Mercy's All That You Need

Mercedes wasn't about to call this vampire's bluff, and after a moment's hesitation she decided not to even chance a nod. The way he was holding her, with his arm around her waist and hand over her mouth he could easily go through with his threat, in a matter of split second. She despised herself for letting her fear paralyze her so much to the point where she couldn't even think coherently.

In the back of her mind, she was almost expecting for her captor to be Gary, but his voice wasn't at all similar to Gary's scratchy, menacing tone. No, if anything this man's voice was boring, and didn't fit the words that came out of his mouth at all.

Slowly, he readjusted his grip on Mercy and she accidentally let out a small, frightened whimper in response. He seemed not to notice, thankfully. “Now, if you want to live through this you will walk through this mall with me as if nothing is wrong. Understand?”

He moved his hand away from her mouth just a little, enough for her to speak without being muffled, expecting a reply this time. Instead of doing what he'd wanted, Mercedes could only muster up enough courage to give him a slight nod. She could feel him grin into her neck, and visibly shuddered at the thought of this stranger piercing her flesh with his deadly incisors.

Even this man's sweat was cold, his hand clammy until he pulled it away from her mouth. Momentarily, he let go of Mercy only to swing a heavy arm over the both of her shoulders. There was no use in yelling for help, anyway. The girls were still off somewhere, preoccupied with Victoria's Secret, and she didn't see Brian anywhere remotely near the store.

Strictly speaking, Mercedes was helpless, and another wave of terror nearly made her body convulse as she realized this, and tears stung at the corner of her eyes.

They began walking forward, in the opposite direction of the store she just been grabbed from and further away from being spotted, and saved.

Her mind was preoccupied with what this person planned on doing to her, or what he wanted her for. Was it really just for blood? She didn't think her own could... taste good, especially since she was a half-vampire. That couldn't really have been appealing to full-blooded vampire, could it?

If she makes it out of this alive, she's never leaving the house without her brother ever again.

Finally, after sneaking a terrified sideways glance toward the vampire, Mercy felt as if she were going to faint. She was shocked to find out that it was the male vampire from earlier, the one who she'd thought was average. Well, his grip on her shoulder was anything but average.

Just for a second, she visualized herself taking action for once, and actually trying to stand up for herself. It may have just been a pipe dream, but it was something she would need to do eventually. Now, however, wasn't a good time. She was unskilled and simply put, human. This guy was a vampire, and she was no match against him.

Mercy's footfalls were growing shakier by the second, and she swayed to the right when her captor forced her up an escalator. He was being so calm about it, as if he stole girls away from their friends every day. For all she knew, he did.

She stumbled over her own feet while getting off the escalator, finding the moving stairs especially tricky when she was becoming so dizzy. The vampire snarled out a warning when he finally noticed her lagging stature, probably thinking she was just doing it so she could somehow get away.

From how fast she was getting sick, Mercy wished that was the case because her imminent stumbling around was only going make him even more angrier than he was then.

In point of fact, this vampire was actually doing Mercedes good with holding onto her so tightly, even if it would leave bruises. She just wished it wasn't him holding her, because it was obvious he was planning on doing something to her.

Not once did she even think of telling him she was growing sick, though, as he wouldn't care... it probably wouldn't matter with what he had in mind, anyway.

Feelings of nausea rippled through her; she knew she was going to throw up, and soon. Her vision blurred and soon she didn't even know where he was leading her. The light California breeze hit Mercy with striking force. Although it was warm as hell outside and the wind was non-existent, she thought she was in a hurricane with how much it was affecting her.

It was then she knew she wasn't just going into shock, that she was developing a fever, and actually getting sick. That scared her perhaps more than the vampire, as it wasn't a good sign at all. The only thing Mercedes was aware of next was being shoved harshly against a smooth, cement wall. Relentless, she tired as hard as she could to focus on anything in the distance, and could make a shiny set of aluminum rims belonging to a car just twenty feet away from her. They were in a parking lot.

Swallowing, Mercedes took a chance and closed her eyes, not really caring much about the vampire who had his arm around her waist. She was so out of it then she could barely make sense of what he was doing, but she did flinch and let out a whimper when he leaned into her neck, inhaling just as Syn did during the incident with Gary.

“I have to find out what's so special about you,” He muttered, taking another good whiff before clicking his tongue. “For that male to be all over you. He really made a mistake by letting you out of his sight.”

