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

City Creek Center

The City Creek Center is an upscale open-air shopping center centered in the heart of downtown Sacrosanct. With its numerous fountains, foliage-lined walkways, and bubbling streams, City Creek Center offers three blocks of chic boutiques, delicious dining, and the newest showrooms.

Dark Hunter Department

The City of Sacrosanct's Dark Hunter Department's primary concern is the safety of all of Sacrosanct's residences. Their public safety responsibilities include code enforcement and supernatural crime prevention. The Sacrosanct Dark Hunter's Department follows the directions of the International Dark Hunter Council and serves as a local point of contact for any Dark Hunters working within the Council's ranks.

Inner Sanctum

The Inner Sanctum is an independently's owned specialty coffee company and cafe with a singular focus: quality. A hidden gem on the side streets of the busy downtown, the Inner Sanctum source's the world's finest beans and local treats. From it's delectable pastries to the exquisite latte art, the Inner Sanctum is dedicated to both its craft and the customer's experience. With beans roasted in house and every cup prepared by the best baristas, you will never be disappointed at the Inner Sanctum.

Owner Alexander Macedonia

Barista Alexis Wilde

Red on the Water

Nestled in a pleasant alcove that is but a stone's throw away from the dazzling labyrinth of downtown, Red on the Water is a spectacle in its own right. Renovated in the style of a classic Irish pub with a dash of modern flair befitting the city that boasts it, this up-and-coming venue is the perfect place to snag an impeccably prepared home-cooked meal and enjoy the city's most impressive collection of brews from Ireland and beyond. You and your guests are sure to be mesmerized and invigorated by the energetic offerings of the live Celtic band to be found here every weekend.
Home of: Elysium

Owner Isolt Marcello

Co-Owner Damon Marcello
Waitress Yumi Chizue

Starlight Tower

With one hundred floors and a 125-foot spire, the Starlight Tower rises high above the Sacrosanct skyline. More than just a landmark, the Starlight Tower offers a unique mix of restaurants, shops, and offices spaced throughout the building. Organized into nine verticle zones, each of which features a sky lobby and a light-filled garden atrium which merge the upscale interior with a faux landscaped exterior setting.

What You'll Find Here

Crash Choir Records
Pentagram
Ellington Enterprise

~it's just another ordinary miracle


Posted on February 19, 2018 by elain
East


She'd been grateful in the break decidedly taken from that relentless studying as those finals only just began. These next couple weeks would be far from pleasant, if not more stressful than she ever wanted to endure, but she knew well that her hard work was bound to pay off on the end. Besides, the young huntress had years and years left before her school career would come to an end and she would be rewarded with the degree that she sought diligently after the day that Ellie made the conscious choice to pursue her realized dream of becoming a teacher. It was a job that promised the young woman even more of a reward than the job alone, the huntress entirely certain that being able to enrich and guide those young and innocent lives as best she could would only enrich her own world. Ellie had always adored childre, even in her teenage years when most of her peers were entering into those more rebellious chapters of their lives as they would take to running off with boys or partaking in the consumption of tobacco and liquor that she herself had never been so inclined or curious to explore. Not that she would have gotten very far with such disapproved adventures anyway, Lazarus having appointed himself at that point in the young woman's life was her... guardian of sorts. There was a reason that she hardly had many boyfriend stories to tell Lani as they would sit in the blue-eyed blonde woman's apartment watching movies or simply spending the evening chatting about anything and everything that would come to mind. Her big brother had been quick to make it rather clear to the boys in her schools that she was not to be touched or messed with, Ellie remembering easily a handful of times the young man himself had either gotten suspended or reprimanded on the occasions that he got caught beating up those that so much as looked at his little sister longer than he deemed nessecary. At least her mother and father never needed to worry about their daughter getting into trouble with boys, or anything else for that matter.

