There was an inevitable moment in every human’s life when they wished for more time, just a few more years.

They had no idea how much a curse it was.

Cassias Quintas should know, he had lived nearly 1,500 extra years.

And he was tired, so damn tired of watching humans destroy themselves with their petty bickering, of society changing around him, and the vampires he had known when he first turned all choosing to embrace the dawn. The newer generations were just like the humans that they were sired from, selfish, petty, with no sense of dignity or history.

There were times he longed to follow in his brother’s and sister’s footsteps, yet he had not been able to take that final step. While he longed to feel the heat of the sun, he wanted to enjoy the feeling, not burn from it.

He wanted to move on from life, or unlife as he had heard it called in popular fiction, but he wanted to do it his way.

He wanted to die a mortal. To let himself age, to see his face fill with lines, his black hair go gray, and to let himself prepare to meet his end. It had been so long since he had been a mortal, fighting in the Lazic War before he had been turned in 559 A.D. by a Sasanian vampire.

It was that desire that had brought him to Donald McNeil’s door in Scotland. Most new the lore, a vampire could only be ended by sunlight or a stake through the heart, and both were true, but there was a third option, one that was known only to a select few of the ancient vampires… and the McNeil warlocks. In 1232 he had met a man by the name of Ian McNeil in Roxburgh, a warlock who had been a master alchemist attempting to create the elixir of life. It had amused Cassias for a year to work with the man on his endeavor.

Ian had succeeded, but not in the way that he had intended. He had created an elixir of life, that much was true, but it had no effect on those who were living. The elixir would, however, remove the monotony of immortality from one such as him. The secret of the elixir had been limited to Cassias and those in his line, he had negotiated and signed the contract with Ian himself to preserve the recipe through his family line, with the promise it would always be made available to any of his line in return for his assistance with its creation.

At the time, Cassias had never imagined he would use it. He only knew of one of his childe had sought it three hundred years later, Cammile had been unable to watch those around her age and pass away. When he had last seen her at the end of her second mortal life, she had told him of the family she had found, the joy she had found in watching herself change as her days grew shorter. There had been beauty in her expression, even though her face had withered with age, which had lingered with him for nearly five hundred years.

Theirs was a lonely existence, many vampires choosing to live solitary lives rather than sharing their feeding grounds with another. Cassias had grown weary of the constant moves every 30 years to prevent suspicion. It had been years… centuries really, since he had spent time with a person as a constant companion.

It had been almost eight hundred years, and he still missed Ian.

He lingered in the darkness outside Donald’s house, listening to the man as he puttered around his house. The family had moved from Roxburgh to Edinburg in the 1700s, and Cassias had made sure they were taken care of with a home and land suitable to grow the herbs needed for the elixir. Donald knew of the contract, it was written in that every male child with the gift would be taught the recipe, who would then teach it to the next male child, yet it would be Cassias’ first time meeting the man face to face.

Cassias took a deep breath, nervous for the first time in his long life, as he knocked on the door. A few moments later a wiry man in his late forty’s peeked at him from the open door. The man’s brown hair was laced heavily with gray as it fell into his face, wire rim glasses framing eyes that blinked at him owlishly.

Cassias let out a rare smile as Donald looked him over. He knew he did not look how most imagined a vampire would. He wasn’t over 6’ tall, didn’t have long hair and glowing eyes. He was a very unassuming man at 5’6”, his black hair closely shorn with hazel eyes that did not in any way glow. Dressed as he was in black slacks and button-down, he was easily overlooked.

“Donald McNeil, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Cassias said as the man continued to blink at him.

“I’m sorry, ha...have we met?” Donald stammered.

“We have not had that pleasure,” Cassias smiled, “but I was a friend of your grandfather’s, and several before him.”

Donald straightened as green eyes went wide. “My god, you’re Cassias Quintas.” The door pushed open fully. “Come in, come in.”

At the invitation, Cassias crossed through the doorway, nodding in thanks as Donald shuffled back.

“I… I didn’t know you would be coming.” Donald murmured as he rushed ahead, tripping over a pile of books with a swear. “Is this a friendly meeting or…”

“Or.” Cassias met Donald’s gaze as the man turned back to look at him with a gulp.

“Ah… yes, well.” Donald looked around the living room before grabbing a pile of papers off a chair, gesturing for Cassias to take a seat. “There may be a, a slight issue.”

“An issue?” Cassias went still as his gaze focused on the other man. “What do you mean by a “slight issue?”

