Mercy's All That You Need

“We're only shopping here until it gets dark out,” Val informed Mercedes upon entering the mall. “Then we're going to visit all the smaller boutiques downtown.”

Mercy nodded in response, getting more excited at the idea of being outside later tonight. The aspect of breathing in more fresh air sounded better than spending the entire night in the mall.

In protest, Syn made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded oddly similar to a growl, causing a shiver of fear to run down Mercy's spine. She let out a squeak upon realizing exactly how serious he was about sticking by his side, he may just as well have been attached to her hip. The girls laugh at Mercedes' comfort, thinking nothing of it.

A sigh fell from her lips soon after, wondering how well tonight was actually going to go. With a big, intimidating guy by her side she shouldn't have been afraid of anything, unless that guy seemed to have it out for her. Then she believed she had good reason to believe the whole trip would be touch and go for both her and Synyster.

She knew he may have been doing it just to annoy her, but Mercy was damn uncomfortable with how close Brian was choosing to walk beside her. God, was it ever uncomfortable.

“I know what else we're going to do today, Mercedes,” Leana began with a small, encouraging smile.

“What are we going to do?” She replied, smiling in return. Leana could be too cute sometimes.

Gesturing toward everyone with the swoop of her arm, Leana continued. “We... yes, even you Mr. Needs-To-Get-Laid, are going to point out vampires for you. You never know, your soul-mate could be in there.”

Brian snorted, and then let out a malicious-sounding laugh at such a suggestion. On Mercy's other side, Lacey stiffened and wait for whatever Syn was about to say. “Do you really think it's that easy, Leana?”

More concerned about the girl next to her who seemed to be getting even more and more angrier by the second, Mercy barely listened into their conversation as she watched Lacey's eyes narrow, staring straight ahead as she walked with her fists clenched at her side.

“Uh, yeah Gates. I'm living proof that it is that easy.” Gena cut in, looking as if she wanted to stomp her foot out of frustration with her heavy footfalls. Her gladiator-styled sandals clapped loudly against the pavement of the parking lot. “I found Zacky in the exact same way.”

Since Gena had interrupted everyone, Lacey seemed to have calmed down some and thankfully, they were nearing the entrance to the mall by then. They were one step closer to immersing themselves into shopping and forgetting about what a little bitch Syn was being about the situation.

“Don't count on it.” Syn persisted, mumbling under his breath this time. Mercy was close enough to catch it, though, and began to feel light-headed at what he was implying; that she wouldn't find her soul-mate.

And that she'd die.

At that point everything felt as hopeless as Brian made them out to be. He really made the poor girl believe that Matt's and everyone’s attempts at finding her mate would be in vain.

Before Mercy could become anymore depressed, Leana smacked Brian upside the head. And that, well... that made Mercy feel a little better, and it got a small smile out of her. Once they were inside the mall and just outside the food court, Val abruptly turned around to glare at Syn. “You're not going to open your fucking mouth anymore today, Syn. Not fucking once. I really wish you'd stop holding a grudge against Mercedes for something she had no part of. Not to mention Matt's getting pretty sick of it too, and he's not going to put up with it for much longer.”

Val's rant managed to shut Gates up, but other than that it didn't do any good. He gritted his teeth and through his harsh gaze Mercy could see he was hurt by something Val had brought up—something she was clueless about. Part of her felt guilty because after all, he was forced to come with them in order to protect her.

If he could have, it was obvious Syn would have left. Hell, he probably wouldn't even have gotten in the car or left the house with them in the first place. He remained quiet, not focusing on anything as he walked beside Mercy.

Of all things, even though he supposedly held some sort of grudge against her and even though he'd shot down every single hope she'd been holding onto, Mercy didn't want him to feel so bad; she actually wanted to cheer him up. That was another case of being a doormat, but she wouldn't be Mercedes if she didn't care so much.

Thinking back to Leana's suggestion, Mercy wondered how big the vampire population really was, especially if the girls really thought she could meet her soul-mate in a mall while it was still day-light. The aspect actually scared her.

When she was sure Brian wasn't going to make any nasty remarks in the near future, she seemed to relax, and smiled toward the rest of the girls. “Let's do this, girls.”



“There's one!”

“Uh... that's not a vampire, Lay.”

“Yeah it is, and he's looking for a mate too. I can smell him from a mile away.”

So far they'd pointed out four male vampires, all apparently lacking a mate. Mercedes couldn't help but giggle at their banter, as it reminded her of fishing or hunting for something. In light of things, the actual task was a comical one to take on, anyway.

As they'd instructed hours earlier, Mercy made eye-contact with him from across the corridor. He was average height with brown hair, and just average looking all together. She would never have guessed him to be a vampire as he didn't even remotely stand out in a crowd—it was hard for even the girls to spot him.