Instead, the honey-blonde woman had taken to a part-time job babysitting for friends of the family with little ones. She practically glowed when she was around little ones, delighted whenever she could make them laugh and smile as she mused them in their little games of pretend or helping them fill in a coloring page as they babbled on and on about the imaginary world they'd built all their own. Such an adoration for those innocent and pliable lives came almost as natural for Ellie as making friends with just about any being she came across if given the ample chance to do so. Perhaps her gentle and friendly demeanor only made it all the more obvious that seeking a lifetime career couldn't possibly be more fitting for her, made the grueling days and weeks of studying all the more worthwhile as she kept her eyes of early morning frost securely fixated on the future she chased. However, there were those occasions where she simply needed to get away from her college life for a day or two. While she was far from the slacking sort, Ellie knew that working day in and day out on the future would take away from the smaller things that were just as meaningful and rich. So, on those days wh where she allowed for herself to simply relax, stop and smell the roses as the saying so often goes. Whether it was in enjoying a walk throu byh Hyde Park, shopping those little downtown antique stores with Vhal, or enjoying an evening with Lani after she got off work or wasn't out and about doing gods knew what with Andras, the honey-blonde woman was always grateful for a day away from those lecture books and mahogany desk in her home. It just so happened that today, Ellie had decided to enjoy her little break from studying to bake some treats and bring them to her friend for her break. She never would have guessed in a thousand years that her afternoon would take such an interesting turn as it had when the two women somehow managed to capture the unusual man's attention and interest.

While she could tell that Lani was a little more... hesitant at the sudden and uninvited presence of the man with locks white as snow and eyes that resemlbed that of polished amethyst, Ellie certainly didn't mind his company. He seemed a little rough around the edges, but then again so was her big brother. Perhaps it was unwise for her to greet the man so brightly, to regard him in a light where she was certain that he just wasn't the type that was comfortable or perhaps even capable of expressing himself and whatever fleeting emotions might bravely spark to life within him it only for a brief moment no longer than a single drawn breath. Yes, it was perhaps a bit careless for her to treat everyone so warmly when they might easily return her kindnesses with harsh or cruel remarks or actions, but if the she saw things was this; if everyone treated everyone like a possible threat instead of a possible friend, would the world not lose what little light it had left? She knew that there were bad things happening all hours of the day. She wasn't so foolish as to think that in this very moment, somewhere else in the world or even this very city, there was a soul lost much sooner than it should have been, that out there in the world so talented for taking good people and breaking them until they were nothing but hollowed shells of their former selves now so desperate to survive and make ends meet that they would resort to crime and sin if that was that it meant to see another day. She knew that children perished before they ever got to experience their first kiss, husbands and wives lost their soulmates through tragic accidents or at the hands of war or murderous creatures. Life and loss was a balancing act so easily disrupted, there was no denying this. But, that didn't mean that Ellie needed to let the darkness of life's unpredictability the light that she could still very much see in the world. And so, despite her companions wariness, Ellie still gave him that bright smile and invited him to those baked goods she'd made even when he didn't bother to ask. She wasn't about to simply make assumptions about him. She didn't know a single thing about the man, so passing judgment was hardly fair. Sure, he definitely didn't emit friendliness or anything remotely similar to such a trait, the huntress was almost entirely certain that there was so very much more to him then his apparent affinity for sweets and making those around him uneasy but that didn't just automatically make him some sort of monster.

Glacier blue eyes widen in surprise and amazement as he confirms his ability to reach into the minds of others, her bright voice hardly betraying the intrigue that came over her as she asked him if he could tell what the man at th pastry case seemed to be contemplating so seriously. His answer only brings the honey-blonde woman more delight as his tenor tones are proven exactly right as the man across the café orders the vanilla slice nearly on cue, that sudden simper and faintest flickering of amusement finding the man only further promoting the delight in Ellie's gaze."That's just incredible!", she exclaims quietly, hardly able to withhold her childish glee at his simple display. Gosh, to be a mind-reader!"I bet your friends find it quite difficult to throw you surprise parties", she adds with a cheeky and playful grin, only briefly turning to Lani as the blue-eyed blonde watches the interactions between Ellie and Frost in silent astonishment, the huntress simply giving her uncertain companion an encouraging smile. Her attention is returned to Frost as he agrees to meet her here next week and she simply beams at him."Great! I can't wait!", she answers warmly. The ever so brief surprise that seems to find the man only having Ellie guess that he wasn't quite used to someone quite like her, someone that would neither challenge that clear air of authority he carried or look at him like he were about to do something terrible. She almost felt sorry for him, but it was quickly shoved away, something telling her that the entire café likely viewed him in such a light for one reason or another, Frost seeming far from bothered - if not pleased even - at the way everyone seemed to glance warily his direction with every small move he made. I wonder what else he can do. Dismissing that curious thought altogether, she amuses herself with the idea of unusual eye colors, Frost seeming to find some small trace of amusement in her words before suddenly, everything shifts away from Ellie and back to Lani sitting across the table.

