New to Ketterdam

Chapter 1

Warnings: The Menagerie, violence, and attempted sexual assault.

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     I walked down the long wharf of Fifth Harbor with my brother. I knew it wasn't exactly the safest area—my two months of experience in this town had shown that clear enough. The grungy wharf, although prosperous and full of life, was mucky. The crowded area was often full of pickpockets and thieves waiting for the right opportunity to strike. A girl, like me, was a prime opportunity for the most conniving in Ketterdam. I was fortunate to always have someone with me. My first day at Ketterdam had solidified the need for constant support while walking anywhere. 

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     My family had just moved into Ketterdam once my father got a job at the hospital. Ketterdam was certainly not my parent's ideal plan for raising their seven kids. Yet, here we were. We were able to afford a house near Ketterdam university where I planned to attend in just two short days.

     I was walking past West Stave, attempting to go to a shop around there for dinner while my family continued to unpack our belongings, when I saw the pleasure houses. The hoards of men and women in masks and costumes surrounded the area. Prior to coming to Ketterdam, I knew nothing of the area and was unaware of the large tourist population that constantly resides there. My only knowledge of that section of Kerch was of the university and the merchant town. Walking in West Stave was a wake-up call. The figures languidly hanging outside the windows of the building, scantily clad in the brand of whatever pleasure house they were situated. The sounds and calls that echoed throughout the streets and buildings were enough to scar my innocent demeanor.

     I was stopped by men and women who pushed me through the crowd with their movement. I was quickly pushed, as if ushered, into a cage-like building. I was able to look up briefly, before falling inside, at the sign. The Menagerie, House of Exotics.

      The inside was full of men in costumes and young women.  The decor was of exotic birds and animals.  As I looked around me, lifting myself up to my feet, I was horrified by the sights around me. A woman at the far end of the room, her perfume already flooding my nose, was talking to most of the men. She was dressed in magnificent peacock feathers and was taking money from the men surrounding her and pointing at various girls standing off to the side. The girls, most of them younger than me at maybe fourteen or sixteen, were dressed in costumes of sorts. A Suli girl dressed as a lynx. A Shu girl was dressed as a serpent. A Zemeni girl was dressed as a fawn. There were many girls in various costumes around as well. Too many, I thought. Although they hid it well, with their face masked in makeup and smiles, their eyes held frightened looks. I wanted to be nowhere near this place. The men were practically climbing to the woman at the center of the parlor, throwing money at her and lustful looks at the little girls around them.

      Someone grabbed my shoulders, pulling me towards the front. I smelled smoke and alcohol and felt sweat seeping through my shirt from the hands. A man's voice was bellowing close to my neck at the peacock woman in front, "How much for the Kerch broad?" My stomach dropped and I felt the blood drain from my face. My eyes widened as I looked behind me at the man grabbing me, almost choking me with his hands.  He was looking at me wrong. His eyes were not loving or gentle. His eyes were full of greed and lust; terrifying. They were looking over my dress and shoulders, crawling all over me. I was only fifteen and he must have been in his forties. He made me shudder and want to cry. 

     The woman simply shrugged and stretched out her hand. "Same as the others, of course." 

 
     My eyes widened even more. "No," was all I could muster, it was weak. Tears caught at the back of my throat as I looked between the two of them sealing my fate. What was happening?