Sacrum - 22. Chapter 22: Legal Talk

Cecilia beat her way through the crowded hallway of the Department of Justice. She was dangerously close to running late, and there was nothing Judge Carter hated more than tardiness. It wasn’t her fault though, the request for a court reporter came in after hours and was deemed an “emergency session”. Nobody told her what the actual emergency was. These types of hearings typically involved vampires who had committed the most hideous crimes, or very high-ranking individuals.

Once she finally made it inside, she noted with surprise that the defendant was rather young. Handsome, but young. What horrible crime could he have committed in his short time on Earth, she wondered as she straightened out her skirt and took a seat at the small table with her typing machine.

For someone who was about to go through an emergency hearing, he sure didn’t look afraid or even nervous. That made Cecilia curious. She’d seen seasoned vampires break down at these hearings, begging and pleading for mercy. Trembling with nerves and even getting down on their knees to cry out for another chance. After all, there was a lot on the line. If the judge decided that the case should go to trial, and if the defendant was found guilty, they’d be dragged off by the Protection League and experience great suffering in the infamous State prison.

For one, vampires in prison would not receive any form of nourishment. This on its own wouldn’t kill them of course but overtime it would affect them physically and mentally. They would become weaker. Mentally, they would begin to obsess over their thirst, until it was all they could think about. The uncontrollable hunger would become their obsession. Vampires who were denied blood for too long would become feral and monstrous like.

The vampires were kept secure at the prison with a variety of methods. Some cells had modern crossbows with movement detection and armed with wooden arrows, so that if a vampire got out of hand, he’d be instantly killed. Other cells were armed with walls of sunlight during the day.

In many cases, vampires that went through a trial committed crimes serious enough to be sentenced to death. There wasn’t a lot of leniencies in vampire law, which is why it was crucial to leave the hearing without handcuffs.

The young vampire listened intently as his mean-faced lawyer whispered seemingly important information into his ear. Cecilia knew the attorney, Abramov, but rarely witnessed him actually in court. He was an attorney very few vampires could afford. Having Abramov represent you meant that you were the very elite of the vampire world.

She looked behind them, to see if there were any relatives present so that perhaps she could deduce who the defendant was. There was a beautiful female, dressed in opulent velvet black robes. She had a stunning ruby red pendant hanging around her neck. Her black hair was swept into a classy bun. Her face looked eerily familiar.

Judge Carter cleared his throat and just as he was about to begin the proceedings the door flew open and another attorney made his way into the courtroom.

She knew his face well. It was Edward Graham, a formidable lawyer famous in the vampire world for winning even the toughest of cases and getting hopeless defendants off the hook. He’d been missing in action for months though, ever since his famous friend and client, Vinicius Valentini, committed suicide, so she was surprised to see him back.

He gave her a wink and a smile as he passed, and she smiled back, her tummy fluttering with butterflies. There was something special about Edward Graham that was hard to put a finger on. It’s not like he was out of this world handsome, but he had a certain charisma, an effortless charm, and nonchalance about him. The State’s prosecutors would groan anytime he entered the room, realizing they were very likely to lose a case against him. He just had that witty-fun factor that seemed to work on every single judge…and Cecilia.

“Mr. Graham, it’s good to see you in court again,” Judge Carter exclaimed in a tone of slight surprise.

“Thank you, your honor.” The vampire replied, quickly adjusting his black tie and taking a seat next to Abramov and the defendant, both of whom seemed taken aback. Graham quickly whispered something into Abramov’s ear.

“I was under the impression that Mr. Abramov was the attorney for the Carandini family,” Judge Carter said.

“Mr. Abramov is the lead chair, I’m just co-counsel here to gently advise,” Graham stated in the most casual of voices. Cecilia raised an eyebrow, Graham never played second fiddle to anyone. This was highly unusual.

“Very good,” the judge replied.

Suddenly Commander Deadnus, who Cecilia hadn’t noticed up until then, stood up and began to make a fuss.

“Your honor, I object!” She exclaimed, looking at Graham with irritation. “He cannot just waltz in here last minute and…and try to hijack this hearing and make a show out of this in order to bolster his own image,” she complained. The woman with the ruby necklace shot her a glance of pure loathing.

Graham smirked.