“Nothing?” Leana asked in a subdued voice, quirking an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” Mercedes confirmed, somewhat disappointed once again. If her hopes were diminishing by the minute before, they sure as hell were then.

The mood was brought down a few notches at her confirmation, and Gena was the first to speak up. “Hey, come on. We still have the entire night ahead of us. How's about we go to one more store before we hit up downtown?”

Mercedes was aware that she dressed a little... conservatively. Her slightly baggy t-shirt that left quite a bit to the imagination her and knee-length shorts were blatant proof of that. The girls seemed to zero in on that fact right away, too.

They'd bought her short-shorts, admittedly cute tank tops that showed off just the right amount of cleavage, and among other things an unholy amount of heels. No matter how much she'd protested and kept telling them that she'd never even walked in them, they'd insisted. She was sure they weren't going to let her wear a lot of her old clothes, either.

With a smirk, Leana nodded in agreement to Gena's suggestion and pointed behind them to certain store, one that made a heat rise in Mercy's cheeks almost instantaneously. Victoria's Secret.

Until then everyone had almost forgotten about Synyster, but Mercedes couldn't help but awkwardly make a half turn toward him at the suggestion of going into such a store. Slowly, she shook her head before backing up, her back colliding with a clearly amused Brian.

“I don't need to go in there.” She stated, sounding sure of herself. From the entrance of the store, Val watched with a large grin on her face as the other three girls stepped forward and pulled her away from Syn, hauling her farther and farther toward the last place she wanted to be.

“Oh, yes you do Mercy,” Gena began, still smirking. “This store will change your life.”

Gulping, Mercy finally agreed and let them tug her all the way into the store, not knowing what she was getting herself into.

For fifteen minutes she followed the girls around, more meek and embarrassed than ever when she saw what the they were picking out for themselves. Perhaps it was a stupid thing to think, but she'd almost thought they'd forgotten about embarrassing her even further. Sadly, that just wasn't the case.

As soon as such a thought crossed her mind, Leana sent her a mischievous smirk while Lacey looked on in sympathy, already knowing nothing good could come out of it.

Seemingly innocent, Leana browsed through a section of particularly small undergarments before picking one out. Mercedes' eyes widened almost humorously at the sight of the of the tiny lace bustier and matching sheer panties, and remained frozen in place when it was held up against her figure. “I think it'd look hot on you Mercy,” Leana said, pursing her lips. The girls agreed, of course, and that was when the devilish glint returned in her chocolate brown eyes. “What do you think, Syn?”

Brian stared at Mercedes to the point where it was getting awkward for all parties involved, seemingly fixated on the tiny set of underwear, before he snapped out of his trance. While sending a glare toward Leana and the rest of the girls, he turned on his heel and walked right out of the store.

Even the girls seemed surprised at this, especially since he was previously so adamant on being by Mercy's side at all times. “Go try it on,” Leana finally said through a sigh, and forced another grin. After quite a bit of coaxing, Mercy finally headed toward the changing rooms, blushing even more as she caught a few people watching her as she carried such a skimpy article of clothing with her.

She enjoyed her time alone, using it to think through the day she'd had and wondered exactly what the hell Brian was thinking at that moment. What Leana had done wasn't too shocking, he couldn't have forgotten when she'd threatened to sever a certain important part of his body that Rev apparently hadn't done such a good job on finishing.

Pulling something like that was almost a given, and Mercy couldn't figure out why Brian had freaked over it, even more so than she had.

She tried on the set of underwear for just a few seconds, barely checking to see if it fit, before taking it off again and quickly replacing it with her normal clothing.

Mercedes emerged from her changing room a few minutes later, having confused herself enough to last a lifetime and of course, she'd also done what her crazy friend has asked her to. It fit, and that was all Mercy would say about it.

A wave of panic washed over her when she didn't see the girls immediately, and Synyster was still noticeably absent. Without her housemates or her own personal bodyguard she felt more vulnerable than ever, and was desperate to find a familiar face.

Sighing, Mercy calmed herself down and headed toward the front desk where the friendly employee sat on her stool in front of the cash register, suspecting that the girls may have started getting checked out while they waited for her.

No such luck, unfortunately, and Mercy made a hasty decision to search out Brian. She figured that he would be just outside the store, waiting for them to finish up with their less-than-innocent task. What she wasn't expecting though, was to be grabbed from behind as soon as she stepped foot outside of Victoria's Secret and be and pulled into a small, deserted alcove.

A hand clamped over her mouth before she could even think of calling for help. Their mouth was sickeningly close to the back of her neck, and their breath was icy cold against her skin. “Make a sound and I'll snap your pretty little neck. Right here.”