Mercy's All That You Need

Mercedes didn't even think about doubting what Brian had said. It really was best to stay put in her room, with the door locked of course, because even though she hadn't caught so much of a glimpse of the man in the kitchen, she got the feeling he wasn't a guy to mess with. Although she was sure Matt was more than a little over-protective, he wasn't joking around, and he would want her to stay in there, too.

So in her room she would stay, at least until someone, or her brother as Syn had directed, came and got her.

Not knowing what else to do, Mercy slid down the wall next to the door. Because the bed was a little too close to the windows for comfort, she stayed away from it. It may have been slightly paranoid, and at that point she figured anything could have been lurking outside those very windows.

She let out a little huff of a sigh, trying to figure Synyster Gates out. After just a moment she found it would be nearly impossible. The man was like a yo-yo, really. One moment he literally wanted to kill her, the next he was protecting her. All Mercedes wanted was to know which of those was the actual Synyster, but somehow she was willing to bet the former was how he really felt about her.

In all likeliness, Brian... Brian. Why couldn't she ever just have one solid thought about him? Before Mercy didn't know enough about him, and then he goes and throws her for a curve on this one. She really didn't know what to think of him. Brian himself was just a confusing person, and that was the only way she could sum him up.

When Matt finally decided to pay her a visit, she vainly hoped that at least some of her confusion would be cleared up. Rubbing her eyes in an exhausted manner, Mercy let out a groan before bringing her knees up and propping her elbows against them, staring out the windows she was so scared of and the pitch black of the night.

Another thought struck her as a little odd, she may have been scared of the man everyone seemed so worried about, but she wasn't really concerned about him or what he could do. When she had five strong, not to mention intimidating guys living in the same house as her, she felt protected, which wasn't really something she had with her mom.

“Mercedes! Open the damn door,” As if that weren't enough, Matt made his presence known outside of his sister's door by banging on it so hard she almost thought he would knock it down. She would feel a whole lot less safe if he did that, so she scrambled to her feet as quickly as she could fumbling with the doorknob until it clicked once again. She barely had a moment to step away from it before it swung open.

Matthew stormed in, and as soon as he saw Mercedes alive and well, he took her by the arm and began shouting orders. “Vengeance, go get the Suburban ready, we'll be out in ten minutes tops. Rev, go pack some supplies. I want a fucking arsenal in the trunk.”

What? This was turning out to be a whole lot more serious than Mercy thought it'd be.

Mercedes attempted to sneak a look behind her door to see who exactly was standing out in the hallway, but then Johnny walked in, going over to almost stand guard by the window while Synyster leaned against the door jamb. She was a little surprised to see Val skitter past Brian, nearly knocking him over in the process. He sent a glare toward her and crossed his arms, but nonetheless remained silent.

Seeing her mate, Val frowned and clasped her hands together in front of her, waiting for him to blow up.

“Can someone please tell me what's going on?” Shadows' shouts easily overpowered her soft voice, and she let out a sigh of frustration when she realized that no one at all had heard her.

The thing that worried Mercedes more than the actual situation was Syn, who had since set her sights on herself. His unfriendly gaze remained steady on her. She tried, and failed, to ignore it as best as she could. Unfortunately, Matt noticed the exchange.

This only seemed to anger him even further, and his cat-like gaze flickered to Synyster. “Enlighten me, Gates. Why the fuck, of all fucked up things, would you tell him that she's your feeder? Do you even know what he's going to expect—”

“Don't give me that shit, Matt. You know just as well as I do that I had to, because if someone didn't claim her he would have!” Brian spat, crossing his arms over his broad chest. For some reason his voice was a whole lot sharper than the slightly larger vampire's, so much so that it caused the poor girl to jump. She hadn't really been expecting him to speak right over Matt.

Mercy was sick and tired of the guy being referred to as him or he. She wanted an actual name, for Christ's sake. In her mind that wasn't very much to ask for, especially when the problem seemed to be centered around her.

Unimpressed, Matt merely stared at him, still looking beyond doubtful. “Then why did you—”

“He would have caught her scent if I didn't mark her. And he would've killed her on the spot.” Bad idea, Syn. Mercy thought to herself, cutting off such a huge, pissed off guy like Matt didn't seem like a good idea to her. “And then, we'd be dealing with an even bigger problem from you than we are now.”

Seeing she was getting no where with them and didn't think she would any time soon, Mercedes felt like banging her head against the wall. It really wasn't in her nature to, but she felt as if she were on the verge of snapping. She was willing to bet that if they just let her in on the seemingly huge secret of this vampire's identity, that she'd be able to bring a little logic to the table. And less yelling, which was always a plus.

