Chapter 3: A Day in Court

I brought my bike to a stop on the bottom floor of the parking garage, this level of the parking garage was nearly vacant, the entire 10 level building might have had a couple dozen vehicles. I turned my motorcycle off, it was built for speed and little else but it did have a couple leather bags fixed to the sides near the rear wheel. I pulled out my wheel lock and locked the wheels.

I walked towards the elevator, a dirty, small rather rickety looking thing but I knew better. It's appearance was in support of the Veil, so was the large bald bruiser sitting next to the elevator, legs kicked up, feet resting on another chair, reading a comic, 'Vampirella' and I had an nearly overwhelming urge to roll my eyes, then remembered what was in my coat.
"Tony," I said in greeting. He stood up as I approached.
"Sabrina," He said back, his voice was really deep, he was wearing a dark hoody and heavy denim blue jeans.
"You know how they feel about heavily armed Blood," Tony said with a sigh and he stood up, he had dark hair, dark eyes and dark skin. He was also at least 6 foot 6 inches and 250 lbs. A small laugh came from Tony when he saw my surprised expression.
"Come on Sabrina, I wouldn't be a very good Doorman if I couldn't spot shoddy glyph work like that," He said, pointing to the machete on my back that he shouldn't have been able to see. I frowned and narrowed my eyes at his criticism.
"Maybe I had a shoddy teacher..." I trailed quietly but Tony just laughed more.
"I just showed you how to do it. You only get better if you practice. When is the last time you performed that concealing ritual?" He asked and I sighed.
"A month ago," I responded and Tony exploded with a lecture about not only my glyph work but my expectations of my own abilities and my work ethic. I tuned him out abit.

He was right of course. You only get better at something through practice and I only practiced enough so I wouldn't forget the glyph I needed to draw in my blood in order to conceal my weapons from sight. It wasn't invisibility as Tony had explained, it was more... Not drawing attention to the item in question. Any normal human would have seen the sword on my back, pistols on my hips, but in their minds it wouldn't register as important.

We have had this conversation before. Going to Court so heavily armed and armored was definitely not vogue and just asking for trouble, it makes other Damned nervous. And nervous, territorial, bloodthirsty predators was counter to the point of a non-violent, neutral meeting ground enforced by the Warden and his Court, like the Catacombs was.

"You know why I'm here today Tony," I said, my voice blunt, his silent nod giving his answer to my non-question.
"You can't tell me that you wouldn't show up strapped. Besides, I heard we have a new warden, and this one crossed off our previous Warden and I know Vladimir wasn't just a political flop," I told Tony and he seemed surprised.
"You haven't been to Court in two months," He said. I rolled my eyes.
"You do know who I am right? I would not have lasted as long as I have if I didn't know we had a new Warden without going to Court. It's kind of a big deal," I said. That was one of the biggest understatements I could have made. Wardens, they are the top dogs, the leaders and enforcers of the Night Society's laws and guides. They have total authority in their domain of a city, at least in theory. In practice they had as much authority as they could personally bring to bear, so common practice was to have a council to advise the Warden who would in turn grant his councilors land to rule in his stead. This would make the Council at least somewhat loyal to the Warden and if any problems turned up in another councilor's domain, the Warden would go to that Councilor with any grievances. It was a rather dated hierarchy, Feudal but it was a common form of governance in North America.

"That's an understatement..." He trailed shaking his head.
"You don't like our new Warden?" I asked. Tony gave me a blank look.
"You know better than to ask a question like that. I like our new Warden just fine. I don't like it's style though. We haven't even seen the person in question. Whoever it is works solely in proxies. Human Proxies only and I don't think they are being remotely controlled." Tony said shaking his head. One of my eyebrows raised at that.
"You ever heard of anything like that before?" I asked Tony. He had been in Emerald City for at least 20 years, longer than myself at least.
"Nah, I haven't but I'm not too big into those mind-fuck disciplines," Tony told me.

Disciplines were both formal and informal categorization of the various abilities our Curse gives us and what we learn on our own. Some disciplines come easier than others and everyone is different, some especially powerful Damned can even force their Curse to manifest in a specific way, creating unique discipline to themselves but that was exceptionally rare. Technically any Damned could learn any discipline, given a teacher and time. However it takes a long time to learn a new discipline compared to expanding your knowledge and understanding of a discipline you already know.

"All that aside..." Tony trailed and eyed my weapons.
"Well... I'm not at Court often... And we do have a new Warden... It's not out of the realm of possibility that I don't really know the societal norms..." I trailed and slowly pulled out a couple issues of the 'Vampirella' comic, still in their clear plastic sleeves.

