Chapter 3: A place that is prepared for you

Amber turned me and led the way. Laura and Bethany walked behind me, Tammy and Mariah to my left, and Tanya and Terry to my right. Amber led us through the door at the far end of the aisle. It entered candlelit spiral stairway that led down to a lower floor. There was a short hallway at the bottom with a door on both sides and one at the end. She stopped at the end door and knocked twice. I noticed that this door and the first two each had a symbol inlayed into the door with some sort of colored stones. The symbol was of a rose; falling from its left side were two petals, from its right side was a drop of blood.

The door was opened by a priestess who appeared to be in her early thirty's. She smiled warmly at me and said; "Welcome Alison. This is the place that has been prepared for you. Please enter and make yourself comfortable."

The room we entered was fairly large with four doorways leading out from it. It had white walls with what appeared to be rose tapestries on silk covering much of the wall space. The same rose pattern was used to upholster the large circular couch in the center of the room. A shaft of sunlight flooded into the center of the room through a domed skylight and lit the place fairly well.

When my aunts and I were all in the room the priestess turned and said, "Welcome to the Mothers house on this special day Alison. My name is Sister Anya. Please make yourself at home; you will after all be spending most of the next twenty-four hours in here. There will be another ritual or two that I will be performing before the final Rite, but until and between them; Aunts, the room is yours. I charge you to prepare this girl for that which lies ahead of her. For tonight, and for all the nights to come."

With that, she turned and closed the door behind her leaving me alone with my aunts. Amber motioned to the couch and told me to have a seat.

"Who would like some tea?" She asked. After a chorus of "I" she went through one of the other doors into what appeared to be a kitchen, and returned with a tray loaded with cups, teapot and muffins.

As she sat and began to pour tea, Mariah turned to me and said; "So young lady; are you ready for this?"

"I don't know." I replied. "I still don't know what exactly it is that I am supposed to be ready for."

"Well;" Said Terry, "That's one of the reasons WE are here, to explain it to you, and to prepare you."

"Prepare me for what?" I asked.

"For the Rite of course" She said.

"But what exactly IS the Rite?" I asked. "The only thing that I've ever heard about it was second hand rumor that it hurts."

"It can sometimes." She continued. "That's what we're here to explain. The Rite is many things; it is the last major trial of childhood, and your graduation into womanhood. It is a rebirth; the girl that is you shall perish tonight and be reborn a woman."

"O.k." I said. "Would somebody please start making sense. First I heard hurt; now I hear [perish]! If you wanted me worried, I'm there!"

Tammy laughed and said; "Don't worry about it Ali. They did this to us too. I think the whole thing is [designed] to make us nervous."

"No." Said Amber. "It's intended to give you the sense of awe that is appropriate for such a profound transition in your life. And yes, a healthy amount of nervousness is appropriate too. You may enjoy this event; you may not. If you relax and listen to us, you stand a much better chance of enjoying it."

"But what's [going] to happen?" I asked.

"You are going to be [opened] dear." She said. "Your body is going to be opened and you are going to become a woman."

I blinked for a moment confused and then understanding slowly dawned on me, and as it was doing so I looked up at Laura who was smiling at me and slowly pushing her index finger in and out of the clenched fist of her other hand. The understanding that was slowly dawning on me suddenly smacked me in the forehead like a brick. I looked at her, shocked, and she nodded.

"You mean I'm gonna..."

"... Lose your virginity; yes dear." Amber completed. "That's what the scriptures are talking about. A virgin cannot marry. You may not enter into a lifelong relationship knowing nothing of your duties to your partner. You are here to earn that knowledge."