Forgotten Hope: One

Forgotten Hope: ONE



Having amnesia, she couldn't recall her ancestry, let alone what her original name was.  Did she have a last name?  Were people out there looking for her?  These are the questions that often burn through her mind from time to time when she's alone to herself, which is never too often.

She likes to keep herself busy by helping others out.  For some reason, she often knows when people are in dire need of help.  She doesn't know how she has this ability, or why she has it; she just knows that her abilities must be there for a specific reason.  In her heart, she feels she must help others out, and save lives when she can.  Today is a quiet day, and she's left alone to her thoughts, however.

She recalls the day her life started over.  She was somewhere in Greece, being pulled out of the water by some kind gentleman.  Anthony was his name; she remembered him well.  He was young at the time, and while most villagers had dark hair and dark eyes, his hair was of a dirty blonde color, and his eyes were of the lightest blue that she had ever seen.  She thought it was rather strange, but she couldn't be rude and ask him right off about his heritage.  When she awoke after being pulled from the water, he asked her some questions.

"Are you OK?"  He asked in Greek.

"I think so," she responded in the same language.  Wait, she thought, I don't speak Greek.  How do I know this?  She sat herself up and that's when she noticed she was in a small villa of some sort, sitting on top of a table.

"How is it that you are still alive?"  He asked her.  She could tell Anthony was looking at her in wonder.

"I do not know," was her only reply.

"I-I must have been fishing out there for hours and I did not notice you," he paused.  "I thought for sure you were dead, but instead, you are alive.  You seem full of life.  You seem to be unharmed.  What is your name?"

She really didn't know her name, but the word "life" struck a chord with her.  The only name she spat out was, "Zoe," which means "life" in Greek.

"I am very pleased to meet you," he replied.  "My name is Anthony.  If I can help you in any way, let me know."

The word "help" triggered a vague memory.  She wasn't certain, but she believed she was on a mission of some sort.  She had arrived in Greece to help out, although she can't recall why or to whom she was supposed to help.

"I have to go," she said suddenly and hopped off the table.  "Thank you for all your help."

"Do you mind if I ask where you are going?"

"I have to help others," she replied.  "It is my mission."

"Can I join you?"

"It would be too dangerous."

"I'm willing to risk it."

"Don't you have someone to go home to?"

"I did," he gave a far away look.  "But she refused my proposal."

"Sorry to hear that."

Upon hearing those words spoken, Zoe spent a few minutes thinking about it.  She could probably use an ally, but she would feel awful if something bad were to happen to him.  He did rescue her from the waters.  She turned to face him.  That was when she noticed she had black hair.  She then wondered if it was possible she was from Greece.

It can't be, she thought.  I detest this place for some reason.  All of their Gods, and their made-up Gods.

She brought her mind back and asked, "How knowledgeable are you?"

"Well," he began.  "I am a traveler.  I know my geography and history, and I can adapt to any language."

She didn't need to ask him anymore.  For some reason, she felt he was honest and sincere.

"Alright," she replied after a few moments.  "I could use someone like you."

They headed off to destinations unknown, and slowly discovered what Zoe's mission in life was:  She was a monster hunter, but she mostly hunted vampires.

Anthony seemed alright living the hunter's kind of life until he got too old to hunt anymore.  Zoe brought him back to the place where they had first met; the place where he pulled her out of the Grecian waters.  She suggested for him to find his one true love and try again.  She explained it's never too late for true love.

For just a brief moment, Zoe felt like she lost her true love the day she lost her memory.  She couldn't explain it, but she felt completely heart-broken.  Of course, she kept those feelings to herself.  She wanted Anthony, who turned into a very dear friend, to have the life she was never destined to have.

He decided to follow her advice, and asked her to come with.  For an old friend, she happily obliged.  He found his fair maiden, still alone, and waiting for him.  She had never gotten the chance to explain to him what had happened that day.

"I didn't give you an answer that day because," his fair maiden, Vanessa paused.  "I needed to go home to my parents and tell them of my plans, but I never got the chance.  My father fell ill, and I was forced to go out and help make a living.  I tried to find you the next day to tell you, but you were already gone."

That threw Zoe for a loop.  Anthony and Zoe never discussed relationships of the past; with Zoe having no memory, Anthony felt he didn't want to burden his friend with his relationship problems.  Sometimes, things like this are meant to happen, Zoe told herself.  Everything happens for a reason, I suppose.

"Oh," he replied, and looked down.  "I wished I had known."

"I've never married," she replied.

He lifted his head to meet her gaze.  "Never?"

"No," she said.  "But I had to lie as well.  I had to say I was married and still waiting for my husband to get back."

"Why is that?"

"Demetrius, Daria!  Come on out here, please!"  She shouts out.  Two grown kids come out from the house.

The two children looked like Vanessa.  They had her dark hair and her dark skin.  Their eyes were different, however.  They were a very light blue--much like Anthony's eyes.

"These are the twins," Vanessa replied.  "Our twins."

"Twins?  Ours?"

Vanessa nodded.

Before Anthony embraced his new life, with what little or not so little time he had left in life, he turned to face Zoe.

"You have been a great friend," he said.  "Thank you for taking me with you, and all the adventures we went on.  I'll never forget it."

Zoe smiled.  "Thank you for rescuing me, even though I still don't remember my life before this."

"In time," he replied.  "You will get it back.  Something eventually will trigger your memory back.  Maybe some day when you're old like me."  He smiled even though deep inside, Zoe suspected that Anthony might have known at this point she hadn't aged at the same way he had.  She could be easily mistaken for someone in her early to mid-twenties.

She gave a curt laugh.  "Go, and enjoy your family."

She took off, never to see him again, well, with never the intention for Anthony and his family to see her.  She stops by on occasion to see how his family is doing without their knowledge.  She was happier knowing that Anthony and his family were safe, rather than to see her face again; a youthful memory.

Zoe brings her mind to the present.  She wonders why on a day like today, she would be thinking about Anthony.  It wasn't the day they met.  So many centuries had passed since that day--So many centuries that she lost count--and she still doesn't remember anything before then.  The only thing she knows is to keep on moving.

She heaves a sigh.  Now living in America, she has new battles to take on.