Perhaps she might have leapt to her friend's defense if Frost had been entirely malicious in the way that he regarded the blue-eyed blonde seeming to give the man careful answers, baby blue eyes meeting daring amethyst as she struggled beneath them for reasons Ellie didn't quite understand, the older of the two women silent beneath Frost's challenge of whether or not she lied simply to satisfy others as if to deny him the pleasure of an answer. Ellie knew that Lani didn't lie. Although, when the mention of Andras comes around, the huntress is unable to help herself from joining Frost in that harmless taunting, finding it all the more endearing the way that Lani blushed over nothing beyond the mere mention of the handsome fae man Ellie so often asked about. Frost succeeds in getting that rise out of Lani that he'd surely been looking for as she quickly denies that she and Andras had slept together. Now that was something Ellie would decide to pursue later when they were alone. She was very much curious on why it was that of all the embarrassing questions Frost could have asked Lani about Andras, he'd chosen that. What was it that Lani was harboring? It was then that, with cheeks a brilliant red, the blue-eyed blonde rose up from her seat and announced that she had to return to work for the rest of her shift. She turns to Ellie, offering a warm smile that is readily returned."Sounds good, Lani! Just text me when you're off so I can be ready to head over to your place", Ellie replies gently before watching the woman turn to Frost and offer him a courteous farewell before going to move back towards the counter.

Frost waves off Lani's farewell, returning that casual reply in an almost bland and ingenuine way, the two clearly not quite fond of the other at this point. Lani stops mid-stride then, swinging her head around abruptly to face the man with that wariness every clearer upon her features now than they'd been a moment ago, Ellie hardly missing a beat as she guessed that Frost had invaded her thoughts to give her some sort of parting wisdom or something of a similar nature. She would have to ask Lani about that later, just to make sure the woman would be alright. She seemed so... distracted lately, after all. Lani is quick to slip away now, Ellie watching her friend disappear behind the counter before turning back to Frost, the man's features almost warm towards the honey-blonde woman as his lips quirker ever so slightly. His tenor tones pose a question for her that he hardly needed to ask twice, icy blue gaze glittering brightly now in excited anticipation."Yes, please!", she answers almost immediately then, that faint simper etching into the man's features before be closed his eyes for a fleeting moment only to open them with any trace of amethyst to be found as that daffodil yellow replaced them."Whoa! How neat! Gosh, I wish I could do that", she nearly gasps in bright astonishment as she admires them openly. I knew he could do more than read minds! Well, she hadn't actually known that he was capable of more, but she'd had a feeling, and sure enough she was right! He gives her a small yet genuine smile and it only adds to her delight, the huntress unable to shake the idea that he didn't do it often. She loved making people smile, especially those who weren't known for it. His words have Ellie giggling as glacier blue eyes dance with amusement."Yes, I have to agree that they suit you very well indeed", she replies brightly before she watched the man take a piece of paper and small pen from his pocket. His next words have her nearly wide-eyed in surprise and yet she couldn't be more thrilled with his tenor words and how it seemed that whatever it was he'd seen in her had been enough to earn her his friendship. Or rather, the beginnings of a friendship. But it was a start all the same!"Thank you, Frost! I definitely will. It was a pleasure to meet you as well!", she replies warmly to the man as he dips his head in farewell and takes his leave, the café returning to its earlier state of contentment. She rises out of her own seat then and waves one last time over to Lani before slipping out the door herself to begin the walk home. Shakespeare wasn't going to study itself after all.
Elain Chase Daray
image by etienne beauregard riverin