by Madison Nova
THE UNDERWORLD ATTORNEY
MADISON NOVA
ARCANE JUSTICE
PART 1
Copyright © 2018 MADISON NOVA
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used for review purposes. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and /or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, organizations, actual events or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademark status of products referred to in this book and acknowledges that trademarks have been used without permission.
This book is intended for mature, adult audiences. It contains explicit and graphic scenes and language which may be considered offensive by some readers.
PROLOGUE
31 January 2057
"Welcome to your new home Alexa."
I must have looked like a confused teenager without any manners to Dickson when I first meet him. His voice was thick and authoritative. Over time he would become my mentor in the world I came to know.
I had a spacious room with enforced walls that was able to withstand anything thrown at it, including my clumsy body. In time Dickson and the others would teach me the importance of being present and how to control my abilities. My blackouts would over time cease to exist.
"From what they told me you are somewhat of a researcher." Dickson said guiding me through the massive halls of my new residency. He came to a stop at a door labeled in bold letters Library engraved into the wooden frame. "You will hopefully find everything you require regarding your research in here."
Inside was a circular room filled with books from top to bottom. Light came from one source above. In the center of this massive room was a holographic platform with a complete projection of an assistant. She looked like every high school boy's fantasy of a librarian.
"Please meet Ina," Dickson said as I entered the room "your clearance to access her database has already been approved. You will find each book in here very useful."
I walked and inspected the collection. The room was filled with the smell of old preserved paper. Most of the text looked ancient. "How old are these books?"
"They range around 2500 years old. Some scrolls on the top levels has been dated to 3000 years old. The room is specifically regulated to keep a temperature to preserve them all." Ina said in a smooth programmed voice. "You will find most important copies of supernatural documentations inside these walls."
"These books will provide you a light on the world you are a part of and Ina will provide direction to any answer you need." Dickson said sliding one of the books out and handing it to me.
"I would start with this work written in 2019 by my mentor when he was pushing pass the veil. It's a good introduction for the way forward."
As the years went by, I spent most of my free time inside those walls researching for answers to the night my brother disappeared. The veil was lifted as I discovered the hidden supernatural world; a hidden community that perfected the art of staying invisible, where the rules of nature had no boundaries.
"Would you like to know how you fit into this world?" Ina asked me as Dickson made his way out the door. I simply nodded my head and she opened a virtual book projection in my direction. Headed in bold, it stated: 'CAPUT XIX - et tetigit'. I read it and gave a confused look before the text translated itself into English: CHAPTER 19 – THE TOUCHED
CHAPTER ONE
15 AUGUST 2069
I just loved the smell of the court room on a day like today, when everything you wished and hoped a witness would say came together in a nice little gift-wrapped present. I know my client did what the charge sheet stated he'd done. It was clear as day light, but yet again the police failed to follow the proper procedure.
No wonder this city was going to shit. If half of the police force were actually competent at what they are supposed to be doing, the crime rate would be down by one hundred percent. I could see the witness had no clue about the rules of procedure that govern his own profession.
"Ms. Santana," the judge said lifting his eyes slightly upwards with his face still down at the screen. "You may continue."
I sipped a glass of water and looked at Sgt. Harrison standing tall and proud in the witness box. A quick glimpse at my notes before I continued: "Just to be clear," I said pausing for effect as the prosecutor in the matter laid back in his seat and lowered his head. "You suspected Mr. Ortiz because he was standing alone on a corner at night."
"Yes," the cop replied as if he should get a medal for his brilliant deductive skills, "I could see by the way he was dressed he was up to no good."
I looked at my client who was clearly nervous. His leg was shaking under the table. I quickly scrolled up my screen to read the previous testimony of the witness to check if all my ducks were in a row. I then turned back to the police officer. "So he was a suspect before you even approached him?"
"Well, like I said..." he said with a smirk on his face, "I suspected he was up to no good."
"Then you approached him," I said looking at the judge who had stopped capturing information on his pad and was flipping through pages of law books on his bench. "Then what happened?"
"I asked him what he was doing there." He answered looking at the judge, "and he replied that he was waiting for a friend. He had a backpack next to him and I asked him if I can search it."
"And my client replied yes,"
"yes,"
"Then you found drugs inside of it right?"
"Yes,"
"Did you ask him if the backpack was his?"
"Well, he was the only person there," he said looking again at the judge who continued to go through his books. "It was obviously his."
Before I could ask another question, the judge closed his book sending a soft thud through the quiet court room. The sound of books closing is such a rare experience these days. "I heard enough," he said looking at the prosecutor whose head was still down. "Can the representatives approach the bench?"
