I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons.

It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?

~John Lennon

What if.

Two very powerful words. What if she says yes? What if she says no? What if I lose my job? What if I take the risk? What if I had made a different choice? What if no one had gotten hurt? What if I hadn't already been in love with someone else? Everyone has those what ifs. But here's one that most people can laugh off.

What if it's all real?

The monsters in the night, the things that frighten us? What if they were real? What if the things of myth, legend and fairy tales were true? What if monsters live among us? What if my next door neighbor is descended from angels and the reporter with a nose for trouble is really a werewolf? What if the gorgeous guy in the club really is descended from gods? What if? Two words and suddenly everything is different. Everyone looks different. The girl in the elevator, the man on the corner, who are they really. What are they?

It is, you know. All of it. Vampires and werewolves, fairies and demons. God and fallen angels. All of it. They live beside us, mostly just wanting the same things we do: happy lives, a good job, no one to hunt them down in an angry mob. They look like us mostly. The Dhamphir wear extra heavy sunblock, the Tuatha don't wear silver jewelry, and the mages ....well, sometimes they look like the geeks they often are.

We even have a secret police force. Sanctioned by the government and everything. It's called the Washington Defensive Corps. They take these Paranormal Americans and train them to police our little community. They hide their agents in special teams within other organizations. The entire alphabet soup: ATF, DEA (you'd be surprised how many drugs are really magic potions), CIA, NSA, Local LEOs, and the FBI. Even a few in Fish and Game, USDA, the CDC and local health departments. To keep us from killing the Normals, yes, but more often, to keep them from killing us.

Afraid yet? You will be. The more you know, the more real the nightmares. I ought to know. I'm Veronica Dolan, a Washington Defense Corps Agent. My nightmares aren't limited to when I'm asleep.

I hunt my nightmares for a living.