We were seated at my dining room table.  Uncle Jake had explained, after defusing the situation, that everything had been left to me. In fact, everything had already been put under my name. I had enough money to live the rest of my life without having to do a lick of work, a three-story house, a cabin out in the middle of nowhere on five acres of land, two cars and a small bookshop. Coincidentally, it was my favorite book shop, only three blocks from out home. I wondered for a moment there if I’d still have to pay for the books I wanted. Couldn’t I technically just take them? Though the fact that my parents owned it might explain why they never minded me spending all my extra money on books…no wonder they didn’t let me pay rent when I started college, even when I offered.  It was another thought to put in the back of my mind – though considerably more tame than the others, which were clamoring to get out and make my life very, very ugly. I had calmly accepted the facts. At least, outwardly I had. In some small, dark corner of my mind I was screaming like a bedlamite.
Both Turner and Brandon – I had stopped trying to include a “Mr” since I had decided not to like them – were holding ice to various places. The doctor had taken most of his fall on one elbow and well, Brandon apparently wanted to have children someday. To their credit, they didn’t look particularly vengeful when they glanced at me but they’d stopped calling me “girl” and patronizing me. I took a small – okay a great – amount of satisfaction in the fact that I had defended myself so ably. Looks like the self-defense classes had paid off, even if I’d only been halfway paying attention. They sat listening to my uncle, darting occasional glances in my direction. There was a lull and I realized that I had zoned out. I blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry, what?” I mentally replayed the sounds I had just heard, making the vowels and consonants reform into something intelligible in my memory. “Did you just say my parents were spies?” Brandon rolled his eyes. I pegged him for about twenty and I held it against him. My uncle had a pained expression. “Agents, D. Covert agents.” I allowed myself to blink again. “As in spies?” At the looks I got I held up my hands to placate the men. “I’m sorry. Okay, what’s the difference?”
“Your parents, worked for – or actually headed up – and organization for which they conducted discrete investigations on behalf of the general populace. They were key in protecting humanity from-” I stopped him with a hand held up. I was actually kind of surprised that it worked. “Okay,” I said, “Spare me the recruitment brochure. Answer me this, were they more like detectives?” Uncle Jake nodded. “Yes, more like that. That’s a better explanation.”
“So did they worked for the government?” He looked decidedly cagey. “So, that’s a no.” He nodded. I cocked an eyebrow, thinking hard.”Was this organization legal?”  He shook his head, but I swore if I’d closed my eyes I would’ve felt him nodding instead. “Right.”
“What does that mean?” He asked it irritably. I shrugged. “It means I’m considering the possibilities.”
He reached across the table and covered my hands with his. “D, they weren’t doing anything bad. They were doing their best to keep you – and the entire city – safe.” I pondered that for a moment. The area wasn’t exactly rife with criminal activity, but what there was had always been very nicely handled by the police, at least according to the local news. You couldn’t even get by with speeding anymore. “Safe from what?”
Brandon sighed explosively. “I knew you’d ask that.” I grimaced. I was really beginning to not like him. My voice turned cold. “Was I addressing you, pleb?” I heard a choking noise from Turner. “Did you just call him a plebian?” I offered him a tentative smile. “Yeah, I did.”  Brandon looked confused. Turner giggled. Not very manly of him, but at least he didn’t annoy me. He could have his “Dr” back.
My Uncle Jake fought to keep a straight face. “D…I have to ask. Did your parents ever mention the supernatural?” I felt my brows bunch together. “As in ghosts? that sort of thing?”  He was back to looking cagey. I’d never realized that my Uncle was so shifty-eyed. I elaborated on my answer. “Yes, actually they did mention the, uh, supernatural. Not exactly ghosts, or only ghosts, but they said that most legends were based very strongly in fact, even if they seemed implausible. It’s strange…”
A memory came floating back to me. “What’s strange?” Brandon asked. I gave him a quick glare for interrupting my train of thought, but answered anyway. I could only be perverse for so long before it began to wear on me, too. “I remember I was reading Dracula when I was a kid, and my mom told me that I had to keep an open mind about the unexplained. It seemed so incongruous with the situation at the time.  I had just been sitting there, reading…and all of a sudden she was practically lecturing me on the unexplained.” “They were supposed to tell you this on your twenty-first birthday, D, but…most of the legends are real.”
I gave him my patented I’m-Clearly-Dealing-With-A-Crazed-Adult look.  He remained unaffected. “It’s true, D.”

Dr. Turner leaned forward on his elbows.  “It’s really quite simple, Dest– Miss Waters. You see, most legends really are based on fact. Most lore is quite true. The reason people today are so unaware of that is because, over the course of time, these creatures of lore have become increasingly rare. Dragons, of course, are extinct. As are a few other creatures, but really, our organization has to work full time to keep watch to make sure these things to not interfere with everyday human life.Your parents were a part of that. They saw a different side of reality and after their eyes had been opened, they didn’t turn their back on it or explain it away like so many others. They were fascinated, drawn to the darker side of reality and they decided to be a part of it. Not by joining the forces of evil or anything like that,” he laughed nervously at my open skepticism, “but by helping to keep the secret, aide those who needed help, and by preserving life. All life. Human, animal, and the lives of supernatural creatures. Most of it is completely real.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that Dr. Turner was being completely honest. At least, I was convinced that he believed what he was saying. My Uncle Jake was nodding. I looked at Brandon. I think he was trying to look encouraging, but he just looked like a ham to me. Maybe I was a little biased against him, though.

I looked out the window behind my uncle’s back and into the street beyond. It looked cold outside. The trees were swaying in the wind and little clumps of debris skidded and hopped down the street. The streets were still slick and a little flooded from last night’s rain. “Real.” I repeated it quietly. All three men nodded. “Dragons?” “Extinct.” Turner reiterated solemnly. “Werewolves?” “To some extent, true.” “To what extent?” I was almost afraid of the answer. “Well,” he began, “they aren’t tied to moon cycles for the change from man to wolf, and…” “And?” I prompted, intrigued. “There are more than just wolves. Shapeshifters come in many shapes and sizes, my dear. Tigers, bats, bears, birds, dolphins-” “Dolphins?” I could not have been more incredulous. He nodded. “Yes, as long as the,er, secondary form is a mammal; including porpoises and marsupials.”  I felt the need to clarify, though I can’t say why since we were talking crazy.  “So no were-lizards, or were-snakes, or anything?” He nodded and gave me a smile like I was a very bright student of his. “Nor are there any were-insects, were-fish, or were-arachnids.” I considered that for a moment. “Good to know.”