“Arani, while you are the very brilliant and positively courageous mind in charge of the Protection League, it seems that your legal knowledge maaay be just a tiny bit rusty,” he said in a jokey tone, smiling at her. She started at him in anger. “Let me bring you up to speed. See, my client here, Mr. Carandini, is entitled to have as many attorneys as he pleases on his defense team. And since you charged him, an underage vampire, with the crime of aiding and abetting fugitives, which is punishable by death, it’s only natural that he’d have more than one brain working on his case, don’t you think?” He finished, nodding his head at her as if he were speaking to a slow child. She looked over at Judge Carter, who looked over at the defendant.

“Mr. Carandini, I haven’t received official paperwork regarding the addition of a new attorney to your defense. Do you agree to Mr. Graham joining your team?” He asked the young vampire.

Carandini looked over at Abramov, who made a quick nod—almost as if he was doing it against his pride. Abramov wanted the glory of all his cases, but no sane attorney would turn down help from Edward Graham, regardless of his reasons for getting involved.

“I do, your honor,” the young vampire stated.

“Very well then, that’s settled.” Deadnus took a while to sit back down, meanwhile Edward Graham leaned back in his seat and looked as if he had never left the courtroom in the first place.

“Salvatore Vincenzo Romero Carandini,” the judge called out, and Carandini stood up. The name finally clicked for Cecilia. She was looking at the grandson of King Romero Carandini.

Judge Carter took a long look at him. “Uncanny resemblance to your grandfather,” he commented, before officially beginning the proceedings. “We’re here today to decide if the State has gathered enough evidence against you to proceed to trial. Mr. Fishley, please begin.”

Fishley was a State prosecutor. Thin and with a most unsightly mustache, he wasn’t much to look at. Looking over at Deadnus with what seemed to be a gaze of panic, he quickly broke into his argument.

“Your honor, the defendant, Vincent Carandini, is being accused of aiding and abetting fugitives. We have two witnesses who saw him in the presence of at least two family members wanted by the State. We suspect they have been on the run for the past 18 years. We also suspect he is reuniting with them in order to plot against the State.”

“Your honor,” Abramov butted in, “Are we here to listen to facts or wild speculations?”

“I agree,” Judge Carter said, “Please save your suspicions for yourself, and present us with the evidence only Mr. Fishley.” The prosecutor seemed to flounder in unease. He looked over some of the notes on his desk, while Graham cleared his throat impatiently, making Fishley jump up in nerves. Arani Deadnus looked like she was ready to arrest Fishely on the spot.

“Right,” he continued. “I’ve submitted to you testimony from Thomas Lainey and Riley Mott, two separate witnesses who can confirm that they, with their own eyes, saw the defendant with the two fugitives.”

Abramov butted in, once again. “Judge, the State’s two witnesses are not credible. I thought Fishley was going to submit new evidence, but if this is all there is then I’m highly confused as to why we’re even here. There is a clear lack of evidence.”

Fishley looked like someone had slapped him across the face. Judge Carter turned to Deadnus. “Commander Deadnus, I sincerely hope that you haven’t dragged all of us here at this hour for an emergency session, and made this huge spectacle, with absolutely no evidence to make a case.”

“No evidence?” She said, standing up in outrage. “Judge Carter, if I may be so bold, the evidence is very clear! Multiple reports of sightings on the same night. Family members reportedly spotted included Katarina and Giovanni Carandini, his deplorable cousins. Two fugitives on our most wanted list. Who knows how many others he’s harboring? He is clearly plotting a coup against the State!”

Edward Graham chuckled to himself calmly, then, before Abramov could make a move, he swiftly got up to make his case.

“Multiple reports from…” he looked over the paperwork with a shake of the head, “a prostitute and an ex-con, two very credible sources, Arani,” he said dismissively. “I know that peace is not Commander Deadnus’ preferred state of affairs when it comes to the Vampire State, and that mentally, she still finds herself reliving the old glory days of when she was part of a unit that was tasked with finding and killing Carandini family members. We all remember how she excelled at that, of course. Her spectacular passion for sniffing out and killing her own kind then resulted in her promotion to the high-ranking position she holds today, Commander of the Protection League.” If looks could kill, Graham would have been dead from Deadnus’ stare of pure hatred.

“While I understand that this served as the golden time of her career, and that for the past 18 years she’s been twiddling her thumbs in boredom, it’s crucial that we not let her…obsession with the Carandini family poison our delicate justice system. It seems to me that Protection League officers have too much time on their hands nowadays,” he exclaimed, and Cecilia was worried that Deadnus would physically attack him, that’s how angry she looked.

