Iris Vessel:

Simone’s Notes:

Parthenogenesis describes the growth and development of an embryo or seed without fertilization by a male. Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in some species, including lower plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. It is sometimes also used to describe reproduction modes in hermaphroditic species which can self-fertilize. In religious belief, a Virgin Birth is a miraculous birth of a child to a woman who is a virgin. Although there were some prior beliefs about virgin birth, the concept is best known from Christianity. In that faith, the Virgin Birth is the theological doctrine which asserts that Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother, the Virgin Mary, without the participation of a human father. It is a key doctrine of the Christian faith, and is also held by Muslims (Qur'an 3.47).The belief is formulated by the Apostle's Creed - a confession of faith shared by many Christian denominations - as follows: "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary..."

On the same day Yasmine was taken to Plum Hills, Ginny wandered the halls in her school. Hunter was with the rest of her boys so they didn’t notice her leaving. She was in concern about something. “I’ve seen Kate since yesterday morning!” she thought. “Something must be wrong.” When Ginny came to the girls’ bathroom, a sound caught her ear. It seemed to be someone throwing up. The Catholic became really concerned now. She quickly rushed in to help. She found Kate in an open stall with her face in the toilet. Really worried, her friend ran straight over to her. “Kate?” she asked. Her friend looked up pale. “Gin-ny!” she managed to force out. The other girl knelt down beside of her. “Aw, what’s wrong?” Ginny asked. Kate softly shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I was like this this morning.” “Was it something you ate?” her friend asked. “All I had with a toaster pastry,” Kate answered. “And they were just bought yesterday.” “Hmm,” Ginny said. “That’s strange…” They paused for a long moment. Then, the bell rang to start class. Ginny turned back to Kate. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll carry you to class.” “Thanks, Gin!” her friend replied in a low whisper. Then, the blonde Catholic girl lifted up her brunette friend and carried her out of the bathroom.

This sickness with Kate only grew worse throughout the day. She looked as if she was about to fall asleep in almost all of her classes. The poor girl could barely keep her head up. She looked as if she was going to throw up again at any second. And when she did, Kate would always try to run to the bathroom in time. Ms. Daily even put her hand on the girl’s forehead after pushing aside her bangs to see if she was running a fever or something. “Oh my stars!” the English teacher called out. “You’re burning up! I think you need to go home!” “I’ll be fine!” Kate assured her. “Are you sure?” Ms. Daily asked. The girl nodded. “Okay…” she said uneasily. “But you should see the nurse later.” “Alright.” Kate replied with a tired nod. Her friends weren’t so sure about that one. They kept watching her throughout the whole day. Kate was getting worse and worse each second. “Should we keep an eye on her?” Mikey whispered. “Yeah!” Jakob whispered back. “I’ll do that!” Ginny replied. “Alright.” Hunter and the other agreed. They just couldn’t figure it out. What was wrong with Kate? Then, Gin got a painful suspicion. She tried to shake it from her head. “No, she can’t be!” the girl thought. “Why am I even thinking that?” But, she didn’t know how right she was…

Then at P.E., the problem was starting to be revealed. Kate and Ginny was jogging around the gym with their class when Kate jogged all the way to the bathroom. Ginny looked and saw her friend leaving the track. Concerned, she raced after her friend. She found Kate huddled over the toilet throwing up in an open stall again. Now, Gin was really worried. “I think it’s getting worse!” she called. “It’s not possible!” Kate replied. Ginny stepped closer. “Do you think you’re coming down with something?” she asked. Her friend sat up and thought about that for a while. “Well now that you mention it,” she replied. “My breasts have been feeling a bit sore lately and they seem to be swollen. I’ve been feeling very tired lately. Then, I’ve been hungry for pizza almost every meal for the past five days. I almost feel like throwing up were Mr. Burns get too close to me with his aftershave. Then, my back has been sore since this morning.” Right then, Ginny had the information she needed. It was starting to sound like just what she had feared. “That’s it!” she said at last. “We’re going to the drug store right after school!” Kate looked at her confused. “Why?” she asked. Ginny really didn’t want to answer that one just yet. She didn’t want to scare Kate at all.