Tony chuckled a bit.
"I suppose maybe..." He said accepting my bribe.
"Just don't forget it Ms. Rose," He said, setting the comics on the chair he had been using as a foot rest before fishing a key from one of his hoody's pockets and he opened up the elevator doors while using the key and he stood aside, allowing me into the elevator.
"Oh," He said before flicking a finger at me and I felt the concentration I had been maintaining on the concealment glyphs snap like a twig.
"You know the rules. I'll let you in with them but the Warden would definitely have my head if I allowed you in with them concealed," Tony explained with a shrug but I nodded, understanding.

I walked into the rather normal looking elevator, but it was at least clean. The elevator panel went 1-10 and a 'B'. I held down the 'B' and pressed the number ten button. Both lighting up and the elevator door closed and started moving down. Normally, the 'B' by itself wouldn't even light up but the combination of 'B' and ten plus the key Tony used in the fairly bad neighborhood this Parking Garage was in had kept the 'Catacombs' Veil-safe for at least the last couple hundred years, probably more.

The 'Catacombs' was the nickname for this particular facility. I knew their were a few complexes in the city like this one. A place outside a Damnned's own lair where us bloodthirsty monsters could be what we are, within a societal reasoning, I did not like any of these Veil-safe areas. Nearly every time I came, something went wrong. Last time I made an enemy of a powerful Damned who still had a chip on his shoulder. All for a quiet comment about my distaste for his chosen prey. I wasn't picky about my food but even I wouldn't feed off a child unless I had no other choice. Lord Mont'el however... would feed almost exclusively on children. It made me sick and I had drawn Lord Mont'el's ire by stating my opinion of his feeding habits. I still was on guard in his territory. He had a reputation of using human gangs to do his dirty work.

I reached the floor Court was being held, on the tenth floor below the surface. The elevator doors opened into a smallish room. Bare of all features except for the large double doors that led to where court was being held. In between me and the doors was half a dozen Damned in suits holding sub-machine guns, they were pointed at me.

My mind raced for a moment, I was highly outnumbered and outguned and out aged, all of them were older than her. Normally though, their were two or three guards, something was up. I did the only thing that made sense and I held my hands out to my sides, palms facing the guards. One of the guards, a younger looking Damned put a finger to his hear as if listening to an earpiece.
"Yes ma'am. She is armed," I heard him say softly. Unfortunately I could not hear the person he was talking to.
"Are you sure?" He asked, and paused a moment.
"Of course Ma'am," He finished.
"Lower your weapons. Sabrina Rose is allowed though armed," He calls out and the rest of them lowered their guns. I walked forward past the guards. I took a breath before throwing the doors to Court open and walked in like I owned the place.

I must have to admit, I looked good.I wore my trench-coat over a black bullet-proof vest and black tanktop. A pair of pistols holstered at either hip, a Machete strapped across my back. I had black jeans and combat books on. It had been awhile since I had gone anywhere in my full kit like this and it felt, right, natural, I felt comfortable. My gaze swept side to side. I was in a giant hall, at least 200 yards long, about half that wide, their were numerous halls and rooms off this main chamber. The main feature of this 'room' was it was completely made of marble, the high ceilings, at least 100 feet fall and the roman-style looking marble pillars, they were spread out evenly. Roughly 30 yards apart length wise and about 25 yards from the long side on either side, leaving a 50 yard 'no-man' one between the pillars. I strode down that 'no-man' zone with confidence borne of ability.

The room wasn't particularly crowded, but there was a good number of Damned. Most of them had their eyes on me but I paid them no mind. I was fearless and I strode towards the end of the massive chamber where a number of Damned gathered in the center of the no-mans land. As I approached the gathering of people scattered like leaves on the wind, revealing a large wooden throne of excellent craftsmanship. And on that throne, was a woman... A human woman. I didn't feel a shadow in her and if I focused I could hear her heart beat. I looked around suspiciously but no one was near us now.

"Ah! Sabrina 'the Thorned' Rose. It is so good to meet you!" She said with a huge smile and she stood up off her throne and walked towards me, and opened her arms, like she was asking for a hug. I shook my head.
"Don't take this personally but I don't let people touch me," I told her and the memory of hugging Hawke almost crossed my mind but I forced it away, no telling who might be looking. It wasn't a common power for sure, and it was nearly mastery-level ability to be able to read surface thoughts, especially on a Damned and especially without them knowing but Sabrina didn't know everyone here well enough to know they couldn't do it. So better safe than sorry.
"I don't, a great deal of your associates are of the same mindset," She said, accepting my apology.
"Uh..." I trailed unsure of what to say.
"Your wondering where my master is? How he is controlling me? How does you know I am who I say I am? Is that about right?" She asked and I nodded. She was a tall woman, blonde hair, blue eyed, long hair pulled up into a ponytail. She was wearing a simple white dress. She had an infectious smile with nearly perfect teeth.
"Yes..." I trailed, unsure of how to address her.
"My name is Karen but if you prefer a title, you can call me The Proxy," She said, somewhat sad at offering that second bit. She didn't seem to be under direct control of whoever was her Master.

