The Brotherhood
by Pagaan Place

"But, this can't be... There is no way I can be pre... preg... I was diagnosed with endemetriosis since I was a teenager."

"Well, your womb doesn't appear to have any scarring. I am not sure what your doctor told you, Miss, but you are definitely pregnant."

Lisa slowly got up from the table as the clinic doctor left her to get dressed. Her mind whirling over the possibility. She was pregnant, something she thought would never happen to her. And, of course, with her amazing bad luck, the father is a man she will probably never see again.

One stupid night of self-pity and look at her now... Lisa grinned, She is pregnant. Just the idea that she is carrying a child was so amazing, she could forgive herself for the lack of a father. Don't go there... she told herself. That would get her absolutely no where.

And, she could forgive Taurick from disappearing afterwards. She knew she must have seemed easy. She cringed at the thought. She went on a tear after finding and losing her birth mother. She patted her stomach. Not you baby, I am in it for the long haul.

Lisa dressed and ready to go walked out of the clinic feeling as light as air. She was grinning from ear to ear, happy for once that something so incredible happened to her. She pushed through the bustling crowd to her little mini and headed back to the school where she worked as a teacher. She'd chosen this vocation from her early teenage years when the doctors predicted that children would be an impossibility with someone with her type of scarring in the womb.

Lisa was still at a loss as to how this could have happened. Her one night with her mysterious stranger resulted in her being pregnant. She still wasn't sure why she took him home. In this day and age it was dangerous and dumb to pick someone up at a bar. But Lisa had been feeling low. An orphan growing up, she had found her mother, Prue, on her deathbed. She had been searching for Lisa for a long time and was never able to locate her.

And, it was only because Lisa kept in touch with Father Hugh that she found out her mother was searching for her. Father Hugh contacted her but told her straight out that her Mother was dying and wanted see her before she died.

It was the typical story, young girl finds herself in trouble from the high school boyfriend who left town immediately after finding out Prue was pregnant. Leaving her alone to raise a child when she was but a mere child herself.

Prue's parents kicked her out and told her never to come back and that's what she did. But, she couldn't take care of herself, let alone a little baby, so she had no choice but to give her up.

Lisa shook her head to dispel sad memories, realizing she has been driving on auto-pilot back to work. She needed to get back to the school and speak with the Head Master and make him aware of the upcoming event.

Although single-parenthood doesn't carry such a stigma as it once used to, most women at least know who the father is. Or at least how to contact him. Taurick will never know that he is going to be a father.

Except Taurick already knew he was about to be a father. Pacing back and forth in the antechamber, surrounded by candles and dim light.

"Simon, how is this possible. The brotherhood has not had a child born to them for four centuries. It's just not possible."

Simon watching his brother pace back and forth across the chamber, could feel the anguish coming from his brother as a palpable vibration.

"You'd better find her Taurick, she is going to need your help when she starts the change. It's a painful process and she has no idea of who and what we are. And, what she's about to become. You have time."

"Normal gestation will take 42 weeks, almost the same gestation as a human. But, you need to decide what your going to do. And the brotherhood need to figure out what is going on before we turn more females."

"Tell me, has the fire started burning through your veins yet? Ahh, I can tell it has. You will need to go to her and make contact. You should bring her home where we can care for her."

"Things may be changing for us, I'm just not sure if its a good thing or a bad thing. I will consult with the Oracle."

"No need, I am here. I have been watching the changes going on, and our future now appears cloudy."  The Oracle, dressed in silk robes entered into the antechamber. "I believe we are heading into a change of seasons. Our time has come again. If our merciful God wishes to reconstitute our race, then who are we to complain. I believe human women, certain human women, can survive the change and bear our children once again."