There are creatures lurking in our world. Obscure creatures long relegated to myth and legend. They have been sighted by a lucky-or unlucky-few, some have even been photographed, but their existence remains unproven and unrecognized by the scientific community.

These creatures, long thought gone, have somehow survived; creatures from our nightmares haunting the dark places. They swim in our lakes and bays, they soar the night skies, they hunt in the woods. Some are from our past, some from other worlds, and others have always been with us-watching us, fearing us, hunting us.

These are the cryptids, and Systema Paradoxa tells their tales.

***

It's hard to catch a break when you are the son of the town drunk. But one bright glimmer keeps Hank going: Alexandra Harrer, the orphaned niece of the richest woman in town. Not that their friendship didn't make things harder for him than they already were, but Alex softened the rough edges of his life... Most of the time.

Until she made an unexpected visit to his hidey-hole one night, rousing him from sleep and begging him for help.

When Alex vanishes soon after, along with her pet-an ancient creature Hank swore to keep secret-he lands in jail. Blamed for her disappearance, he's torn between confessing all and keeping faith.

But in the end, Blind Devotion wins out.