Chapter1
Before my trial started, I was led to the Judge’s temporary inner chambers.They had requisitioned Hartshome Cathedral during their swoop-in on Chicago.I was led in manacles from one dingy dripping-mossed ceiling to an even lower, private room.It smelled like human waste mixed with the burning smell of cedar.We must have been close to the sewers…
Brother Al was there.Eddie was there.Vic was there.Across the room, Nagisa was in manacles as well.My entire army of part-time lovers.I felt seen.
“Oh, good news.We’re getting Judge Volkheim,” my lawyer, Abe, said.He was a young vampire—had been turned at the age of twelve.He still wasn’t sure how to wear a suit.“Volkheim is pretty neutral.That’s something, at least.”
“How am I supposed to feel about that?”I asked.
“He’s a werewolf, so he’s kind of.You know.Impartial.”
“And why is that?”I asked.
“He’s a human most of the time,” Abe said.
Judge Volkheim entered the room.He had a mustache like a steelworker from the turn of the nineteenth century, but he seemed level-headed enough.He wore a typical long, black robe, the judiciary kind, and it swung behind him as he took his place behind the desk.
He withdrew a gavel from his sleeve and banged it on the desk.I wondered if he’d brought it with him…
“Alright, everyone.I see before me the accused.Stacey Adams, and Nagisa of the Crimson Suns.Ms.Adams.I see you are accused of violating the Paranormal Privacy Protocol.You are also accused of aiding and abetting the criminal outlaw William Corcoran in an unapproved wide-scale domestic terrorism operation.You are also accused of impersonation, slander, libel, unauthorized use of magic, unsupervised transmission of blood outside the tenets of the Vampiric Code, and… ah.Heresy.”
“That’s a lot,” I said.
“Let me be exceedingly clear here, Ms.Adams.You are in a serious amount of trouble if these allegations are, indeed, correct.”
“I didn’t do it, though!”I said.
“I’m supposed to say that,” Abe hissed.
“Did you write the articles as written in the evidence reports?”This was Brynholf, the prosecution.He was a huge giant of a man on the other side.He looked like Thor, if Thor had contracted the plague and his skin had gone white.His blonde eyebrows alone looked like they could punch someone in the face.
I hesitated.
“Don’t answer that,” Abe said.
“Well, I mean…” I scrunched my face up as if thinking.“I mean, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t write those articles.But I didn’t know?—”
“I am not certain how human laws work, Ms.Adams, but ignorance of the law is not an excuse for its breaking in our courts,” Brynholf said, eyes flashing.
“Brynholf, the trial has not started, so please do all of us a favor and save your posturing for the court room,” Judge Volkheim said.
Abe tugged on my sleeve.
“You should really leave the talking to me,” he hissed.
“And you.Nagisa of the Crimson Suns.Chicago Elder.You are seen here as breaking the Paranormal Privacy Protocol (hereafter referred to as 3P) bylaws enacted nearly two hundred years prior.How do you plead?”
Nagisa said nothing, just stared into the distance.
“My client insists he is not guilty, your honor,” Abe said.
“We shall let our jury determine that,” Judge Volkheim said.“Please introduce yourselves.”
In a series of seats near the Judge, there were the scowling faces of the Regional Council.Drusella Voyeux, a prophetess and head of the Regional Wyrd Association, a woman with fierce curls and a drooping veiled hat.Next to her was Lafcardio Erengi, a pale white ghoul of a vampire, whose resemblance to Nosferatu was whispered to be because of his allergy to iron and his consequent vegetarianism.Besides him was Minister Black, who was little more than a bulging skull on a skeleton with skin across the seams.And, in deference to my being human.Agent Maxwell Gardener.An FBI agent in contact with the Regional Council.Sent to ensure a modicum of transparency and avoid any cross-cultural malfeasance that would swing the trial out of my favor through prejudice.
They introduced themselves one by one, and in the ensuing silence, I could feel the remaining time left of my freedom ticking away, bit by bit…
“Thank you for your introductions,” Judge Volkheim said, when they were done.“It’s just about brunch time, and there’s an egg place in the city I’ve been dying to try.We will recess here and rejoin together about one o’clock.The trial will be held in the Sanctum Sanctorum of Hartshome Cathedral.”
