"Well, I know the being I met were no delusion. At least I don't believe they were. If they were though, it leads me to believe my mind is desperate to escape this isolation. I've been missing out on a lot that most girls get to do, all because of some asinine tradition my family refuses to let go of."

“Oh, what tradition is that?” Daphnee follows up.

“And I didn't want you thinking that these occurrences were delusions. If you want to speak of them I'll listen. After all when it comes to delusions I'm an expert.”

“You got that right!” She throws her voice so it sounds as if it were coming behind her, in a prior meeting she mentioned her skills with ventriloquism.

“Kidding, of course about the delusion part, not the listening though.”

"Well, because of my family's wealth, we are usually very careful about who marries into the family. We don't want anyone to take advantage of our estate and ruin everything we worked so hard for all these years. But the approach my family takes in insane. They won't let me meet any guys outside the family until I turn 21, to ensure I don't end up with the wrong man." Rosalie explains. "If I were simply limited to where I can meet them or had company, that would be different."

“That is odd … you would think that they would have some form of prenuptial or clause if the parties in question separate for whatever reason they get loose access to the fortune. I guess that makes sense in a way but is damn weird … do the men have to do the same by staying away from women until they are twenty-one as well, which would seem to make more sense seeing that they are no different in that regard.”

She was uncertain if it were just one gender or if it applied to a younger generation of both men and women beneath a certain age expecting the older ones to make better decisions.

"As far as I know, only my family has this tradition. But when I do turn 21, I will be introduced to several suitors and will be able to choose which one I will marry. I don't have a problem with that part, it's not as if I'm in an arranged marriage. I just don't like all this isolation." Rosalie says. "I do know that men in my social class usually are required to seek a woman like me as well, if they want to inherit their family's wealth, estate, and business. Technically, I could decide I don't want to inherit anything and do as I please, but I don't have any siblings. And despite this moronic tradition, I am proud of my family and heritage. So I feel I could never do such a thing and disappoint my parents."

“What if no one seems good enough? Do you still have to marry?” She heard about marriage to cement pacts between families and what not but never marriage set at a certain age so she was clarifying a few things.

Of course, Daphnee knew of the fate that had awaited them at graduation and that her fate could be for naught if she had surmised correctly.

“It seems as if there's a lot of pressure placed on you.”

"Not immediately. My father would still not have to retire for several more years, unless something forces him to. So I would still have some time to look for someone. It might be best anyway as I'll want to learn all that I can about how exactly my father manages everything. Trying to plan a marriage would only distract me. And it is a lot of pressure. Our ancestors were wealthy once before, but acquiring that wealth was done differently. Basically, they raided rich cities and monasteries, looted everything of value, then sold it off."

"That's my biggest issue with this tradition. It comes from a time where women were regarded as inferior and let their emotion get the better of them. They believed their women couldn't make wise decisions about who was a trustworthy man, so it was decided that all women within the immediate family must be "protected" from any men who might charm his way to our wealth. To hold onto such a tradition in this day and age is insulting."

So obviously this tradition Rosalie had to follow was only meant for the women. It was very likely the men while having some restrictions, did not have to be isolated like that.

Daphnee just shakes her head. “That's just wrong. You'd imagine that they'd do away with it. After all it's not as if someone that just marries in gets all the wealth and is sort of dependent on their spouse an eventually inheriting a portion of that goose egg.

“Maybe it just will take someone putting their foot down in this day and age that doesn't tolerate these imposed restrictions though I'm guessing if you did this you would loose your inheritance. Legally though you probably could fight that ...”

"Actually, I've been told even with those restrictions in place, even my aunt found that a couple of suitors were only interested in getting their hands on our estate. They didn't realize how carefully my family guards its assets, and assumed once they were married, they would have full access to it. But since it was it was my father who had control over everything, she herself only had access to a portion of that wealth. Everyone within the immediate family has a small share, even me. But because I am also the only child, I will be the first woman of our family to eventually gain complete control over the estate. So that's one thing to be proud of. As for that tradition, I do intend to shake things up a bit. I don't want any daughters I have to be thought of as weak minded. Though I will have to wait a few years after marriage to take any action..." Rosalie says before switching over to the other subject. "...I'm guessing the way those things handled you, it must've been horrible."

“I figured it would work like that, most people see dollar signs and rush in. I never really paid much attention to money myself, my expenses were kept low and I had a few things of any real expense, my parents never really were great providers. Not that they couldn't provide, they chose not to provide.

“Food, clothes, that was all … nothing else really. I had to get everything else on my own. I'd say my folks were neglectful, they provided just enough not to be abusive ..” She shakes her head. Hence her learning to construct her own puppets, they were too expensive otherwise and even her iPod, which she had to earn on her own was probably the most expensive thing she owned and it was a mere $70.

She had to be careful here though about what she said since she couldn't speak of the actual attacks.

“The delusions freaked me out in the beginning, I got use to them then they've begun getting bad again. I'm sort of paranoid of doctors these days so don't even go to the school nurse if I can avoid it.”

"I see. Well my first encounter I'd say was quite lucky compared what you have experienced. It was some kind of mermaid like alien. She was just playful and wanted to have fun with me, though she advised I either lost my virginity to her or another student so none of the more aggressive creatures could have it. I ran into her again at the pool, but that time she was angry with me for not meeting her at the beach again." Rosalie pauses feeling hesitant to talk about the most recent incident with Gersham.

“A mermaid?” She had not encountered any aquatic types though she could totally understand going from one extreme to the other.

Ah, of course, that was it. She rarely went to the beach since her first night year resulted in an attack. She knew how cruel these things could be because they were being callous. She could imagine how they would be if they got upset. She tried to stay on their good side when she could …

“It's alright, take your time I'm not going anywhere." She could already imagine what that time entailed or was it the third encounter that she was having a bit of trouble with? It had seemed that she had been wrong in simply judging that Rosalie was alright.

“You don't have to get into it if you don't want to.”

It took a moment for Rosalie to start talking again. "The last creature I encountered was in my room while I was resting. He said he was an incubus. Not only did he ravage me physically, he took me into some dream world where I was attacked and raped by men raiding a small village I was in."