The girls went to the drug store after school as planned. Ginny got two boxes of pregnancy tests for Kate while she wasn’t looking. Her friend just looked around the store. “I don’t get it,” she spoke up. “Why are we here? Why do you keep dodging all of my questions for?” Ginny turned to her friend with a pale face. She looked deep into her friend’s mint chocolate eyes. How could she break this life-damaging news to her? It would ruin everything about her. Ginny herself didn’t want to believe her intuition. But it wouldn’t shut up. “Ginny?” Kate asked. “Is something wrong? You look so pale.” Her friend quickly shook herself back to reality. “Nothing,” she replied. “Nothing at all.” Kate looked as her uncertain. “Say,” Ginny spoke up again. “Are you planning anything to do at your house at the moment?” The other girl shrugged and shook her head. “No, why?” she replied. Ginny smiled for real for once today. “Great!” she called. “You can stay over at my house for dinner tonight!” “Uh… okay…” her friend said uneasily. “In fact,” Ginny spoke up again. “You go outside and tell your mother where you’ll be!” “But…” Kate spoke up. “No buts, missy!” Gin said quickly as she began pushing her friend out the door. “Just call!” “Okay…” Kate replied uneasy. Then, the girl drew out her phone and began to dial home. While Kate was doing that, Ginny hurried up to the counter and put the pregnancy tests on it. The clerk looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “They’re for my mom!” Gin spoke up quickly. “Can’t be too certain these days!” The clerk said nothing and rang up the tests. “Forty cenz!” he replied. The girl handed him the money from her light blue wallet. The clerk took it and put in the cash register. “Do you want me to bag them?” he asked. “Yes, please!” the girl said quickly. The guy put her tests in a small plastic bag with the receipt and handed her the bag. “Thank you.” Ginny said with a nod as she took the bag. Then, the girl hurried out of the store and outside to where her friend was waiting.

Kate and Ginny made it back to Ginny’s house before her parents could come home. Gin dragged her friend to the upstairs bathroom. “Okay, what is this about?” Kate asked in real concern. “Why are you keeping things from me?” Her friend turned to her with an open pregnancy test in her hands. The other girl put two and two together. “Do you think I’m…” she began in fear. Gin nodded. “B-But I can’t be!” Kate exclaimed. “Well, we have to see!” her friend protested. “I’m going out of my mind here. So please take the test so that I can have some peace again!” A pause came between the two girls. Then, Kate finally nodded. “Okay, I’ll take the test.” she said at last. Ginny began to smile again. “Thank you, Kate!” she breathed out.

Then, the tests began. Kate followed the instructions on the box. Both waited nervously. “How did you come to this?” Kate asked her friend. Ginny shrugged. “Instinct.” she replied. “But I’m a virgin!” Kate replied. “I know,” Ginny told her. After the three minutes were up, Ginny turned to Kate. “Ready?” she asked. The other girl nodded. Then, she and Gin looked at the stick together. Their fears were confirmed. The stick was as blue as the sky. Kate’s eyes grew big in fear. “Oh no.” Ginny said in worry. “B-But… But, that can’t be right!” her friend yelled out. “I’m still a virgin!” Her blonde friend turned to her. “Do you want to retest?” she asked. Kate nodded quickly. “Alright!” Ginny called. Then, she took out another one.

Five tests later, the results were just as blue as the first one! They had no choice but to admit it: Kate was pregnant! Both were completely stressed. “How is this even possible?” Kate asked. “I haven’t kissed a boy yet!” Ginny shrugged. “Now, I know how Virgin Mary feels!” she said at last. “True,” her friend replied. “But Jesus was a blessing to the world. What is my child?” “I really I could answer that one!” Ginny replied. Both of them paused in silence again. “So,” the blonde Catholic spoke up. “What are we going to do now? Are you going to keep it?” Kate looked up at her nervously. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I just don’t know.”