"Master is... 'Everywhere you aren't looking and nowhere you are,'" She said the quote in another voice, an imitation, not a literal other voice.
"I'm sorry, Master loves to answer in riddles and vagueness," She apologized, bowing slightly. Her hands folded in front of her.
"The simplest answer to the next question would be Master is not 'controlling' me per say..." She trailed with a look of deep thought.
"Master can send me thoughts and images," Karen told me.
"As far as how you know I am Master's Proxy.." She trailed and pulled down the collar of her dress slightly and I saw she had a stylized eye tattooed on her chest.
"As for how you know if this tattoo is for the Warden... If anything happens to me, Master will kill you before the next night. Just ask anyone around what happened to the last 3 Proxies and what happened to the party responsible," Karen said with a slight hint of sadness.
"I don't plan on doing anything to you. Did you know the other Proxies?" I asked, she seemed to react in a way suggesting she might have.
"I'm sorry Sabrina. I can't answer that question," She responded.

After a few second pause I spoke up.
"So introductions are made... I'm here for the summons delivered by that ass-hat in the silver volvo who slighted me after delivering his message," I told Karen and she smiled.
"Of course. Master will deal with Christopher," She said and walked over to her throne and sat down in it.
"I'm calling Court for Sabrina Rose's Veil Breach yesterday morning!" She yelled and her voice echoed across the chamber. Everyone went quiet and started gathering around. A double dozen Damned, and Karen.
"Sabrina Rose..." Karen started, her voice carrying authority it had not when I spoke to Karen one on one.
"You have been accused by this Court. I the Proxy Warden charge you with Breaching the Veil. On the fifth day, on the month of December in the year two-zero-one-five Anno Domini you Sabrina Rose stand accused of revealing your ties to the Blood before proceeding to murder any and all witnesses. How to you answer these charges?" Karen asked, a semi-circle had formed around her and Karen on her throne. I could feel the weight of hundreds of years worth of stares on me, thinking, calculating but I stood tall, can't let them see you sweat, vampires were like sharks if they smelled blood in the water, both literally and figuratively.

"I do not deny the charges. I will say however that all the necessary steps have been taken already to cover up this Breach. Either by myself or at my direction with the aid of others," I responded confidently, my voice easily echoing across the marble chamber.
"Please explain to the Court how you and those operating under your direction have sufficiently covered your Veil Breach," Karen asked and I spent the better part of 2 hours summarizing what I had done and the favors I had asked for in the 12 hours or so after my Breach, making sure to leave out any mention of Hawke but otherwise giving a true recollection of events.

After it was all said and one as long as my breach wouldn't cause any grief then I was off the hook. I may not have liked the people I owed but I went to them because they knew their stuff so I was not worried about it.

I was in the parking garage, on the way back to my motorcycle to head home when I started feeling off. I stopped and looked around but I saw nothing, I clenched my teeth and took a breath and extended my senses, concentrating on them. It felt like my senses were water, washing over everything until I felt something different, as if... If my senses were hitting a colander, it was designed for water to pass though but I could still feel it. Someone was concealing themselves like I had concealed my weapons, though the ritual I used was like akin to learning to ride a tricycle compared to concealing yourself, which would be similar to learning to ride of motorcycle by comparison. I couldn't overcome their stealth but I knew they were around. I took a second to decide what to do and I forced myself to relax.
"I know someone is there, come out and state your business with me," I said in a normal voice. I had parked on the far side of the bottom level of the parking garage in relation to the elevator, Tony would only hear something if fighting happened, or a gunshots.

It was rather jarring, one second I was alone in the parking garage, the next I was not alone, she just appeared out of thin air. I saw who it was and immediately drew my Desert Eagle and assumed a firing stance. I could shoot one handed accurately enough but their was only one and if I was going to shoot, it was going to have to be between those big brown eyes.