And Matt had warned him about that.

Another long moment slithered by, and Mercy trembled when he ran his tongue across the base of her neck, feeling her knees give out as she completely gave up hope. If this guy didn't drink all of her blood, then at that moment she felt as if she were going to die anyway.

Pulling away a little, he grinned just to show Mercedes the full extent of his fangs. Without any further warning, he swooped in again, plunging his teeth into her flesh. He bit down on her neck as if he were chewing on a bone, making Mercy let out an agonized cry for help while trying to fitfully push him away. The feeling of her blood being drawn out managed to wake her up out of her stupor slightly, but it wasn't as if she were anywhere near strong enough to do anything in retaliation.

He wrenched back suddenly, Mercedes' tender flesh tearing more as he ripped his teeth from her neck. Blood dripping down his chin, his dull gray eyes were then black, rabid and wild as he stared at her with hatred. Mercedes recoiled at the sight, pushing herself against the cement wall as if she could sink into it. In an instant he was standing about a meter away from her. Such a quick movement had her stomach doing somersaults, and now that her arms were free she couldn't help but clutch her stomach with one hand, the other going to her neck in a failed attempt to stop the bleeding.

Upon realizing that she wasn't completely human, he spat out what was left of her blood from his mouth, it landing in front of her sandals. Queasier than ever, Mercy gagged at the sight and made a hasty turn to the left. With his hands off her, she was free to turn and try and make it at least a few feet before collapsing, onto her knees. She wasn't worried about why he'd let her go or how she was going to get farther away from him, focusing solely on getting whatever vile was in her stomach, out.

Leaning over a small curb and into a would-be cute bush, Mercedes finally emptied the contents of her stomach.

The male vampire sounded more disgusted than ever, as if she were the monster and he hadn't just sunk his teeth into her skin and drank her blood. “I know what you are,” He spat, revolted. “You're a—”

That was all he could get out, before a terrifying slash was heard and then a resounding thump as something heavy and blunt fell onto the pavement, and then the clattering of a knife. Wiping her mouth, Mercy let out a quivering breath and tensed when she heard footsteps coming toward her. She was a little more coherent then, and having nearly ignored the creepy sounds just seconds ago, she thought for sure it was the vampire.

She was grateful to hear them stop, just a few feet away from her, but far enough away so he couldn't grab her straight away, and then she might have a fighting chance. Might.

“Mercedes?” Brian called her name, sounding actually concerned for once. She'd never been so freaking happy to hear his voice, and tried to stand on her own, only managing to fall and scrape up her knees and just the one hand, the other still attached to her neck. Tired, she let out a despairing cry and gave up. Not only was she exhausted, she was confused and scared for the both of them, because for all she knew the average vampire was lurking, waiting to pounce on either her or Syn.

Through her blurred vision, however, she could make out the body of her captor no more than two feet away from her. On the ground, and he looked lifeless.

With a sigh, Syn started toward her again and leaned down, his hands gentle as he pulled Mercy to her feet. When she wobbled and gripped his shirt to steady herself, he sent her a worried frown. At the sight of blood seeping through her fingers, his eyes turned black just like the other vampire's did, and the sight had her trying her hardest to get away from him.

Unperturbed, he kept a firm grip on her wrist, but she wouldn't have gotten far anyway. As soon as she looked toward the man on the ground and saw his head, detached completely from the body and Brian's then bloody knife next to it, she let out a shocked cry and stumbled back.

Not caring if he allowed it or not, Mercy buried her head in Brian's chest simply wanting to get that image out of her head. It proved to be impossible, and only then did she break down, outright sobbing into his shirt.

Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her in a tense, awkward embrace. For a moment he untangled her from his upper half, pulling his shirt off and replacing her hand with his own and the shirt. “You have to relax, and keep the pressure on your neck. I have to get you out of here and call Shadows. Fuck,” Despite what he was saying, he sounded anything but calm.

“I... I feel sick, Brian.” Mercedes mumbled, letting out a shaky breath. Right then she was almost numb to the pain, but sure as hell not the nausea.

“I know.” He replied, his tone faint.

Somehow, hugging the person who just murdered a vampire right in front of her didn't bother her, but Mercy would rather have that than nothing; as she was sure that if she had to deal with seeing that alone, she would have fainted. She could only wonder what was going to happen next, how her brother was going to react, or what was even going to happen to her.