Reach Out

Prologue

Zatanna sighed quietly, standing along with everyone else in the courtroom. She knew what the jury had decided, it was plainly obvious, but she felt bad for her client's family. She had tried her hardest, fought tooth and nail against it but the sentence was inevitable.

"How does the jury find the defendant?" Judge Croft asked, looking at a middle aged African American woman with short raven hair, short and a little chubby.

"We find the defendant," she spoke as everyone held their breaths. "Guilty, your Honour."

Zatanna could see Josh's hope fall from his face by the corner of her eye and she bit the inside of her cheek, feeling pissed off by the result.

"Then I declare the defendant, Joshua Mathews, sentenced for ten years without parole," Judge Croft slammed his hammer on his podium as Zatanna dared to look at the sixteen year old beside her.

"Josh, I'm so sorry," Zatanna murmured, feeling like the worst person in the entire world. She expected him to be angry, to protest against the sentence. He was innocent after all, that was the hard and sickening part.

She didn't expect him to smile warmly at her, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to appear from his eyes. "It's okay, at least I don't have to go to school anymore," he said as the guards removed him from the courtroom.

Zatanna swallowed, shoving her files and paperwork into her briefcase before leaving the courtroom in a furious pace. She hated this, hated the fact that she lost and someone had to pay the price of a crime he didn't commit.

He never raped those girls, why do the innocent have to fall while fucking bastards rise? She thought angrily, ignoring the press as they tried to get her statements on the court case.

She needed to think….no, she needed to not think. About the case, about today and certainly not about how shitty the world truly was. As Zatanna whipped out her phone, pressing number three on speed dial, an idea was coming to her mind.

When the receiver picked up, Zatanna was definitely not going to regret this. "May, still got those tickets to that club?"

oOo

Hours Later…

When she and May were teenagers, Zatanna discovered that, although drunk, she didn't show it or acted like it. In fact, people assumed she couldn't get drunk, that she had a stomach of an Irish lass. While her mother was Irish, Zatanna mostly got her drinking from her young days drinking wine in Italy with her father. Though she had her mother's fiery orange curls, the Italian blood she carried was evident on her tanned skin and brown eyes.

So there she was, sitting by the bar, watching May dry hump some lucky blonde surfer looking guy, while slowly drinking and nursed some Margarita from her glass cup.

"Hey there, gorgeous,"

Zatanna looked over, finding a man pale skin, dark black hair with a black blouse on, smirking at her. His eyes held her in some kind of trance, for some reason, her body tingled with fear and anticipation. She was interested in some kind of beastly way.

"Hey yourself," Zatanna replied, flashing a seductive smile. Oh god, her mother would be ashamed of her behaviour if she saw this. Zatanna Ible was not some putanna you find on the streets but a respectable woman…until she drank.

His eyes drank her in, studying her before a flash of red went through them. Normally, she would be suspicious but the alcohol in her system just made her excited in every way.

"Certainly a girl like you could use some company," he said, sitting closer to her and lightly brushing his fingers against hers. A flash of electricity hit her, not in the romantic sense but it still intrigued her. "Or do you already have a man?"

Zatanna snorted. "Yeah right, like some Signore could handle all of this," she gestured to herself, her Italian accent coming out strong. May had often pointed it out that when she drank; Italian Zatanna came out loud and proud.

"You're right, no man could ever deserve you," he gently grabbed a lock of her hair that draped down her bare shoulders, his eyes piercing hers with a fixed gaze. "But it doesn't hurt to try."

"Are you trying to get into my pants?"

"Is it working?"

Zatanna blinked before leaning forward, nipping his earlobe before putting her lips towards his ear. "You bet your ass it is," she whispered, grabbing his crotch and hearing a low growl escape from him. Oh, this was going to be fun.

oOo

This was no longer fun.

Her hands, bound behind her back by some kind of burning rope, her head pounding and her mind confused and blurry, Zatanna was no longer having fun.