He went on, undeterred. “What else could explain why they are roaming around and fabricating evidence against a high-school student! An underage boy, who’d never even so much as failed a class. Not only that, they also managed to drag in a Professor, as well as a Mentor for the Specials program, a prestigious title only five vampires in our world have ever held. She dragged them both out in the middle of class, traumatizing God knows how many other students. All based on sighting reports given to them by an ex-con, who was obviously hoping to score some points with the League and not end up in prison once again, and a prostitute who was about to get arrested because she had bitten an unsuspecting man during sex. I’d say those are two very questionable accounts. Hardly enough evidence to drag two upstanding citizens into this courtroom and accuse them of crimes against the State.”

“Not only that, but Commander Deadnus has searched both Mr. Carandini’s residence, and Mr. Maratoni’s house. Neither search has turned up any evidence of either of Mr. Carandini’s cousins.”

“Judge, simply put, these allegations are preposterous. Commander Deadnus tried to illegally arrest an underage high school student on school grounds. All because she’s chasing some wild theory about his dead relatives. How we got this far, I’m not sure, but I urge that we stop this madness right away. I request for an immediate dismissal of all charges,” he said, and sat back down. Arani Deadnus looked like a chicken with its head cut off, spastically moving her eyes from the judge to Graham and back, as if she couldn’t believe the events unfolding before her.

“Commander Deadnus, I cannot set a precedent that allows for the harassment of our young students. That’s simply unacceptable. For you to believe it was a good idea to arrest a senior Professor and a student based off these allegations in front of me…all I can say is that I’m gravely concerned.” Deadnus looked positively furious.

“All charges against Mr. Carandini are dismissed,” he called out. Carandini shook hands of both his lawyers, then turned to hug the woman with the ruby necklace. She affectionally kissed the side of his head while rubbing his back. If Cecilia had to take a wild guess, she assumed that she was looking at Princess Alessandra Letizia Carandini.

While the defendant, his mother, and his attorney slowly made their way out of court, Graham approached the judge.

“Judge, I know this isn’t the best timing, but since I’m already here I was hoping I could push this through a bit more quickly.”

“You’re right Edward, it isn’t the greatest timing, I’m on my way to my anniversary dinner, and if I’m late, my wife might just divorce me. See, I forgot about it last year,” the judge confessed, and Graham smiled.

“Well, my dearest friend, unlike you, I haven’t forgotten. In fact, I’ve already sent your wife that extremely rare blood wine that Vinicius created only a few bottles of. She should be getting it any moment now and trust me, she will not be disappointed. An early anniversary gift from her beloved spouse, of course,” Graham said, winking. Judge Carter laughed with glee.

“What is it that you need me to fast track?” He asked, sitting back down.

“It’s for my other client. See, I believe that his life may be in immediate danger, and I’d like you to issue an order of protection. But not from the League, I’m going to hire a private security firm.”

“If it’s a private security firm, then what do you need the order for?” The judge asked, confused.

“He is currently still underage. I need the order to grant permission to the private security officers to enter the premises of Baritone High School in order to guard him.”

“If it’s not Vincent Carandini, then who are we talking about?”

“His name is Daniele Aleksander Marchesi,” the attorney replied.

“That rings a bell. Refresh my mind.”

“He was Vinicius’ Special.”

“Ah, yes, of course. But what makes you think his life is in danger? Baritone is currently more secure than the Buckingham Palace, after what happened with Van Sant.” Graham leaned in and lowered his voice.

“It’s not that I don’t have faith in the Protection League, but with the way Arani Deadnus was behaving today, frankly I’m concerned about her judgement. Dr. Van Sant, who as you know was a close friend of Vinicius, was theatrically murdered on school grounds. And now with Maratoni at the center of this scandal…my client has nobody to protect him or look out for him. I’d sleep more soundly at night knowing that he is protected.” Judge Carter nodded.

“You care deeply for the boy, I see. That’s very touching. Let me see the paperwork,” he replied, and Graham swiftly removed the papers from his bag and handed them over along with a pen he just happened to be holding in his hand. After a quick glance, the judge signed off on them.

“Now, unless there are any more requests, I am off to enjoy my wife and my rare wine,” he said, and Graham smiled.

“Send Monica all my love,” he said, waving the old vampire off. Then he turned on his heel and walked towards the exit.

“That was some marvelous typing there today, Cecilia. Simply marvelous,” he said walking past the court reporter who smiled at him like a love-struck schoolgirl.