing into the house.

Before Alyssa could say anything else, Brianna grabbed her by the wrist. “Come on! Thinking about the possible problems your computer might have is making me antsy!”

Together, they hurried into the front door. Brianna left her sandals by the door and the two of them hurried upstairs. Brianna pushed through the door to the bedroom, raced to the desk and slid into the desk chair. Alyssa sat at the edge of her bed and watched, ready to step in if the mouse cursor came anywhere near her secret folder.

She felt a wave of relief when Brianna ignored her folder and clicked something else, but what she pulled up instead still had her folder on it. She “tsk”ed under her breath as she looked at all the data. “You are so lucky I came along today. This computer is running so many unnecessary programs right now. For instance, do you know what #/ttlt/ is?”

“No idea,” Alyssa replied. “You’re not going to try and explain it are you?”

“No, because I don’t know either. I do know that whatever it’s doing is unnecessary and is needlessly wasting space on your computer.” She clicked on an “Uninstall” button and #/ttlt/ was gone. “How have things been at Clark University?”

Alyssa was taken aback. Brianna was not the sort to make small talk. “Pretty good… I’ve made some friends, improved my artistry, practiced some martial ar - I mean, worked out a bit. How about you? How’s MIT?”

Brianna shrugged. “It’s ok. My dorm mate’s hardly ever around, so I can focus on my work. I’ve been working on designing software for a credit card company.” Brianna swiveled away from the screen and looked back at Alyssa, folding her hands in front of her and resting her toes atop the plastic wheels beneath the desk chair. “I’ve been trying to write an algorithm for tracking the patterns of customers to see if their transactions match their usual patterns of buying and spending. I figured I could create a subclass for checking for patterns, which would then be used by the main one for checking to see if they stick to their established patterns. Once I get enough data on them, I can…”

It wasn’t until Brianna was a few sentences in that Alyssa realized she was listening on autopilot, nodding her head at the end of each sentence without giving it any thought.

“Did you get all of that?” Brianna asked.

Alyssa nearly jumped as that dreaded question came up. She felt like she’d been caught sleeping in class. “Oh, yes!” she lied. “Um… sounds complex.”

“No, it’s actually pretty simple when you break it down.”

“Erm, let’s focus on my computer for now. Do you see anything else?”

Nodding, Brianna swiveled around to face the screen again. She leaned in and folded her bare feet behind the chair’s central support, to Alyssa’s distraction. Alyssa “hmmmmm”ed and “uh huh”ed along with Brianna’s lecturing on the state of her computer but her eyes were directed well below the screen.

Brianna had some Irish ancestry which gave her feet a fair complexion with a hint of redness around the balls of her feet. Each of them was narrow enough to tickle up and down in one motion with just one hand, or so Alyssa imagined as she grinned to herself. Brianna did not sport an athletic body like Sandra, or a movie star’s body like Hannah, but there was a softness to it that Alyssa found irresistible. The thought of shattering that stoic wall of intellectualism with a surprise tickle made her feel warm inside.

She wondered how ticklish Brianna’s feet were. She’d seen them countless times, thanks to Brianna’s preference for flip flops outdoors and bare feet indoors, but she’d never worked up the courage to tickle them. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she reached forward with her leg and extended her toe. She could just reach under the chair, but her alluring target remained a few inches out of reach.

She got up from the bed and stood behind the chair, pretending to get a closer look at the screen. She could easily reach them now, as they hung there, toes curling and uncurling, not suspecting anything from the person standing behind them.

Alyssa hesitated, but she did not know why. They were friends, right? It was okay for friends to tickle each other. HER friends tickled her all the time, so what was the problem? She lifted her foot from the floor and inched it closer. All she had to do was poke her toe forward, wiggle it along that tantalizing arch, and then dismiss it all as a bit of teasing. Brianna probably wouldn’t see the humor in it, but the worst she could expect was an awkward pause and a dry lecture on the dangers of distraction during a computer cleanup.

She nodded to herself. Her mind was set and her striped toenail was ready for action. Suddenly, Brianna turned her head. “What do you keep in the folder marked ‘Private’?”

Alyssa looked up, startled by the interruption. “Huh? The folder marked what?”

“Private.”

Alyssa’s eyes bugged out and her body went on high alert as she saw the mouse cursor on the screen hanging over the folder, one double-click away from exposing all of her private drawings. Without thinking, she grabbed the mouse and wrested it from Brianna’s hand, cradling it in her arms. “Is something the matter?” Brianna asked in a surprisingly dull tone.

