"The Vampire Code" by E.C. Adams - Chapter ONE

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Chapter 1

    Sebastian Fiscard couldn’t have been older than thirty-five when he died. He sat across from me, wearing a crisp white shirt over dark blue pants and an air of barely contained impatience.

   “Help me understand, Mr. Fiscard,” I said. “You want me, a human, to represent your brother, a vampire, in front of a jury of over four hundred vampires, in a murder trial in which the victim was human?”

    The vampire sat absolutely still—not breathing, not doing anything, allowing me time to process the information—before he said, “Yes, Ms. Lake. That’s just about it.”

    I slumped back in my chair, willing my mind to think faster. No human had ever set foot inside Vampire Court. This could be the break I needed in my career to join the big league—the kind of case any lawyer with an ounce of ambition would kill for. Oh. My. God. My mouth went suddenly dry.

    “Please,” I said, remembering my manners, “tell me what happened.”

    Fiscard drew a deep breath. A very human gesture, perhaps a habit?

    “Twenty-two months ago, my brother Robert proposed his girlfriend Trish for conversion.” He paused, making sure I was familiar with the terminology. I took a sip of water, nodded for him to continue. “They had been together for only a year but Robert wanted to marry her. Since inter-species marriages are not legal, he wanted to turn her so they could marry under the vampire rituals.”

    He told the story as if he had rehearsed it for hours, with no inflection in his voice, no emotion whatsoever. Save perhaps a hint of disdain.   

    “Trish was converted and they wed.”

    Had he just said wed? Seriously? Wed? How old was this guy?

    I took another sip of water, quickly followed by another. My mouth felt parched, my hands clammy against the cool glass.

    Fiscard crossed his legs, wrapped his hands around his knee. His thumbs touched, forming a neat triangle. I got a good look at his thigh, noticed how powerful it was, and quickly averted my eyes. Did vampires work out? This one certainly seemed to. I couldn’t help travelling my gaze back to him. His well-defined shoulder muscles strained against an elegant shirt. Again, I reached out for the water decanter and topped off my glass. It got suddenly very hot in my office.

   “You see, counselor, my little brother was blessed with a lot of things, but not much good sense. Last month he took a fancy to some girl who worked in a launderette and started having an affair with her. Trish found out, murdered her in cold blood, and engineered the whole thing so that Robert would be the one to find the body. Needless to say, he was distraught.” He rubbed his chin, the first hint of emotion seeping through the carefully masked face. “And to top it all, Robert has to answer for the murder.”    

   Huh? “I’m sorry, Mr. Fiscard, but I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

   “Of course you wouldn’t. It’s a vampire law.” He nodded toward the collection of books behind me. “I don’t suppose you have the Vampire Code handy?”

   Turning on my swivel chair, I reached behind me for the leather-bound volume, and set it on the desk between us. One book to regulate all vampire social and moral conduct. It hardly seemed enough, but it was all we had.

   “In here,” Fiscard said, his finger repeatedly stabbing the cover, “you will find the law on vicarious responsibility of a sponsor for his fledgling.”