East

The east side of the city is the very heart of Sacrosanct - it's unique skyline is a clash between modern sky rises and small Victorian-inspired storefronts. In the heart of downtown, the sleek colored glass buildings reign supreme though their old-world roots can be seen in the most peculiar places from the lamp post styled electric street light to the stone sidewalks. The old world architecture slowly returns the further from downtown you travel, however. It's here that magic thrives, it hums in every stone and can be felt in every breath. Often, newcomers to the city may become overwhelmed by such sensations but, eventually, it becomes an ever-present feeling that's hardly noticed.

What You'll Find Here

City Creek Center
Dark Hunter Department
Inner Sanctum
Red on the Water
Starlight Tower

Aislinn Meagher

Where you invest your love, you invest your life;


Posted on October 08, 2021 by DAREIOS
East

It's not the long walk home that will change this heart, but the welcome I receive after the restart.



The sun was setting ever so slowly, its bright orange glow casting the skyscrapers of Sacrosanct in dark silhouette. The brilliant, warm shades peered into the stained-glass windows of the Mayor's north-end brownstone, though he was careful to avoid them. It was around this hour that Dareios was holed away in his master suite, fitted to his unique supernatural needs of casting out all sunlight. Or more often, he was confined to his office on the main floor, heavy, dark drapes blocking the light from outside while instead, his pale face was lit only by the screen of his computer.

The vampire mayor typed tirelessly, hunched over in his office chair, as his phone buzzed across the mahogany desk. It pinged his usual late afternoon alarm, signaling the 'end' of his workday (even if truly, there was no end). A spindly hand reached for the vibrating box before gratefully closing the lid to his laptop. He moved to the master to change from his sharply pressed button-down and trousers into trendy 'active wear' - runner's shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt. Brightly colored sneakers, too. But no matter how many times he dressed so casually, he fumbled awkwardly in the getup. Not even being totally unclothed could make him feel less uncomfortable than this.

Dareios trudged down the stairs, stopping only in the main foyer. He grabbed at a spray bottle hanging from the coat rack and began to vigorously spritz his face, neck, over the chest of his shirt and armpits until he was sufficiently coated in the room-temperature warm water. His beady eyes peered through the stained windows adjacent to the heavy wood front door just as the sun disappeared behind the buildings, and thrust it open.

The vampire smirked widely to neighbors as he lifted one leg in a 'stretch' and then the other, against the brick entryway of his old home. The act of 'going for a run' was for show, of course. Being a vampire, there was no need for such silly exercise. But for Dareios, it was just as much about his own mental health as it was for the gesture of it. His publicist said it 'humanized' him. It made him look normal, friendly, like anyone's neighbor, out and about in town. But it a mental challenge for Dareios to develop and maintain a pace suitable for a human (i.e. awfully slow) and for his mind to stay focused on this one simple task. It was his meditation of sorts. Two birds, one stone.

Dareios let his lips hang open slightly as he huffed out pointless bouts of hot air. His pace remained steady, methodical, slow, as his manicured dark locks bounced in place with the fluid motion of his body. His sneakered feet moved him quietly down the sidewalk of his affluent street and toward the edges of downtown. Minutes passed, and then an hour. He was edging closer to two when his phone buzzed again - humans do not run for two hours straight at such a distance and so he slowed as he reached one busy urban street corner. The vampire had mastered the look of a winded athlete, his cheeks still blowing, his hands at his hips, even if his fruitful spritz feigning the look of 'sweat' had long evaporated.

What he really wanted now was a glass of wine, but knew better. So he walked slowly through the great park in the middle of the city, admiring its residents in the grassy hills. He stopped at an empty bench and took a seat, watching humans, fairies and fellow vampires mingle in the after-dusk hour. Some had pets on leashes, others with children in strollers. When he had first become mayor of this city, this very park was known for more nefarious acts and was hardly anything other than vacant at this hour. But now, it was bustling. He smiled again to himself. This time, it wasn't for show.

Dareios Auerbach | Vampire | Vinyl

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