The Breeders

All through human history, humankind has tried to rationalise it, come up with explanations for it. From the dark tales that became fairy stories, there were warnings about what happened to young women who stepped off the path and wandered into the unknown. There were fairies, goblins, demons and dragons. In later times, there were white slaves, serial killers and rapists, and now tales of people smugglers. All through their brief history, people have been telling each other why so many young women disappear and never seen ever again.

And they are all wrong.

We need those young women, all through the intertwined history of our two species we have – whenever we could – taken those young women and kept them for ourselves. We have needed them as hosts for our young, mothers for our offspring, we have always needed – and always taken – the breeders.

The humans have invented whole religions to keep their women under control and out of danger. They called us monsters, demons and devils and burnt, hanged and tortured and killed those who became our familiars. They have never been able to stop us, though. They have always been unable to prevent us from talking their women whenever we need them to keep our species alive and prospering, spreading slowly into the human places, into the human lands, into their villages, towns and cities. The more of us there are, the more we will need their women, until we have taken over completely and all their women are ours.