“Well, what do you think? That file is private, just like the label says.”

“It’s an awfully large file. What do you keep in there? Porn?”

She asked it so casually, Alyssa did not know what to say. “…Yes…now please leave it be.”

Brianna shrugged. “Okay. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of it someday.”

“Fine, but not now okay? Are we done here?”

“Yep. Excluding potential problems in the Private folder, everything is clean and there are no unnecessary files running.”

“Good, then let’s get back downstairs. We’ve been keeping Sandra and Hannah waiting long enough.”

Brianna nodded and after shutting down the computer, she headed downstairs while Alyssa followed, shooting the occasional longing stare at Brianna’s feet as she followed behind. Later, she thought to herself.

They found Sandra and Hannah lounging together on the couch in the living room, watching Sex in the City. Each of them took up half of the couch as they both lay against the armrests and stretched their legs along the pillows. “Ah, so glad you could join us,” Hannah said, waving to them without looking away from the screen. “We had assumed we could at least finish an episode or two before Bri was satisfied with the condition of your computer.”

“I guess she’s just gotten faster,” Alyssa said.

“Well, to be honest, my skill with computers has no impact on the speed of the cleanup process,” Brianna corrected.

“Of course not.” Alyssa circled around to the front of the couch. However, a large nylon-clad foot and a curvy, tanned bare foot with black nail polish blocked her path. “Hey, scootch over!” Grinning, she reached down and tickled both feet at once with her nails.

“Heheehehey! Enough tickling already!” Sandra laughed.

“Woohohohohoo! You needn’t be so insistent,” Hannah giggled.

Both yelped, pulled their feet in and scurried to opposite ends of the couch.

They exchanged looks as Alyssa and Brianna sat in the newly opened spaces on the couch. “I think we’ve created a monster,” Sandra said.

“So, gals, what would you like to do once this episode is over?” Alyssa asked.

“Flip to ESPN!” Sandra said.

“I would prefer some VH1. Perhaps they’ll mention my band,” Hannah said.

“Do you have any good multiplayer games?” Brianna asked. “I could help set up one of your consoles.”

Alyssa sighed. She’d developed a number of interests through hanging out with each of them, and had become a master of each friend’s interests and tastes. However, she’d forgotten how notoriously hard it was to find something all of them wanted to do.

“How about we go out instead? Maybe get dinner?”

“How about we find a club? We could get some dancing in,” Sandra offered.

“Ooh! Sounds appealing!” Hannah agreed.

“I’d prefer someplace quieter,” Brianna said.



* * *



After a tedious ten minutes of discussion about where to eat, they all settled on an Applebees down the street. It hardly felt like a place worthy of such a reunion, but it was the same one they’d gone to several times as kids, so it had some nostalgic appeal, and what it lacked in atmosphere, they easily made up for in discussion.

Hannah talked about her band experiences, Sandra shared everything she’d learned about working in sales, and everyone pretended to listen as Brianna tried to explain the algorithms she’d written for her program.

Alyssa said far less. For her, it was enough to see everyone else having a good time. Despite how much they’d changed - Brianna excluded - they were all still the same three friends she’d grown up with.

Sandra’s story about verbally overpowering three men in suits during a business deal, showed the same brash confidence that had dazzled Alyssa back when she was young. Hannah’s talks about her relationships with her band members, and her gigs onstage reminded Alyssa of how insightful she’d always been when it came to other people, and how amazing she always looked onstage. Brianna’s lectures on programming, laced with many thoughtful interludes showed that she was still Aylssa’s anchor into the world of dry rationality, whenever she needed to be focused on just the facts. Even if her plan for the night failed, it was worth it to reunite with the three friends who had helped shape her into who she was now.

Afterwards, they spent an hour watching the sunset at the local park. Everyone commented on the sky’s beauty, while Alyssa daydreamed about the fun she would have by the time the sun had completely dipped below the horizon. Afterwards, they proceeded down Main St. admiring the stores and restaurants they used to patronize together. Eventually, they turned onto Arch St., where stores and the humming engines of cars gave way to crickets, wide open lawns, picket fences, and large two-story houses.

They turned at the large white house with the tulips Alyssa’s mom had planted by the doorway and left their footwear by the door as they walked inside. “That was such a blast!” Sandra exclaimed.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Hannah said. “What shall we do now?”