Above, Ai-Oni smiled to herself. “The caterpillar has found itself a nice little home at last!” she called aloud. “And within nine months, my little girl will be born!” Nyious and Envy looked at her. “Oh, has your child been conceived yet?” her brother asked. “Yes it has!” the she-devil answered. “Finally!” Nyious said in slight happiness. Ai-Oni herself kept smiling. She had slipped in a couple of drops of her blood in the Stone of Anael and waited for them to take form. The devil woman persuaded Jez to slip it into Kate’s bag in exchange for information on Syd and his girls. Syd, Ella, and Yasmine had stopped her too many times. Now, that Sydney and his bird were preoccupied with Yas in Plum Hills and hunting and killing Trent and Jez while rescuing Malachi from them, Ai-Oni’s baby could finally be born at last.

“I don’t get it!” Envy spoke up. Both brother and sister looked up. “Don’t get what?” Ai-Oni asked. “Why is it so important that this child is born?” the homunculus asked. Ai-Oni and Nyious looked at each other. “Should we tell our guest?” the she-devil asked. “Might as well,” her brother replied. “We’ve let him into the game this far. I don’t see why not.” “Good point!” Ai-Oni spoke up. Then, she turned to Envy. “The birth of my daughter will open the gates that the incubi and succubi have been imprisoned in.” she answered. “Years ago during the sexual glory years of the human world; my mates and I all lived the high life with the humans in the bedroom. But then, the angels took over and decided to end the party by blinding humans to their sexual desires with celibacy and monogamy. Soon, everyone forgot above sexual freedom. The incubi and succubi fought hard to open the party up again, but in the end the angels trapped them into the very depths of Hell. Many years, I have tried to find a way to open the gate again. Then, I heard of the story of Jesus’ birth. So, I got an idea from it. I decided to have a baby by a virgin. The baby’s birth would open the gates and set free the incubi and succubi again. All 300 of them!” Envy got the message clearly. “So, you’re saying,” he summed up. “With this kid born, your little friends would roam free again and the ‘glory days’ as you call them would start again. Am I right?” “Yep!” Ai-Oni and Nyious called. A pause came between all of them. Envy smirked at them. “I don’t care what you guys pull,” he replied. “Just as look as I see that Fullmetal pipsqueak suffer in the process!” Ai-Oni smiled back at him. “Oh don’t worry,” she spoke up. “Every time that my daughter is conceived, my poison in my victim will grow stronger and stronger as the baby grows! So, the boy will find it harder to say no to his own desires over the next nine months!” Envy grinned at her. “Excellent!” he called. “Yep!” Ai-Oni agreed. “I knew you would like it!” Then, the trio turned back to the “game board.”

Ginny and Kate were having problems of their own. They had just let in Hunter, Jakob, and Mikey into the problem. They were all in Ginny’s room trying to put the pieces together. “And she has no idea how she got this way?” Hunter asked. The girls shook their heads. “I see,” their guy friend answered. “Well then he me this, who is the father?” “There is no father!” Kate answered. “I see!” Hunter said again. “That’s just impossible!” “The Virgin Mary!” Ginny pointed out. “I know, I know!” the Irish boy called out. “Could you please back up Hunter?” Kate asked. “That Tag body spray you’re wearing is making me sick.” She could feel herself getting a headache from it. “Oh, sorry!” her friend said. Then, he sat down on the floor away from the girls. “They won’t believe her if she claims that she’s a virgin!” Mikey pointed out. “We know!” the others said. They all knew that high school could be so cruel. “And you’re sure that you’re pregnant?” Mikey asked Kate. She showed him all five of the tests. He saw that they were all blue. “Oh!” the gay boy replied. “So,” Jakob spoke up. “What are we all going to do?” They all sat silent at that question. Then, Hunter looked up. “We will not tell a soul,” he said at last. They all looked at him. “What?” Mikey asked. “You can’t be serious!” “What choice do we all have?” the Irish boy asked. “He’s right!” Ginny seconded. “All right,” Jakob replied. “We all keep this quiet for the time being and take care of Kate!” The others all nodded.

Right then and there, the others all took an oath. Jakob Riis, Mikey Sherwood, Hunter Ryan, and Ginny Manson would all take care of Kate Davis and her baby and keep quiet about her pregnancy until they all decided what to really do with the baby. But, that would prove to be easier said than done.