Mercy's All That You Need

As they made their way out of the bathroom, with Mercedes leading the way, she remained quiet. She didn't want to just blurt out that she thought Matt was crazy; that his 'explanation' just didn’t make any sense. No, in all probability that would only anger him. From what happened earlier with locking him out of his car, she knew for sure her brother was a short fuse.

Turning toward her, Matt raised a questioning eyebrow. "Your clothes are in the closet. You can change now."

Only then did Mercedes remember that Matt had ripped her sleeves clean off her shirt. She sprung at the opportunity to be alone for a moment and scattered into the walk in closet as quickly as she could, locking the door behind her. She zeroed in on the huge duffel she'd only gotten a glimpse of the night before, except this time it was filled to the point where it looked like it could burst.

Mercedes opened the bag slowly, shuffling through the majority of her clothing to see what the guys had managed to grab before her mother completely flipped on them. Thankfully, a lot of her much-loved articles. A whole lot of t-shirts, a few pairs of her favourite shoes, and some skinny jeans. At the very bottom, were the smaller articles of clothing like tank tops and... with a blush, she realized they'd had to go through her underwear drawer.

No longer wanting to think about it, she hastily changed her clothing, and gasped in pain when her shirt brushed against her spine. Synsyter had certainly done a number on it, that was for sure. Minutes later, she was dressed in a simple, black tank top and a pair of bleach wash skinny jeans.

She hesitated at the door, knowing that if she wanted to, she could stay in there for as long as she wanted, or at least until Matt got pissed at her again and somehow got the door open. She didn't want that, all she really wanted was to figure out what was going on. She got that Matt and more than likely everyone else in the house was a vampire, and that she was supposedly a 'half-blooded' vampire, but why were they only getting involved with her life then?

That little bit of extra curiosity was all it took for her to hesitantly open the door, stepping outside to see that Matt hadn't moved so much as an inch since she'd left him. Not knowing what to do, Mercedes looked up at him expectantly.

He seemed to have lightened up significantly while she was changing, though, and that in turn made Mercedes own mood brighten. Since he was her brother, she didn't want him mad at her. She thought he would have been after locking him out of the car and sneaking out of her room when she was clearly told not to.

"You must be hungry," He said, smiling slightly. For once, that was something Mercedes could agree with, and she nodded vigorously. She hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, and she was so hungry then that she felt as if she were going to be sick. "What do you want to eat? You can come with me if you want."

"Uh..." Mercedes had to think fast, she was never good at making quick decisions, even if it was just about what kind of food she wanted. "I'll just—I'll just have some fruit."

Food first, then she could worry about asking the list of questions she'd been mentally compiling for the past five minutes. "Fruit?" He asked, clearly amused. She nodded again. "That's pretty vague, but alright then. You coming with?"

"I'm gonna stay here," She quickly answered, glancing down at her feet. She'd decided to go barefoot, and the hardwood floor was surprisingly cold.

For a minute, she could feel his eyes on her, watching her, serious this time. "Can I trust you to stay in here by yourself, Mercy?"

Fearfully, Mercedes looked up at him. "I thought you said it was safe here," She didn't know why she asked. After what happened with Syn, she should have known the difference in that. "So why are you making me stay in here?"

"Mercedes," He sighed, once again massaging his eyelids. He was obviously stressed out, and Mercy could easily relate with that. "There isn’t anything to worry about, but accidents can happen, as you already know. I just think it'd be best if you were with either me, Zacky, Johnny or the Rev."

Quickly, Mercedes took notice that he didn't mention Brian's name. Hopefully she wouldn't be seeing him around much anymore. "Okay." She whispered, no longer wanting to argue with him.

"I'm serious about that, Mercy. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble here." Again, she didn't see what was so bad about it, especially since Synyster seemed to be under the watch of Johnny and The Rev. but... she would listen to him.

While Matt was heading for the door, Mercy wondered if she really did want to stay cooped up in her room while she waited for Matt to return with her food. When would she be able to get out again? If Matt and everyone else was serious about her not really being 'kidnapped' then she hoped she would in fact, soon be able to roam the house freely. That was at least if she stayed there that long, as she was still holding on to the false hope that all of this was temporary, and soon she would be back home in Oregon with her mother.

