The Last Paranatural

Introduction

Hi. I'm Maritza Obscura. Only child of Anthony Obscura, the world famous jeweler. He takes me everywhere with him so he can sell jewels and jewelry. Maybe I can't complain, because it's not like he's the poorest man on earth. We're pretty wealthy, I guess. We have a penthouse on Park Avenue with a great view... But then again, with all the traveling, I can't enjoy it much. See, I'm not one of those spoiled little rich-bitches who get everything they want. Why? Father's pride and joy. The jewelry. He ignores me a lot. Which, I guess really isn't such a bad thing for someone like me.

I'm not like other humans. Or, as beings in the 2nd layer call them, normalities. The 2nd layer is where all the 'mythological' creatures, or supernormals, live. An they're not just your usual run-of-the-mill unicorns and faeries, but really everything from vampires and werewolves to kajiats and nekos.

Technically, the 2nd layer is in the 1st layer. The thing that makes the difference between them is the Veil. The Veil cloaks everything in the 2nd layer, so that normalities see supernormals as just other normalities. And as for special 2nd layer hideouts and buildings and such, normalities just don't see them. Completely oblivious.

Confused yet? Yeah. I was, too.

About me. I'm a Paranatural. The only Paranatural in hundreds of years. Well, not technically the ONLY one, but all the ones before me were either killed by a supernormal or locked up in an insane asylum because they didn't keep their mouths shut about what they could see. And there is only one of us alive at one time. How's that for complication?

Basically, Paranaturals are normality born, but we can see through the Veil. That's right. I can see ghosts, vampires, zombies, and everything else for what they truly are. I'm just lucky a nice supernormal discovered me before something bad happened. Because, living in a place like New York City, true weird things aren't uncommon, but it holds the largest population of supernormals in the world.

You see, all Paranaturals are set apart from the normalities with one or more unusual qualities. Mine? Well for one thing, my eyes are a deep violet with silvery flecks. Not grey, but actual metallic reflective silver. According to Sammy LaGuardia (yeah, I'm friends with ghosts. Problem?), I'm supposed to get another one when I'm 'fully realized,' or whatever, but what the hell is that supposed to mean? Even he doesn't know what it means, only that it's true.

Apparently it's my job to keep peace in the world. Dispose of rogue vampires and werewolves, rid the world of all zombies, the whole nine yards. This is where the traveling and the being ignored comes in handy.

I know it may seem to a normality that my job is easy. Just load up on silver bullets, garlic, and matches. Well, there's a lot more to it than that. There is more to these supernormals than meets the eye. And it's not like I can just quit, either. I have to do this. It's who I am. If I even try to quit, the world will fall into chaos, the 1st layer and then the second. Like it has been slowly, one 'insane' paranatural at a time. All these years of my life I have been restoring balance. And when I wasn't doing that, I was being trained by my friends to kick some rogue supernormal ass.

So let's face it. Life is hard. And being the only Paranatural to face the facts and keep quiet for over a hundred years only makes it harder.