Immortals

Sarah didn't want to kill her husband.

Not out of compassion, or something as pitiful as love, but from a simple sense of egotism that prevented her from taking the easy way out. It was the same sentiment that started her journey into magic and fueled her thirst for knowledge. A witch as powerful as her shouldn't resort to something as crass as murder to solve her problems. She was better than that.

And yet, on the night of their fiftieth anniversary, Sarah found herself poisoning her husband's wine.

It wasn't without due cause, obviously. Damien had been fooling around with peasants for decades and Sarah grew tired of enduring the shame. Every time she cornered him, he found a valid excuse or destroyed the evidence before he could get caught. Worst of all, the mistresses could never be found afterwards. Damien had done a splendid job at hiding them.

At first, Sarah thought she could manipulate him into behaving. She had never met a man she couldn't wrap around her finger. A simple charm spell should've been enough to keep him in tow for the rest of his life.

But it didn't.

Sarah couldn't believe it. Was her witchcraft not strong enough? That couldn't be the case. She was the most powerful spellcaster in the land. The only other explanation was that Damien had innate resistance to magic, something perhaps inherited through his bloodline. He came from a long line of aristocrats, after all. His family might have a history of dealing with witches. The thought of that terrified Sarah. One mistake could get her trapped in a soul gem for eternity.

Because of this, Sarah couldn't afford to wait for his death anymore. She had to take matters into her own hands. And so, after dressing up in their best clothes, the couple met at the tallest balcony of their castle estate to celebrate the biggest milestone of their 'loving marriage'.

Were it any other couple, this would've been the most romantic evening of their lives. Sarah felt numb to it, though. The full moon hung in the air like a spotlight for their theatrics, highlighting their fake performance with a pale beam of light.

Damien raised his cup of wine. "To another fifty years, my love."

"Don't be silly," said Sarah, clinking her glass with his, "nobody lives that long."

Time slowed to a crawl as Damien's lips approached the cup. Sarah couldn't help but smile when he gulped it down in seconds. Any moment now, he would fall to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

Sarah kissed him on the lips, a final act of mockery for his infidelity, and pulled away with the expectation that it would be the last sensation of his life.

But it wasn't.

Damien remained on his feet with his usual charismatic smile. Sarah had to suppress her shock. She turned away from him, overlooking to balcony's railing to hide her expression. It shouldn't be possible. That poison was powerful enough to kill an elephant with a single drop. Damien chuckled and said:

"Do you remember what I told you when we first met?"

Sarah squinted. Her failure had thrown her off balance and she couldn't focus on his words. "I'm sorry, it's been so long... What was it?"

"I warned you that I'm dangerous, since it's very easy to fall for me."

Before Sarah could respond, Damien pushed her over the railing.

The drop was lethal.

That is, lethal for anyone other than Sarah. With a wave of her hands, the witch surged in power and started to fly. Her fury could heard from several miles away as she shouted:

"You dare betray ME?!?"

Damien froze in shock when she floated back up.

Sarah crackled with energy, ready to smite him. She didn't look like an older woman anymore. Her true form was revealed, as the twenty year-old woman who gained immortality. "You will pay a thousand-fold for your arrogance, you wretched man!"

Instead of running away, however, Damien simply bore his fangs and attacked. That explained it all. He was a vampire. A parasitic creature of the night. Sarah needed to destroy him before he sank his fangs into her. It was one of the only ways she could actually die.

The ensuing battle almost imploded their castle. Sarah kept him at bay with lightning bolts, but Damien simply absorbed the damage, growing more savage as the fight dragged on. Sarah then animated the suits of armor around the castle to act as her minions, but Damien overpowered them with ease. It became clear they were at a standstill. Their abilities were equally matched.

Sarah felt on the verge of fainting after spending most of her energy on her spells. Damien, unfortunately, still had more than enough strength to keep going. Just as he gained the upper hand, though, a sudden realization stopped him in his tracks.

They had been fighting all night. The sun was about to rise. Damien had to retreat before he got burned by the light. He didn't have time to finish her off.

As soon as he turned his back, Sarah animated a rug and wrapped it around his legs, causing him to trip.

Damien tried to break free but Sarah exerted all her energy to keep him restrained. She couldn't keep it up for long, but she didn't need to. Sunbeams crawled out of the horizon and slowly entered the castle. Damien didn't plead for his life, cry out in anger, or anything of the sort. He simply accepted his death and uttered two words he had never said before:

"I'm sorry."

Sarah paused. "W-what?"

"I'm sorry. I was so focused on hiding my secret that I never considered you were hiding one too. I should've known, really. Your disdain for the church. Your uncanny grace and knowledge. I always thought we were similar, it's why this is my longest marriage, but I never thought it would be to this extent. It's all my fault... for living a lie."

Sarah welled with tears. She couldn't help but see herself in him. They were both hated by the world. A type of loneliness that few beings could truly understand. Sarah herself, as a teenager many ages ago, had almost been burned alive by her home village, simply because she tried to heal her lover with witchcraft. After regaining his health, the boy she loved turned her in to the church authorities out of fear of her powers. That betrayal wounded her for centuries. It taught her to always hide her nature and exploit everyone around her.

Now, after all that time, there was a man in front of her who could actually understand that pain...

and she tried to kill him.

Would she keep repeating this cycle for eternity? Was there not a way out? Yes. Yes there was. Sarah undid the spell and embraced her husband. And thus, what started as a false anniversary, ended in a renewal of vows.

*****

THE END.