Chapter 1: Scarlaria

Rose turned over in the bed and sat up, her heart still racing from the nightmare she had. As she looked around for her phone, she noticed that neither the bed nor the bedroom was her own. The blanket was made from a different material and the mattress had no spring or bounce to it. The room had wooden floors with only a small rug near the bed as opposed to the wall-to-wall carpet in her bedroom. There was no tv or clock, no wardrobe or dresser with her clothes, and no cell phone or any electricity for that matter. The only thing that she seemed to own here was the nightgown she had gone to sleep in.

Rose moved from the bed to a nearby window and could see several people working on what looked like a farm. There were no skyscrapers in sight, which was the usual view from her bedroom apartment in Manhattan. A bit of fear began to settle in as she tried to remember how she got here. Did her parents bring her somewhere in the middle of the night? How did she sleep through being carried to the car and from the car to here? Even if that was the case, where were her clothes, luggage, and phone?

The seed of fear grew more, making Rose pace around the room. She pinched and slapped herself on the arm to ensure this wasn’t another dream or nightmare. Why couldn’t she remember anything? She looked out of the window again while trying to make sense of it all, but was too nervous to leave the room. What if she had been drugged and kidnapped? She was only a stupid fifteen-year-old girl with wealthy parents. That was it, maybe someone kidnapped her for a ransom.

“Oh, you’re finally awake,” a woman said from the doorway. “We were worried about you.”

“Where am I, and who are you?” Rose asked.

The woman smiled. “My name is Suenette, and you’re in the village of Nette.”

“I’ve never heard of Nette. What state are we in?”

“Nette is in a peaceful state, thankfully,” the woman answered.

“No, I mean, what state is Nette located in?” Rose asked again.

“I don’t understand your question,” Suenette responded, confused.

“Are we in America?” Rose questioned.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what America is.”

“The continent, America,” Rose clarified.

“Oh, we’re on the continent of Scarlaria. The capital is Scarlet Larian, named after the two ruling families. Anyway, dear, you should come down and have some breakfast. You’ve been asleep for days and you’re so skinny.”

How could it have been days, Rose thought to herself as Suenette turned and left again. And, sure, it was true that she was skinny, but she was still healthy. With no other choice, Rose followed loosely behind the woman with bare feet and still wearing her nightgown. The house seemed to be old, containing no outlets or electrical devices at all. Even the bathroom lacked any proper indoor plumbing. As Rose arrived downstairs, the table was full of people eating. Suenette introduced everyone, starting with her husband, Victonette, her oldest son at seventeen, Robnette, Poynette, sixteen, Zacnette, fifteen, and Charnette, fourteen, all boys.

Rose joined them for breakfast and put aside her worries long enough to sate her hunger. After the family finished discussing their plans for the day, the attention turned to Rose. She explained all about how she was from the city of Manhattan in the state of New York, but no one had heard of such a place. On the other hand, Rose never heard of Scarlaria, or any place called Nette. She figured that such a village could exist, but she was also certain that the world hadn’t misplaced an entire continent.

Just as soon as breakfast was over, Victonette stood and kissed his wife, followed by each of the four sons. Victonette then led the boys around the table to where Rose was sitting. Her entire body tightened and tensed up in shock as the man kissed her and shoved his tongue into her mouth. The rest of the four boys all kissed her on the lips as well but with no tongue.

“Oh, that’s just a custom here in Nette,” Suenette explained, obviously seeing the shocked and confused expression on Rose’s face. Physical contact and intimacy are important in maintaining our society here in Scarlaria.”

“That was my first kiss,” Rose complained, still disheveled from the whole event.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty more,” Suenette assured Rose, missing the point.

“How can I get back home,” Rose asked, standing to help clear the table.

“I can’t say that I know how to get to Man-hat-tan,” Suenette began. “There’s a big transport hub in the capital, but it takes around a month to get there. We’re pretty far away.”

Though Rose’s family had a housekeeper to do dishes and laundry, she still helped Suenette cleanup in return for all of the hospitality she’d been given so far. While in the process of carrying water in from a well in the yard, it dawned on Rose that she didn’t even know how she ended up in this house.

“Oh, well, we don’t know where you were coming from, but Robnette found you unconscious over where we cut trees for firewood. We just assumed you succumbed to lust or orgasms.”

Rose watched Suenette’s face with wonder at her words. How would a person randomly pass out from lust and orgasms? This question remained in her mind, though, not wanting to discuss such topics with a strange lady who was old enough to be her mother. For the remainder of the day, Rose tried to be helpful so as not to wear out her welcome. She still wasn’t sure what to do or where to go, but at least she had a place to stay for now. Cooking and cleaning were tasks that Rose wasn’t accustomed to, having been pampered all of her life.

When the family gathered again for dinner, Victonette and Robnette took some time to explain the route from the village of Nette to the capital, Scarlet Larian. Rose listened intently to their directions which included a lot of walking, some usage of wagons and even having to cross a river. It was clear to her that no one in the family was going to escort her there, and she didn’t know the first thing about traveling in the wilderness.

“Don’t forget to masturbate before going to sleep,” Suenette said, almost in a warning sort of way.

Rose went to bed that night unsure if it was some sort of inside joke. Either way, she had only ever masturbated once before, and she didn’t see what the big deal about it was. Sure, it felt a little good, but it was nothing to celebrate. The next morning was more of the same. The family ate breakfast, and then the males got up and kissed both Rose and Suenette before leaving for the day. Something was more pleasant about the kissing this time around, or maybe it was that Rose wasn’t completely surprised about it today.

Later that morning, Rose ventured into the village still wearing her night gown. According to Suenette, most places in Scarlaria didn’t use money in the manner Rose described, but rather traded goods and services on a barter system. One could get anything they wanted as long as they could provide something in return. From what Rose could see, the townspeople all seemed normal except that they were stuck in a period from hundreds of years ago.

She stopped by a clothing shop first and loosely explained her intent to travel to the capital, which would require more than a nightgown. The shopkeeper, a man who appeared to be in his thirties, seemed more than happy to assist. He shared his thoughts on how Rose would not only need comfortable clothing but also some light armor. He further assured that his tailoring would help prevent most simple-level and some basic-level arousal attacks. Rose looked puzzled at his explanation, wondering why everyone in the village was so obsessed with arousal and masturbation.