Enzo awoke from a dark slumber to the sight of a familiar room. He was at the Salvator brother's house. Damon must have taken him back here after he was shot. The thought of the bullet piercing his chest makes him jump. He rushes a hand to the place the bullet had pierced his skin. Nothing. The wound was gone.

"Gave us one hell of a scare there bud," Damon's voice comes from the shadow of the door entryway. He is leaning against the wall in his casual stance with his arms crossed, looking relaxed. He holds a glass of golden liquid, most likely scotch. That was a favorite of Damon's.

"What the Devil?" Enzo exhales in confusion. The last thing he can remember is the bullet piercing him, followed by being swallowed in a blanket of darkness he desperately fought against. He wasn't sure how he was alive right now if he was being honest with himself.

"The bullet did pierce the edge of your heart, but apparently not enough to kill you since I came at the perfect timing to rip it out," Damon pauses for a moment before continuing his sentence. "Although even with my flawless timing to be your romantic hero, coming to rip the bullet out in the knick of time, it is still a miracle you're alive. The bullet did pierce your heart, even if it was only slightly and momentarily. That has been enough to kill others."

Damon looks at Enzo and can feel the tension in the air. His best friend almost died last night and this terrified them both. Damon might have a funny way of showing it but he would never be the same if he lost his best friend. Damon needed Enzo. Feeling suffocated by the gloomy atmosphere Damon tried to change the direction of the conversation to lighten the mood.

"Hey, if you discovered a new secret on how to beat death and didn't share it with me than that would make you a pretty shitty friend you know," Damon sarcastically teases Enzo and successfully changes the mood. Enzo chuckles at his friend's words.

"Well if I were to just come out and tell you all my secrets where would the fun be in that?" Enzo replies half heartedly, attempting to meet Damon's attempt at lightening the mood.

Of course the secret of how Enzo miraculously survived was a secret even to him. Unless… Ashley's words. He remembered how empowering he felt as the girl spoke up to defend him. She saw him as someone who was not a monster, even when he appeared to be in the form of one as he stood in front of her covered in blood with fangs barred.

He fought like hell against the darkness because he felt a fire being sparked within in. The fire burned from a feeling of hope. He had never felt it before. Hope has been said to be one of the most powerful emotions, but Enzo has never exactly had the experience of its power… until now.

Ashley defended him, truly believing he was a man worth risking her life for. Now Enzo did not feel this way, believing himself to be the very monster the vampire hunter saw him as. He has committed countless unspeakable acts that would define him as being that monster that should be hated and hunted. Knowing this though did not mean he hadn't at times craved the possibility of being someone else in his moments of weakness and loneliness… be the man Ashley saw. The man did not exist… yet. But a piece of him craved a future that he worked towards creating that man.

Ashley's words not only empowered him, but also made him fight against death with a force he has never known to exist within him. He could not explain this to Damon though. He would not appear to be weakened by unexplainable feelings for a human girl, not even to his best friend. That would just be embarrassing.

"The secret is to just get better looking every day like me and even bullets will not want to harm the beautiful master piece of myself," Enzo tells Damon and follows his sarcasm with a wink. The friends were back to there lighthearted banter.

The reality was Enzo was not only unable to have some secret for beating death, but felt the pressure of the scary truth about how he has seemed to develop a weakness. He seemed to care about Ashley being murdered and apparently highly preferred her not to be. He cared about very very few, like Damon, but Damon is a vampire who could take care of himself. Growing feelings for a weak human, well that's just asking for trouble. It's suicidal really.

"Ashley…"

"I dropped the chick we were with off safely at her friends house. No need to worry. She is safe and compelled to forget everything. I cleaned up the mess while you slept, so yeah you owe me a drink now. So get those clean clothes on and lets go to the bar."

Damon's words turned to a light buzz in Enzo's ears after he heard Damon say the word compel. If Ashley was compelled than that means she would not remember anything that happened, including him.

The power of the truth knocked the wind out of him. For the first time in forever someone saw potential in him, saw him as someone who could not only be saved but be even worthy of being cared for…. loved…But just like that the hope he had for a different future was ripped away, stolen from him along with Ashley's memory. This thought was so horrible he felt physical heartache.

"How much did you make her forget?" Damon assumed his disheveled question came from trying to recover from almost dying, not from something more complex.

"Are we still talking about the Ashley girl? I don't know. I told her to forget the entire day and to not worry about monsters existing yada yada yada. She can go on her merry way without fear of monsters or knowing anything, continuing the an oblivious existence like most humans."

"Where is she?"

"Okay, look man I know you've been through a lot and might not seem yourself when you first woke up…."

"Damon! Tell me where she is."

Enzo needed to see the girl. He could not explain it. He knew she would not know who he was but he couldn't resist the urge to see for himself if the hope was really gone.