I looked at my client who seemed to be shaken up by the Judge's request. We stepped forward to the bench and the judge leaned forward and looked with disapproval at the prosecutor. "How is it possible that we spent 2 hours on this case already today? This is a ridiculous waste of the court's time. You should have kicked this case out this morning. That witness has no idea what he can and can't do. I'm striking this case off the court roll. Any objection?" Still looking at the prosecutor. "No, I agree Judge," the prosecutor said, and we all moved back to our respective positions.
“Mr Prosecutor, anything you wish to address the court on at this point in time?”
“Thank you, your Honor,” The Prosecutor replied leaning over his desk. He threw a disapproving glance at the witness. “At this stage the State will provisionally withdraw the matter against the accused. There are clearly some errors that need to be addressed before this matter can continue.”
“Any objections Ms. Santana.” The Judge asked leaning deep into his seat.
“No objection,” I replied.
"Clearly it would seem the police department needs to train its officers more diligently. It seems a practice these days to simply pick up someone due to their appearance without the required reasonable suspicion to search or arrest a person. Even if you do subjectively have a reasonable suspicion that the person is, as the police officer put it, 'up to no good', every suspect must be informed of their rights. Failing such a step any evidence obtained after wards would be unconstitutionally obtaine
d. You should have informed the accused of his rights! This matter is struck off the court roll and the content of the bag is forfeited to the state. You are free to go Mr. Ortiz." With those words, he slammed the gavel and stood up. The court orderly quickly shouted "All raise!" as the judge existed the court room.
"What does that mean?" my client asked with quizzical brows. He did not understand what was going on, and it seemed like he was not the only one. The police official still looked bewildered as he stood in the witness box, his mouth opened and his eyes wide with shock.
I smiled at my client. "It means you can go home little Leprechaun," I said softly, making sure no one could hear us. "You basically have been given a life line. Even without a pot of gold you still seem to be carrying some luck - but don't screw this up! If you get caught again I swear to the Gods that I will personally make you regret it. Jose deserves a better father."
Smirking, he turned around. He must be thinking I was kidding when I said those words.
I grabbed his arm and put a nice squeeze on it, enough to let him know that I am not the ordinary passerby he was used to. "I'll say this one last time," he looked terrified as I spoke "If I hear anything about you doing stupid shit again, I will hunt you down you little fuck."
He nodded his head and rushed out to the exit of the courtroom where his daughter watched from a distance. She thanked me while hugging him. I turned around to the prosecutor who was busy packing his bag. "You got lucky Alexa. If Judge Kovicks was in here it would have been a different outcome."
"The law is the law." I replied gathering my things and closing all files to get out of court.
"So when are you going to let me take you out for lunch?"
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Prosecutor Adam Kingsley always liked to play this game. I didn't understand men at all. As soon as they heard you were single they came to the conclusion that just because you smiled at or greeted them, they somehow obtained the devine touch to get a woman into bed. I could see his eyes moving up and down my body. I'm average in every way. I'm five foot four, light in complexion, a brunette with insecurities about the size of my breasts. They seem too tiny compared to other women my age.
"And I really like what you've done to your hair." He continued.
"Thanks Adam," I smiled politely while dragging all the file notes over to my personal storage pod.
"What color is that?"
"It's ash black" I replied abruptly, trying to end the conversation. To be honest, I myself did not know what the color was. A couple of nights prior to this court appearance I was trying my hand at some appearance spells. It was a stupid rookie move. I have no magical tongue or bone in this body of mine. Instead of turning the mouse white it turned my hair into what I have today. Luckily it suited me well.
"So what do you say?"
This man was persistent and he SO was not my type. I was attracted to wildness and a promise of excitement from the opposite sex.
Also, he had the misfortune of being human. He just didn't have the right energy that I was looking for in a partner.
"Got to go," I said closing the screen, "I'm not interested."
As I waked out I could hear him mumble: "whatever."
CHAPTER TWO
"Congratulations!" Juliet says with a huge smile on her face. She has been the firm's secretary since it opened its doors with the the engraving on the door: Carter Dickson Attorneys. I can still remember the feeling I got back in the day when it was my first couple of wins being a criminal defense attorney. It felt magical and I couldn't wait to get back to hear from her how I was outshining Dickson and Carter when they first defended criminals. These days, however, the magic feeling has been lost.
My position in the firm is to handle all drug related matters while the heavy cases goes to Carter and Dickson. I don't complain about it at all but I do wish for a case with more substance to come my way.
I've been at the firm practicing law for the past two years and it has become somewhat repetitive dealing with the same type of matters every single day.
"I immediately informed the two heads of another success to your name the moment the information came available." Sammy our artificial intelligence droid states in his mechanical voice. Sammy was a gift from one of Carter's previous high-end engineering clients. The damn thing has a personality of its own and I sometimes feel it forgets that it requires batteries to function properly. "Let me just say Alexa, you have grown into an excellent attorney in our unique firm."