Donald grimaced as he shoved the papers onto an overly full table. “It’s not as effective as it may have been in the past. My dad and I noticed it before he passed, as the elixir’s color was different. We think it has something to do with changes to the herbs and ingredients. So, I am not sure it will work.”

Cassias’ eyes narrowed as he watched the man stumble around the room. “Explain.” He demanded. This was the only option if he were to feel the sun on his face for even a moment, he would not accept any complications.

Donald’s hazel eyes shifted to the other man’s with a resigned look on his face. “The herbs aren’t as potent as we think they used to be because the magic of the land is dying. My father Shaemus first noticed it, but its accelerated in the past 20 to 30 years.” Donald stopped by a desk with a sigh.

“How could you know that?” Cassias demanded as he pushed himself out of the chair.

“The color of the elixir honestly.” Donald crossed to an armoire that stood to the side, hidden in shadows. His hand reached out, palm flat against the wood.

“Le cumhachd trì tha mi ag àithneadh dhut fosgladh.” As Donald spoke the Gaelic words  commanding the armoire to open, a deep green light began to shimmer around him, shifting to cover the room. After a moment, the doors of the armoire fell open, and Donald withdrew a light bottle of light purple liquid.

When he turned, Cassias stood behind him, his eyes glowing red as he frowned. “That is not the elixir.”

“It is.” Donald countered. “This is what I meant, its how my father and I noticed the change.”

Cassias reached out to take the vial, his eyes losing their glow as hopelessness surged through him. This had been his last hope, his only hope. He had also felt the magic dying, one of the many reasons he was seeking to end his existence before it faded completely, leaving the world barren and bereft of the wonders that had entranced him for centuries.

“Then it is done, I release you and your family from our contract.” His voice was resigned as he placed the vial back in the armoire.

“Not entirely.” Donald’s hand on Cassias’ shoulder stopped the shorter man, whose brow raised in question. Donald opened a drawer of the armoire, showing a silver dagger with a mother of pearl hilt. “Dad and I experimented, and found a solution, at least we think.”

“Why?”

“Because of the contract,” Donald shrugged, “we didn’t want you and your childe to lose the chance of life, not when you have been so supportive of my family. We found that objects with curses can be used to start the process, and so my father and I began to learn how to create the curses needed. I can’t say it will 100% work, but it is the only option we could come up with.”

“A cursed object…”

“A cursed dagger to be exact.” Donald pushed his glasses back up his nose before withdrawing the dagger. “It is known that vampires cannot see their reflection, nor any part of their body, including their blood if injured.”

“One thing the humans got right.” Cassias confirmed slowly as Donald nodded.

“The curse changes that. With the curse my father and I have placed, blood from a wound caused by the dagger will show in the mirror. If you take the elixir just before you place the cut, your blood will become visible, and as the elixir works, you should start to appear in the mirror. When you fully are formed, you should be mortal again.”

“’Should be’ is a dangerous combination.”

“We know, we just didn’t have a way of testing it.” Donald’s face was sheepish as he drew out the vial, turning to offer the dagger and vial to Cassias. “It is up to you if you try it.”

Cassias considered the two objects in the other man’s hand. Did he dare try it? Curses were not something to take lightly, and the fact that the McNeil’s had taken to learn curses told him that they honestly thought it would work.

All he could do was trust the man, something that to a being like him was asking a lot.

After a moment he took the vial, staring at the swirling liquid before removing the cap to down the elixir. Immediately electricity began to surge through is body.

“The dagger, the blow must come from your own hand.” Donald coached, stepping back as Cassias took the dagger and sliced it across his palm. “Now, look in the mirror on the wall, holding your hand up.”

Cassias turned, expecting to see only Donald in the mirror, but froze when his blood began to drip through the reflection. Slowly a shape began to take form as he watched, stunned. Cassias’ eyes went wide as he took in his own appearance for the first time in 1500 years.

“By the gods…” He breathed as his hazel eyes at last appeared, and he felt the strength that had coursed through him ebbing into nothingness.

“Cassias Quintas, welcome to the land of the living.” Donald gave a slight bow. “May you find the peace you seek after many years of walking in the sun.”

The formal greeting, one penned more than eight hundred years before, had Cassias’ eyes closing as he felt the pain from the wound pulse in his hand, a feeling he had not had in centuries.

He would never need to move to keep his secret. He could stay, build a family, a true family, and enjoy every dawn with those he loved.

He never had to be alone again. For the first time in centuries, he was looking forward to greeting the new day.