Alyssa tilted her head, pressed the tip of her finger to her lips and looked towards the ceiling, for the sake of coyness if nothing else. After all, she already had the answer. “Well, my parents set up a home theater downstairs.” Alyssa led the way downstairs and the four of them emerged in a wide open room. To their left hung a large projector screen. To their right, two large couches had been pushed towards the walls to make room for a massive futon, big enough for all four of them. It lay just in front of an old unused radiator. All the preparations had been made. A small fridge lay just in front of the futon, stocked with what Alyssa assumed were just enough beers to knock everyone’s inhibitions down a peg without making them black-out drunk.

“If any of you feel like nodding off early, I’ve left some blinders by the pillows.” Alyssa turned to the speaker in the wall of the room. “Basement, dim lights.” The other three “oooh”ed as the lights dimmed just enough to set the mood without making it impossible for everyone to find their way to the futon.

With beer and a late night movie, they all knew this space could easily become their bedroom for the night, so Sandra unbuttoned her office shirt and pulled down her skirt, Brianna discarded her shorts, Hannah removed her jacket and jeans, and Alyssa did her best not to get caught staring through the whole routine as she removed her spandex. By the time they were finished, everyone was in their tee shirt and undies.

The four of them dropped onto the futon and lay side by side. Sandra, Brianna and Hannah all lay down on their backs, propping their heads up on pillows so they could see the screen. Meanwhile, Alyssa handled fridge duty. She lay on her stomach resting her bare feet behind her on her pillow, while she supported her head on her hands and elbows. She reached into the fridge and passed back cans of beer to everyone.

“Ah, thanks,” Sandra said as she popped it open. “So, what are we watching?”

“Well, since I knew you three could never agree on a movie, I just closed my eyes and picked the first movie I saw when I opened them. We’ll be watching The Godfather.”

Brianna and Hannah smiled to each other and nodded their approval, but Sandra looked far less satisfied. “Ugh! This plodding movie? Can’t we watch something with more action?”

“The Godfather has plenty of action,” Hannah argued. “I take it you’re just disappointed that this movie also has some intrigue as well.”

“Ah, let’s just start the movie then. The sooner we start it, the sooner it’ll be over,” Sandra conceded.

“Very good.” Alyssa turned towards the speaker on the wall. “Basement, run movie,” Alyssa ordered. The projector clicked on and the film began to run. Brianna and Hannah watched in silent appreciation, while Sandra commented on how ridiculous Marlon Brando looked, or how corny the music sounded.

Alyssa remained quiet herself, passing beers back as requested, and contenting herself with all the bare feet laid out beside her. In the room’s dimness there was not much to appreciate. Sandra’s feet were large black silhouettes thanks to the stockings, she could just barely see the fair pigmentation in Brianna’s slender feet and the light tan in Hannah’s perfectly-proportioned high-arch feet, contrasted only by her black nail polish. She at least felt secure in knowing that the others could not see her gawking at them.

As time passed and the beer supply continued to empty, Brianna and Hannah began to join Sandra in conversation, and soon Alyssa was the only one paying any attention at all to the movie. The raucous chatter behind her suddenly dimmed to a whisper. She knew what was coming next. Every sleepover with these three eventually led to this. She turned her head to look behind her. Her three friends all exchanged looks and grinned to each other. There was a hint of embarrassment in their eyes but they all appeared to be in agreement that they weren’t too old to still have some fun. Boredom was setting in, the Gods demanded laughter, and as the group’s official “Ticklish one” Alyssa could already guess which of them would be the sacrifice.

In perfect unison, Hannah and Brianna reached to either side of them. Each grabbed one of Alyssa’s ankles and then both of them set their slender fingers upon her bare soles. Hannah launched a full assault on her entire foot, stroking her fingers across Alyssa’s quivering arch like it was a guitar. Her fingers moved faster than Alyssa’s addled mind could keep track. “Hahahahahaanahahahah stahahahahap! You’re killing mehehehehehehe!” she begged. She struggled to kick her foot, but Hannah had her leg bent upward at the knee, giving her very little leverage to move her leg.

She could only spare some attention to Hannah’s assault on her foot, for Brianna had found a particularly sensitive area just under her big toe and sported a cruel grin as she tickled it over and over with just two fingers. It tickled far worse than two fingers had any right to tickle.

Everything was at least going as planned so far, but that did not mean she enjoyed it. Her attention ricocheted back and forth between Hannah and Brianna as she maintained a death grip on the futon’s bedsheet and filled the room with high-pitched shrieks of laughter.

“Aww… look who still has ticklish little peddies!” Hannah teased. “You really haven’t changed at all.” Alyssa shook her head and pounded the futon in frustration. The teasing always made it worse.

“Tell me about it,” Sandra added. “You should have seen her squirm when I had her feet earlier today.”