Unique firm. That is correct. We are a criminal law firm that cater to those on the other side of the veil. Humans cannot afford our services. I highly believe if they knew about the existence of all these creatures walking amongst them, they would not put a foot outside their bedroom door. In the past two years we have only defended one human who was a close friend of Dickson. Carter Dickson Attorneys is the only law firm that the paranormal community will mandate. Even the big players in the underground paranormal world have us on retainer.
"Is the two heads in today?"
"Mr. Dickson is in his office and Mr. Carter is..." Sammy replies to my question stopping for a moment to scan his internal system "I have no clue where he is. That man is never around."
"His out of town Ms. Santana," Juliet replies in her soft voice. She is over sixty years old but seems to be more energetic with each year that she past. The only human in this firm of supernaturals. "He will probably be back by next week."
"Then why did I clean his office?" Sammy snaps at Juliet with his mechanical eyes turning red. "You always give me unnecessary work!"
"Shut up!" Juliet replies with an empty can of soda flung against Sammy's steel frame. "Go and fix the coffee machine. It's been two hours that you have just been plug into that damn uninet."
"I'll be in my office," I say quickly leaving the daily drama of the two.
"There are another message for you to ignore from that Ebu Gogo!" she says as I close my office door.
My windows automatically close to provide the right amount of darkness for my personal system to activate. All my research regarding my brother's disappearance are kept within this database. It's the only place I am sure of that the information I gather can be safe. Sammy has on occasions assisted me with the research over the years. So far, every time I think I found something to point me in the right direction I end up back to square one.
But my faith is strong in finding him. I joined Carter Dickson Attorneys due to the amount of connections they have in the supernatural world. I have made more progress here than before on my own. For some reason every paranormal scum is afraid of this firm. They answer easily any question once they find out where I work. I however have come to a standstill. I know all the drug dealing and tech stealing crooks in this city and they have no idea about the entity I am in search of.
And that is the other reason I need to get higher profile cases in this firm. I need to question the elders of the supernatural community who has seen more and have a wider reach to help me.
"New messages." Displays on the center of my desk and I tap to see them. One is from the Ebu Gogo. A client who always get caught with drugs. For a drug dealer he is the dumbest I have come across.
The other message is a voice note from Carter. I tap the message to play:
"Alexa, the order of vampyr has requested you to assist in a matter. I already discussed the fees with them and they appointed a specific vamp to deal directly with you. They were a bit vague as to what they need assistance for, but I told them you will be there at 2pm. Hopefully they will sent one of their feedbags to pick you up."
I sit up straight after the message is done. This could be the opening I have been waiting for.
CHAPTER THREE
"Listen," Dickson said inhaling more smoke from the hookah sitting on his desk in a corner. His office has an Egyptian feel to it with replicas of pieces from the period on display. On the side wall he had installed two screen with constant scenery of the pyramids of Giza
fifty years ago. I usually find myself lost at the beauty of it all. "I've seen you grow from a nervous teenager to this brilliant young woman who has made a name for herself in the district courts. You have enormous potential. That hunger for knowledge made you my pride and joy."
He took another inhale and looked at the scenery. The Sun was slowly setting in on the display and he smiled. "I find myself at a limit to teach you anything more. It's time to let you spread your wings, within the comfort of this practice."
He inhaled again and slowly exhaled the smoke, before continuing: "Honestly, the Order asked for you personally to attend to the matter. They took notice of you after you defended those drug possessions and drug dealing cases. They also sense the potential inside of you. You have nothing to be nervous of when dealing with them. They just old farts who has too much time on their hands."
"I can't help but be nervous," I replied. "They asked for me personally to handle a matter without even a brush stroke of the facts, I cannot help but be nervous."
He stood up. Moved the white ash coal to a side on the top. His tall, muscular body for his old age extended his shirt and his dark skin made him a terrifying presence in any room. He has been a father figure and mentor in my life since I walked into his institution.
"I hear you kiddo," he said blowing on the coal to continue his indulgence. "But the truth is, that this is the next step in growing your practice. And I will be right here to guide you if need me."
Juliet's voice came through the intercom to let us know that "my ride" has arrived for my first meeting with the Order. I took a deep breath as Dickson sat back in his chair. He nod his head and I smiled before making my way out his office.
At the reception desk a skinny 20 year old was waiting for me. He was bleak in color, something that is common with feed lings in the vampire community. They let their blood be sucked and protect their masters with the hope they would be found worthy enough to go through the transformation process. These humans have no respect for themselves in my opinion. Their whole lives are in the hope of living a second rate life in the end instead of actually living their lives fully.