Without a second thought, Val approached Matt; that was something Mercy would never even dream about doing, especially when he was in such a state. Val must have held a lot of trust in her mate. She laid a hand on either of his shoulders, making him tear his cold gaze away from Syn and let go of Mercy's arm. His eyes softened significantly once he laid eyes on her and he sighed, as if in defeat.

“Listen to Brian, Matthew. The best thing we can do right now is just wait it out.”

“Wait for what? For him to catch wind of Syn's little lie? What do you think he'll do then?” He replied, still seemingly set on whatever he wanted to do with the SUV, the weapons, and Mercedes.

Val frowned up at him, taking his face in her hands to make him look her in the eye. “Because, he checks in pretty much every week Matt. Come on now, just think rationally for a minute. If he comes by and sees that you aren't here, he's going to know for sure something's up.”

Thankfully, Matt seemed to agree somewhat to what she was saying. For once the entire room was silent. “I have no idea what's happening.” She more or less stated, looking toward Matt in a desperate plea for him to just tell her what was going on and why everyone, even Val, seemed to be so freaked out over just one man.

“He's an evil man, Mercy. That's all.” Syn scoffed at Matt's sugar-coated response.

“But—why?” She may have sounded like a child asking this, but Mercedes simply couldn't help it. She wanted a better answer than that; she may have been a little too naïve for her age, but that didn't mean she didn't deserve to know the severity of the situation.

Looking somewhat pained, Matt kept his eyes anywhere but on the small girl. “It's best if you don't know.”

Everyone saw it coming, Syn seemed to grow more and more pissed off with each word Shadows uttered, but no one could prepare themselves for his explosion. “Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me Sanders! You can't keep Mercedes all sweet and innocent like she is forever. It'll only end up with her getting herself killed over it.”

She wasn't really enjoying how much they tossed around her demise in conversation. Especially since she was standing right there in front of them, hearing every word of it. Actually, she despised it. Being treated like a child wasn't something she liked, at all.

“She doesn't belong in this world, Synyster,” Matt began, looking almost too outraged to even form a coherent sentence. Slowly, Val backed away from the two and stood next to Mercedes, looking wide-eyed. “She's done nothing to deserve being brought into this shit.”

“She was fucking born into this, Shadows. Get real, all of this is about her! Don't you think you should at least fucking tell her what's going on?” It seemed that Brian switched tactics, going from the 'she's too innocent' to 'she has a right to know'. The change definitely threw Mercy for a loop.

“I am her brother and at this point, she is my responsibility. I couldn't give less of a fuck about what you think, I'm going to do what I think is best for Mercedes.”

Syn seemed unfazed by Matthew's vehement statement, but Mercy felt her heart swell. It was then she knew Matt was really looking out for her, and that he saw her as his sister just as much as she saw him as her brother. Her mother wasn't her only family, she then had more. A lot more, by the looks of it. These people, including her brother, would be in her life for many years to come... or however long she lived.

“That whole 'over-protective big brother' thing isn't gonna work here, Matt. If you expect her to live through even half of this you can't shelter her,” Syn pressed, and that was when Matt finally got fed up. He stormed out of the room, but not before taking Synyster with him by the shirt.

Sighing, Val turned toward Mercedes and gave her a weak smile. Mercy returned it, hesitantly. “Don't worry about them. They're always arguing. And Matt's overreacting... a little,” She said, looking confused herself.

Mercy could tell she was trying to be reassuring, so she nodded in response even though the blonde's statement left her a little more uneasy than before. Taking her hand, Val led her out of the room and farther away from the shouting of Shadows and Gates, which could still be heard even all the way across the house.

She found it hard to ignore the fact that Johnny was trailing behind them while they walked the hallways, lingering about fifteen feet back. The only reasonable explanation for him doing so was for protection reasons, which only scared Mercedes even more and made her wonder if she and Val should really have left her room.

For a few minutes, Val tried her best to comfort Mercedes. “Don't worry about it, Mercy. Things are going to work out just fine, I know it.”

“I think so too,” Mercedes mumbled in reply, feeling like it would have been rude if she didn't say something back to her. “Somehow... at some point. Hopefully.”

“You must be going crazy from the boredom,” Val began, a whole lot more cheerful. Mercedes really appreciated the change in subject, and nodded in response. That was the whole reason why she'd left her room in the first place, anyway. “Listen, how about when all this blows over, we go out? Just me, you and the girls. We'll go shopping or something, and just forget about all of this shit.”

All Mercedes could do was agree. The only person she'd ever gone out with, even to shop, was her mother, and she'd been too controlling for Mercy to really enjoy it, anyway. She was actually excited about the idea, seeming like it was a good way to get to know both Val and the rest of the girls better.

When all of this blows over... She couldn't help but think, if all of this blows over.