Looking over at the guy from the club, she couldn't help but glare at him murderously, her eyes filled with hatred and disgust for him. He did something to her, something that changed her and now she had been kidnapped by a bunch of weirdos. That, and there was this constant burning sensation in her throat, like someone had shoved a hot knife down it.

I want to show you something, he had said to her while they were having pretty decent drunken sex. She expected some new sex position, not a pair of fucking fangs being jabbed into her neck and then dying.

He showed me something alright, she thought dryly, looking away and looking straight ahead as a blonde male in a black coat walked in front of them.

"Good evening," he began as the few people who filled the room sat down in different areas. "My fellow Kindred, my apologises for disrupting any business or interfering with prior engagements you may have had this evening."

"It is unfortunate that the affair that gathered us together tonight is a troubling one. We are here because the laws that bind our society, the laws that are the fabric of our existence, have been broken."

I'm so sorry, let me grab my violin, she thought sarcastically, not liking the man one bit. Something about him made her skin crawl and not in a good way.

"As prince, I am within my rights to grant or deny any Kindred of this city the privilege of siring. Many of you have come to me seeking permission and I have endorsed some of these requests. However," he paused in his steps, standing close to Zatanna. "The accused that sits before you tonight was not refused permission. Indeed, my permission was never sort at all."

"They were caught shortly after the Embrace of this child—"

Zatanna glared at him. "I'm not a child! I didn't even fucking want this! This fucking bastardo decided to munch on my neck!" Zatanna exclaimed furiously, thrashing in her binds as the room fell silent. Stunned looks were granted to her, along with some amused ones.

The prince looked at her with distain. "It would be wise for the accused to stay silent," he hissed before turning back to the audience. "It pains me to announce the sentence, as up to tonight I considered the accused a loyal and upstanding member of our organisation."

"But as some of you may know, the penalty for this transgression is death."

Zatanna froze, hearing the word 'death,' pass his lips.

"Know that I am no more a judicator than a servant to the law that governs us all. Let tonight's proceedings serve as a reminder to our community, that we must adhere to the code that binds our society, lest we endanger all of our blood."

The man bent down, stroking the guy's face. "Forgive me," he said, the fake sincerity so clear to Zatanna's ears as the man's head was severed from his bother.

Zatanna's eyes widened, flinching and quickly looking away from the scarring sight that will no doubt haunt her.

"Which leads to the fate of the ill-begotten progeny," he stated and Zatanna knew he was referring to her. "Without a sire, most child are doomed to walk the earth, never knowing their place, their responsibility and most importantly, the laws they must obey."

I don't like where this is going, Zatanna, using her lawyer mind, knew what fate she would have as he kept talking. Good bye cruel world indeed.

"Therefore, I have decided that—"

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!"

Zatanna's eyes snapped to the owner of the voice, finding a man with dark brown hair, piercing blue eyes and a goatee on his chin standing up, anger clear on his face. A few of the people around him tried to restraint him and louds murmurs filled the theatre. Zatanna witnessed more people standing up, rebelling looks on their faces.

Her eyes went back to the man who shouted, seeing the furious look in his eye. He was angry for her, for how cruel the laws of vampires were…her eyes softened in a silent thank you.

"If Mr Rodriguez would let me finish," the prince said curtly. "I have decided to let this Kindred live."

Zatanna's whole body slumped with relief, almost to the point of crying when she heard those sweet words. Maybe someone was finally looking out for her.

"She shall be instructed in the ways of our kind and be granted the same rights. Let no one say I am unsympathetic to the flights and causes to this community. I thank you all for attending these proceedings and I hope their significance is not lost. Good evening."

The man gave her one last look before exiting the theatre with his people close behind him.

Well, here is my attempt at a Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines fanfic for NinesxOC. I'm disappointed at the lack of fics for him and none of them are M rated. Have you seen the game? YOU CAN DRESS UP LIKE A PROSTITUTE! Seriously people...come on.

Anyway, this is the prologue and the OC is a Tremere from what I could gather that they were pretty bad ass. I'd do a Malkavian but...I can't handle their fucked up minds nor even attempt it.

So enjoy and let me know what y'all think :)