“Well, that’s hardly fair,” Hannah pouted. “Now I won’t be satisfied until we’ve tickled them at least twice as much.”

“GAHAHAHAHAHUYS! PLEHEHEHEASE! THIHIHIHIHIS ISN’T FUNNY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Alyssa begged as she waved her hands in an attempt to express her displeasure if nothing else. When her flailing left hand bumped into a set of toes, she did not need to think twice. She closed her arm around the pair of ankles to her left, pulling both feet together and she tickled both of them at once.

She heard a startled shriek and some very desperate laughter. “WAHAHAHAIT! NOHOHOHO NOT THE FEEEEEET! HAAHAHAHA!” It was definitely Brianna’s voice. Alyssa felt the torture beneath her toe begin to slow down, and felt a thrill as she finally gave Brianna the tickling she’d been wanting to give since earlier today. Even Hannah’s tickling began to slow as Brianna lost it. She dropped Alyssa’s foot and focused on freeing herself.

In the confusion, Alyssa pulled in her legs and scurried off the bed on all fours as fast as she could. As soon as she was out of their reach, she pushed herself to her feet, only to run head-first into Sandra. “Hey, where you do think you’re going?” Sandra said with a grin that promised plenty of fun at her expense.

Alyssa tried to shove past her, but she was out-sized by over ten inches. Sandra grabbed her by the wrists and before Alyssa could even struggle, one of the others ran up and slipped a blind fold over her eyes.

“Now, now. No running off little one,” Hannah said. “Back to the play pen for you.” Her hands were pulled behind her back and she was forced to walk until she felt the unbalancing cushioning of the futon beneath her feet. As she stood, half-supported by Sandra, she felt a hand grab her ankle and lift her foot slightly into the air while Sandra held her steady.

“As I recall, you really hated it when I tickled you right under your toe, right?” Brianna asked in a dry voice that made her sound like a doctor performing an inspection.

“Please, Bri. Don’t do the toe again,” Alyssa begged. She tried to stay calm, but her whole body was rigid and her foot trembled as it awaited its punishment.

“I’ll administer its treatment in three seconds. One...” Alyssa felt a soft poke under her toe which made her entire body twitch. “Two…” another poke. She knew the next one would be far more than a poke. She clenched her toes and sucked in a mouthful of air.

The tickling came, but it was not from Brianna. Hannah dug her hands under Alyssa’s shirt and tickled along her ribs, catching her completely off guard. “EEEEEEEEHEHEHOHOHOHOHO YOHOHOHOU BITCHES! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Alyssa cried.

“Oh, I apologize. Were you expecting me to tickle your toe?” Brianna asked.

Alyssa wanted to kick herself for playing into this. “NOHOHOHOHO! NO TOHOHOES!”

“Okay, how about this then?” Brianna directed her hand towards the underside of Alyssa’s knee. Alyssa shrieked even louder and stamped her foot in frustration. “Yes, this is much better than the toe, but a promise is a promise.” Brianna grabbed her foot and her toe finally received the tickling she’d been anticipating, but in a way that sent her into a sudden coughing fit.

Her three ticklers stopped to let her collect herself and laughed at her predicament. At this point, she no longer had any hang-ups about giving them their just desserts. They’d had their fun at her expense. Now it was her turn. Using far more force than she would have normally used among friends, she drove her foot deep into the futon, and shoved her hip backwards, nudging into Sandra and knocking her off balance. Sandra tried to let go of her, but Alyssa grabbed her and held on. Using her whole body, she flipped Sandra over her shoulder and slammed her right into the futon.

She then reached forward and grabbed Hannah. Placing her foot behind Hannah’s she forced her backwards into a trip and sent her sprawling onto her back.

Brianna tried to get away, but as Alyssa lifted her blindfold, she reached over, grabbed Brianna by the wrist and took her for a one-way-trip to the futon as well. All three of them lay on their backs, none of them seriously hurt, but all three of them still trying to come to terms with what just happened, and before any of them could act, Alyssa had handcuffed their wrists to the radiator behind them.

“Basement, lights on,” Alyssa said. Light filled the previously dimmed room, making it all the more apparent, both to Alyssa and her captive friends, who was in charge now.

“What the Hell just happened?” Sandra asked.

“Screw that! What the Hell is happening!?” Brianna shouted. “

With hands on hips, Alyssa grinned and mimicked Hannah’s upturned nose look. “Oh, that? I forgot to tell you guys, I learned some judo while I was away.”
(to be continued)

Great story! Very nice turn-about.