Prompt: The Monster In Me

Timeline: August 2008

Catchphrase

“Don’t give me a reason to unleash the monster in me.”

It’s a threat she’s uttered before, an intimidation tactic she’s used countless times before.

If you asked a newly embraced Sasha what made a monster, she would have said ‘hunger’, the thing
that drove her to find a familiar face to feed her in more ways than one and causing her to lose
control.

But these days, Sasha would say that the thing that made a monster was the lack of empathy, lack of
caring. Losing control isn’t always intentional, but empathy and caring is a choice to be made every
night of your unlife.

She’s standing in the dark, her slender form lit by the moonlight, looking out the window when he
enters, his smooth voice like a balm to her ears, a reminder of what a voice in her past used to do for
her. “Where did you go just now, babe?”

Sasha looks over her shoulder at the source of the voice. “Nowhere, Nate. Just a little distracted.” She
turns to face him and adds, “It’s been a long...week...”

Her eyes travel up and down as he closes the distance between them, her intense crystal blue eyes
scrutinizing his form. There is a silence between the two of them, coated in sexual tension.

“Let me help you unwind a little, Aleksandra,” he finally leans over and whispers in her ear after
peeling her shirt off and tossing it carelessly on the ground. “You seem so tense, darling.”

She gives him a moment to run his lips on her bare shoulder before she replies in an equally quiet
voice, “Nathaniel, you naughty naughty boy.” After unbuttoning his shirt and casually dropping it at
their feet, she runs her fingers gently up his arm as she adds, “You always seem to know exactly what
I need...” As distracted as she can get, it usually doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the more carnal
pleasures in her unlife.

“There’s no one out there that knows what you want better than I do,” he reminds her playfully, his
teeth scraping her neck.

As the usual song and dance goes on, she would take a careful nibble as he busied himself with kissing
her other shoulder, the sensual ballet of their sexual entanglements had always been something she
was keen to maintain. That night is no exception. She would let him worship at the altar of her ageless
body, as long as she could sustain herself in the process. The relationship between Aleksandra and
Nathaniel is just another masquerade to maintain, another role she has to play to survive her nights in
Chicago.

“Don’t give me a reason to unleash the monster in me,” she teased playfully as she quickly seals the
wound on his neck.

With Nathan, it is never a threat, it’s playful banter during foreplay. And Sasha likes it that way. Even
when she’s distracted by something, or rather, someone else.
Prompt: City By Night
Timeline: January 2008

A Cold Winter’s Surprise

The streets of Chicago had a lot of unexpected twists and turns for Sasha over the years since her
untimely death and subsequent embrace. But nothing in this city could have prepared her for a new
roommate, a Tremere of all things. Finding a cold stranger in an alley was not on her bingo card, much
less taking him in as a roommate.

And yet there she was, said Tremere lying on the couch in her Mortal Boyfriend’s sweatshirt and not
much else. The poor guy was just starting to warm up and had taken to the day sleep early. Perhaps it
was for the best.

She couldn’t help but wonder how she got there, a handsome stranger in her haven and a brand new
muse. But maybe he was part of what she needed to reconnect with the parts of her she thought she
had to leave behind. But even if she wanted to, she couldn’t stop putting pencil to paper in his
presence, like she had to capture a moment in time with him like it was the last one.

She puts her sketchbook and pencil down after sketching out one of her favourite parts of the City.
The areas surrounding the Art Institute of Chicago used to be her stomping grounds before her life
took a drastic turn. She thought it would be a nice gift to draw out her favourite spots to help Rory get
reacquainted with the City.

She would work on a series of drawings, and it becomes less about helping her new friend get
reacquainted with Chicago and more about helping him get acquainted with her. She knows all too
well his plight, alone in the City without no one to turn to, surviving only on wits and instinct. But she
knows this can make a difference, she knows this can change his unlife if she takes the time to share
the things she’s learned through the mentorship of the Toreador Primogen. It would mean he
wouldn’t have to suffer through figuring it all out on his own the way she once did.

The City had given her plenty of sex, danger, and trouble along the way, but what she found that cold
January night was something irreplaceable. A muse. A friend. A reason to fight for her humanity. A
desire to be the best version of herself. All of those things she’d been lost without in the early days of
her unlife, she found with him.
Prompt: Bloodlines
Timeline: January 2008

The Lesson About Toreadors

He’d asked for guidance on how to navigate the politics of Chicago’s Kindred Society. Sasha didn’t
fancy herself an expert, being a student herself. But she had a solid background on the Toreador
perspective, despite not being a typical Toreador herself. The one thing she had always been proud of
was her ability to adapt and play the games the Toreador played. Sure, she’d come in a bit too strong
at times but over time, she learned to adapt her style. It wasn’t something she put on display on a
nightly basis but if she was to have a roommate, he needed to know what he was getting himself
into, at least on a very surface level.

The dynamic between the Toreador and the Ventrue of the City is tense on the best of nights. Sasha is
quick to inform Rory that she doesn’t trust them, but that she would play nice if it had a benefit to
her. Cuddled up on the couch, the lesson continues as Sasha explains who the key players are on both
sides of the discussion, giving her Tremere counterpart enough of a working knowledge to navigate
those murky waters as someone who associates with a Toreador.

“I know it’s a lot but no matter what, I will have your back, Rory,” she promises that night, after all is
said and done and the lessons are taught. “You don’t have to deal with anything alone again.”

The grateful look on his face said it all and Sasha gave him a reassuring smile in return.

“Thank you.”