Jessie looked exactly the same since the last time I saw her three years ago, being nearly 6 feet tall, she was half a head taller than me, her thick chocolate colored hair was pulled up into a bun, her skin was actually had a healthy tanned look to it which was exceptionally difficult and expensive to pull off for Damned, even with the Warmth of Life I looked just a couple shades away from corpse-white. Jessie however, even without makeup and the Warmth, she looked like me with my Warmth, life truly wasn't fair. She was wearing a Green T-shirt, leather half-jacket that accentuated her double Ds and a black Mini skirt, on anyone else, it would have looked slutty to me but on Jess... Maybe it was the fact that she was between 180 and 190 lbs, or maybe it was her warm smile but she just looked cute with a bit of sexy and a hint of confidence, she took great pride in her appearance.

"Hello sister," Jess said with her award-winning smile. She was standing between me and my bike and was in the way without looking like she was, but I knew her tricks "Jessie..." I trailed coldly, looking around for anyone else.
"I'm hurt Sabrina... Truly, it's been three years since I last seen you and that's how you respond to my greeting?" She asked with a frown, hurt pained her expression.
"Jess... What are you doing here?" I asked with a bit of a sigh. The secret to a good lie is not to completely lie. She wasn't really hurt by my coldness but it did make her upset, I just couldn't tell how much.
"Sister... You know why I'm here.. I miss you, Mother, Father, hell even Olivia misses you. We all just want you to be with us again, for us to be a family again," Jessie said, it almost sounded like she was pleading.

"Jess... You and Olivia are not my sisters, and Marcus and Quendolin are not my parents. I was sired by Marcus, you and Olivia were sired by Quen. We were all raised and trained in this life together but that doesn't make us a real family," I said slowly. I started gritting my teeth and the painful memories of my time with my 'family'. Family is not truly a concept within Damned society or even in general. We are solitary predators of the night, we generally do not get along with others on the best days. which made sense since in my travels I had never seen or heard of anything like it since I left. Marcus and Quen must have been close, close and driven enough to even attempt something like a family.

I don't know if Marcus had sired others before me but as far as I know he had not sired anyone after me. He made sure that Jessie and Oliva had what I never did. A choice. Quen gave Jessie and Olivia a choice to be Damned, gave them enough information to not overload them but enough for them to make a somewhat informed decision. Marcus had made that choice for me. It took him five years to admit it to me that he was wrong but by then. I had made my choice.

"If that isn't a family. What is Sabrina?" Jess asked and I sighed.
"Where are the others?" I asked, they would've made themselves known if they were here with Jess.
"Oh I don't know... Probably sniffing out where your staying..." She said casually. I tried to put my poker face on faster than my anger, despair and possessiveness could twist my features but I failed and Jessie tilted her head to the side.
"Curious..." She commented, but she didn't push. She was acting like I didn't have a heavy pistol pointed at her but I still did.

Jessie's powers were similar to my own but she couldn't move nearly as fast as me but I couldn't do the kind of mental influence that she could and if I felt the into of power wash over me I would put a round through her head. It probably wouldn't kill her... Probably... but it would give me the time I would need to escape. I did my best to make sure the panicked expression that wanted to cross my face didn't. If my family found Hawke... I shut that line of thinking down hard. I didn't want to think about it.

"I hear you've made a name for yourself here. Must be nice to settle down a little after going Nomad for years," She said. Nomad was a term that many Damned used to describe Damned who traveled from place to place often. Nomads were fairly rare since the benefits of moving around often usually didn't exceed the potential benefits of staying and putting up roots somewhere.
"I may not be sticking around for much longer..." I responded. This had happened before, whenever my family found me I would pack up and never look back. My mind immediately started thinking of Hawke. Which was surprising, never before had I let a human affect my life so much.
"I'm not so sure about that..." Jess trailed. looking intensely at me. She wasn't a mind reader but she was very observant.
"Something is different about you Sabrina, I just can't put my finger on it," Jess said with narrowed eyes.
"We haven't talked in years, things change," I said.
"No... I remember when Mother last saw you... She described your manner exactly as I remembered it. Jessie said. It was true, a little longer than a year ago Quen had found me and made contact with me, trying to convince me to come back to the fold. I packed up and left and a bit of time later I found Emerald City.

I sighed. This was going no where good for me. I lowed my pistol and moved to walk right past her. When I got close she grabbed my arm, not hard but with seriousness.
"Sabrina... Sister... please..." She trailed. I had stopped when she grabbed my arm but continue moving past her without a word, she let my arm go and I walked to my motorcycle. When I had got on and I looked around. Jess was no where to be found. I took a breath and my phone rang. I retrieved it from my pocket and groaned,it was one of the Damned I owed a favor to.