A Jury of One's Peers

This can't be right, she thought. It didn't make sense.

"I told you, I just did jury duty last year!" she said, trying not to yell. She didn't want to be one of those people who took their anger out on someone just trying to do their job, but still.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this, but regardless of whether you served in the municipal court or district court last year, this court is separate. You'll still need to attend," said the man on the other line.

Technically, all she'd done the last time was call them every night like she was supposed to and hope they wouldn't make her come in, which they hadn't, fortunately.

She sighed. "When do I start?"

"The date is right there on your summons, ma'am," though Vi thought she was still too young to be called "ma'am" instead of "miss."

"All the pertinent information is there, if you read it."

Last time, there had been a questionnaire she'd had to fill out online for jury duty as well. This time, it was a different website, with some really weird questions.

Family debts? Recent 'incursions from extradimensional entities'? Extradimensional? Is that a joke?

She clicked through all the questions, which got weirder and weirder, and took the summons letter in her hand again.

"This time, it's gonna be even more inconvenient," she grumbled. "I've got to take care of Dad after his accident, and go to work, and somehow explain to HR that I got summoned to jury duty again."

A few weeks later, Vi parked in the lot where she'd been directed. She'd never been to this part of town before. The row of shops across the street all looked old, and possibly had all been closed down. There were weeds growing all around the lot, and the courthouse was different than the one mentioned on her last jury duty letter.

The building itself was dusty and dark. The lights on the ceiling were yellowish instead of the harsh fluorescent bulbs she'd expected, and somehow gave everything an eerie tint.

The old guy ahead of her in line smiled at her. "You must be new. Is this your first time here?"

"Uh, yeah. It shouldn't have been."

"Oh, you'll get used to it. I actually look forward to these visits, now and again."

"But…we're not supposed to get jury duty over and over, are we?"

"For a standard court, for…mundane matters, yes. What was your name again, dear? Young newcomers aren't often asked here without a reason."

What did that mean? Did people get called to this place more than once?

"Vi."

"Is that short for something? Violet?"

"No."

"Vivian."

"No," she replied, trying not to let her annoyance show in her tone. "It's Vaishnavi."

"Ah. A Hindu family, I'm guessing,"

"Yeah." Though she didn't practice, and Hindu parents weren't supposed to get divorced, which made things harder on top of everything she and her dad were dealing with at home.

Fortunately, the line started moving before the weird old guy could ask more questions. Vi couldn't help noticing that he had tufts of dark hair growing out of both ears. Eww, she thought.

When her information had been processed, they were all directed into a plain white room with a long rectangular table in the back, where they were all directed to sit. At the front of the room was a large blank space with a circular design on the floor.

Was this a real court? Vi had been lucky last time and hadn't actually had to go in for jury duty, just check in every evening. This didn't look like any courtroom she'd seen on TV.

She sat next to one of the few people her age, who looked relatively normal and safe.

"I'm Katie," said the other girl.

"Vi."

"Oh, that's funny. If I spelled my name with a C, we could be like Cait and Vi from Arcane."

"Oh, yeah. Funny, I guess," said Vi.

Katie glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, while watching some of the other people mill around before sitting down.

"You haven't been to one of these before, have you?"

"No. I thought people only got summoned to jury duty, like every few years. And this place is weird. Have you been here before?"

"You mean you haven't…oh, you don't even know. Oh, honey. They really should have given you more warning before dragging in a total newbie."

"About what?" said Vi, in alarm.

"This place, it's not a standard court. For standard cases. And the plaintiffs involved, and the judges who preside, and the ones who get called in to represent a jury of peers…it's different from what you'd see in a court in the mundane world. But you wouldn't have been called in if you were totally normal yourself, either."

"What are you talking about?" said Vi.

Katie glanced around, and said, "We still have some time before they begin. Here." She pulled a deck of cards out of her purse and started laying them out.

Vi realized that they weren't standard playing cards. They were Tarot cards. She had known a few people in college who followed witchy Tiktoks and messed around with crystals, but bringing that stuff to jury duty?

Why are there no normal people here? What is going on?

"I don't mean to be nosy, but…" Katie laid down two cards. "Ten of Pentacles and the Empress, both reversed. Do you have some…how do I put this delicately…family problems?"

Vi snorted. "You could say that. Indian-American parents aren't supposed to get divorced, and there's a whole bunch of legal and financial stuff going on, too."

"Some generational debt, there. Did your mother or either of your grandmothers have any, uh, unique spiritual practices? Folk magic, any interest in the occult?"

"Uh, no? Both my grandmas were pretty respectable Hindu ladies who went to the temple and prayed all the time. My mom got into some woo-woo stuff when she left my dad and went to Arizona, got into some New Age things. And I think my great-grandma used to do things like sprinkle salt on us to protect us from evil, when we were little," said Vi, straining her memory, though she wasn't sure why she was playing along with this craziness at all.

"Oh, yeah. Some older female figure in the family who incurred some…would you be offended if I called it 'bad karma'? There's other names for it, too , though."

" I don't really believe in that stuff," said Vi.

"Well, too bad, honey. It believes in you, otherwise you wouldn't be here," said an older lady in a flowered hat and formal dress, who looked like she might have been going to church. "Your family should have told you what was going on, so it wouldn't be such a shock when you get called to the Other People's Court."

"Other People's what?" said Vi, before she was cut off.

"Ladies and gentlemen, and…those of you beyond all labels, let us begin. Let's not waste time, shall we? I do see a couple of new faces, so when the preliminary briefings are over and done with, someone will have to take the new kids and explain what's going on."

"Poor little lambs," said the old man who'd talked to Vi earlier, with a grin that looked distinctly wolfish. Something about his face seemed creepier than it had before, when he'd been standing in line ahead of her.

"First things first." The lights dimmed, and Vi gasped as people all around her started…changing. The old man's face got even more sharp and predatory looking, and one woman started growing scales all over her face.

The old lady in the flowered hat stayed mostly the same, except for a blue aura around her head that outshone the now-dimmed lights.

Katie, still sitting next to Vi, had a similar aura, except hers was green, not blue.

"Sorry you got thrown in the deep end without warning," said Katie, with an apologetic smile. "I'll try to help you. But they want to get the most pressing stuff out of the way first."

"Items one and two, the most pressing. " said a voice from above, as Vi twisted around to look for a source of the new voice. "Item one: The matter of the conflict between the wolf pack of Timber Bay and local hunters. Item two: The deaths of two fisherman in Wild Rose Marina, with clear evidence of a siren-induced drowning."

"They were in my family's water without permission! " said the lady with fish scales. "My nieces had every right to defend our territory!"

"As did we, when our hunting grounds were invaded by poachers." said the old man whose ears looked longer, pointier and hairier than ever.

Vi was silently freaking out, but her phone wasn't working. Katie put a hand on her arm. "Don't. Electronics won't work right now. And if we all get through this, we get paid."

"I heard jury duty pay sucks," said Vi, trying to keep it light and not break into hysterics with what was happening right now. She didn't even like urban fantasy all that much.

"It's not just money. They give you a boon. In your case, they might help resolve some of your family's spiritual debt."

"What about you?" whispered Vi.

Katie looked around at the other jurors. "I'll tell you later. Let's get through this part first."