And like Matt had said, there was always a chance of something happening... even with him there to protect her. She didn't feel comfortable around them enough to chance that yet.

During the ten minutes he was gone, Mercy migrated to the bed and sat, her hands softly gripping the comfortable, velvety blanket. She tested her back, wondering how she was going to sleep that night, or if she would get any sleep at all. It seemed highly unlikely, seeing as she didn't like sleeping on her stomach and any other way would more than likely irritate her back. She let out a sigh of frustration, finally beginning to stress out because she was alone.

So Matt was her brother. The only word she could think of when trying to process that thought was what? She honestly didn't know what to think, but it certainly changed her perspective on the situation as a whole. She'd always wanted siblings, because while her mother was her best friend, it had been pretty lonely throughout her childhood. The off-chance at having that kind of relationship with Matt was appealing to say the least, and Mercedes was willing to go along with almost anything.

But vampires? Really?

Her thoughts were just as conflicting as the information everyone was giving her. If she could completely believe that Matt was indeed her half-brother, why couldn't she believe that she was a half-blooded vampire, too? To Mercedes, the idea of having a sibling was just as far-fetched as the possibility of being a vampire.

The proof was right in front of her, even. She'd witnessed Synyster literally grow fangs and seemingly react to the sun, just as a vampire would. Matt's wounds from his fight with Syn healed in the matter of minutes, not to mention right in front of her eyes. Matt also had the capacity of moving quickly, as she'd noticed when he blocked her from the bathroom. Everything about them was inhuman. There was no reason to believe they were anything but vampires.

Her, a half-vampire though? No. It was her flat-out, simple response. Mercedes was completely human, she was sure of that much.

"I didn't know what to get you, so I just—" Matt stopped short after he closed the door with his foot and actually looked at Mercedes. She was wringing her hands so tightly there would surely be marks. Once she was him, however, she placed her hands by her sides once again and gave him a small, hesitant smile. Instead of doing something so obvious as to how worried about this she was, she opted to cross her legs, her fingers biting into the denim on each side. "I just... got whatever was there."

His choice was fine, near perfect for Mercedes. He held a reasonably large fruit platter, and in his other hand he held a glass of water. Silently, he placed the platter next to her on the bed, and set the water down on the nightstand. To avoid looking at him, Mercy focused on the platter. Chopped strawberries, grapes, blueberries, watermelon and kiwi were assorted neatly around the plate, and Mercedes was grateful for the fact that she didn't detest any of the fruits Matt had selected.

"So, are you vegetarian or something?" Matt asked softly, taking a seat beside her. Hints of amusement were laced in his tone, and Mercy could only wonder what was going through his head. A supposed unknowing half-vampire, a vegetarian?

"No," She said while munching on a piece of kiwi, with a slight shake of her head. Ever since she could remember, she'd had a weak stomach. And it being so empty then, trying to eat an entire meal would have been pointless, as it would only come back up again later. She had to start off with something light.

Out of the corner of her eye, she snuck a glance at him. He looked tired, a little more worn-out than before he'd left. To distract him from the semi-awkward question he'd asked, she forced another smile. "Shouldn't you—shouldn't you be sleeping right now?" She quizzed, going along with the whole 'vampire' thing for a moment.

Letting out a yawn, Matt nodded before he rested his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. By the time he'd answered, Mercedes had neatly eaten all she could from the plate. "Yeah—I should be—but I have to talk to you about a few more things—and you're probably not going to like any of them."

An idea sprung into Mercedes' mind then, and she jumped as if she'd been electrically shocked. Matt could only glance at her in surprise. "The only way I'm going to believe you—about any of this, is if you let me talk to my mother."

A phone call was all Mercy wanted, and she was actually telling the truth. If Ariel went along with all of this and agreed with what her new brother was telling her, then Mercedes would have no choice to believe that they were all, in fact, vampires. She just hoped that Matt would go along with it.