Mercy's All That You Need

The door served as a mediocre barrier between Mercedes and Syn—a very flimsy one at that. She looked around the tiny bathroom for anywhere to sit, and curled her lip at the sight. Yes, she didn’t think it was so bad earlier, but looking at it then while knowing she was going to spend hours in there… she was really beginning to regret her choice of hiding place.

Still, she would take holing herself up in the bathroom over being with Syn any time of the day. Not only did she feel a little safer, but she was able to think clearly for the first time all day, and she was certainly going to take advantage of that.

What on earth had Synyster been babbling about earlier? His words were only then beginning to sink in, and Mercy’s breathing shortened significantly as she recalled them, slowly, in her mind. A spiteful, evil bitch? While her mother could be a little pushy, and a control freak on the fly, but never had she heard Ariel described her as such.

Lucky to get away from her? Ariel was—to the best of Mercy’s knowledge—a good mother, but she didn’t really have any other examples to go by in comparing her mother to others. Mercedes couldn’t see anything that would make Matt, or anyone else for that matter, want to take her away from her mom.

Clearly, Mercedes was missing a huge piece of this puzzle, and it seemed as if no one was willing to give her the information she desperately needed to know.

And then Synyster… in all of the damned confusion he had to make things even wore hectic and just plain scary. Her blood boiled just at the thought of him, of how cruel and ruthless he was. But if what Synyster was saying was true, and they actually hadn’t abducted her, then why didn’t anyone want to give her any piece of information she desired?

For the first time… ever, she was so angry that she honestly felt like putting her fist through the tiny mirror beside her—or at least attempting to. When this forsaken urge came over her, however, she instantly squashed it, and it was replaced with yet another wave of shear panic. This was what Synyster Gates had done to her, and she was willing to bet her soul that he was happy with the effect he had on her.

Mercedes prided herself on not being a violent person, and this was just scary. Fitfully, she nearly threw herself down after laying an old, rough towel on the floor, figuring it was better than sitting on the encrusted, yellowing tiles or the surely germ-infested toilet seat. Her back leaned against the door, and she silently listened for any movements Syn making have been making in the other room. Thankfully, it was completely silent.

As long as she could, she focused on not thinking about anything related to the past two days, and enjoyed the momentary peace. She promised herself then that as soon as she saw Matt again, she would ask why she was with them, no matter how big, scary and intimidating he would surely be.

Hours later, a harsh knock sounded at the door and Mercy awoke with a start. She stood too quickly, but ignored the way her head spun and how stiff she was from sleeping in such an awkward position. She couldn’t even remember falling asleep in the first place.

“Mercy?”

She froze on the spot, recognizing Matthew’s voice, listening intently to his knocks, trying to guess whether or not he was in any mood to be questioned.

“Mercedes?” This time, he called out to her a little more pleadingly, as if trying to coax her out. Again she hesitated at the door, wondering if she really should trust Matt. Just when he was calling her name out one more time, his voice on the verge of yelling, did she finally decide to unlock the door, but she didn’t make any move to actually open it.

Matt hesitantly opened the door and Mercy backed up, giving him room to open it and herself space away from him. As hesitantly as he opened the door, she peaked out slightly, looking up at Matt with a slightly scared frown. He returned her stare with a worried one, and she knew he was wondering then exactly what went down the night before.

“Is—is Synyster out there?” It came out in a whisper, but it was obvious both he and Syn had heard, because Matt became rigid and Syn let out a dark chuckle from somewhere within the other room.

Visibly, Mercedes shuddered and made another step backwards, staring wide-eyed at Matt while shaking her head. She was not going out there. In a second, Matt had her hand in his and he was pulling her out of the bathroom, his expression livid. He stopped when they were both in the bedroom and Mercy was by his side, her grip on his hand tight.

“What did you do?” Shadows asked, directing his question toward Synyster.

“She asked questions… and I answered them,” Syn replied with a smirk, thinking he done something incredibly clever just then.

After hearing this, Matt seemingly composed himself, but his grip on Mercedes hands tightened, too, and he was quickly on his way out the door. “Find your own way home.” He said, curtly while ushering Mercy through the then opened door. Mercy kept herself slightly in front of him, so paranoid that she didn’t even want her back exposed to Synyster. To her surprise, it was still dark outside, the sky clear and the stars still out. It was also noticeably warmer out, and she could not explain that to herself. She didn’t even need a coat.

“But—but it’s almost dawn!” Syn called, sounding outraged. Mercy picked up her pace, guessing they were heading toward the SUV that was still parked in the exact same place it had been in when she got out of it.

“I don’t give a fuck.” Matt said simply, not even turning around to acknowledge him, and Mercy could only mimic him.

Brian stomped his way up behind him, and not being able to ignore him any further, Matt let go of Mercedes’ hand and whipped around to glare at him, looking ready to eat him alive.

Backing away, Mercy observed the two men, trying to figure out which would spring first. She looked longingly toward the main door of the motel, the same one Matt had gone into, so she knew someone had to be in there. That someone could have potentially saved her… and all she had to do was slip away from the nearly oblivious men.

She was smarter than that, however. Whoever was in that office or lobby or whatever they liked to call it, they more than likely could not go up against either Syn or Matt, let alone the two of them together. Not wanting to jeopardize another person’s life, she kept her distance from both the office and Syn and Matt, who seemed to be having an intense staring contest with each other.

“You’re seriously picking her over me?” Syn asked incredulously, taking yet another step closer to Matt.

“No, I’m not. But I told you before we even left last night that if you were going to act like this, I was kicking you off the mission. I’m only sticking to that promise.” He snapped, and they were then practically breathing down each other’s necks.

Just as quickly as he’d escorted Mercedes out of the motel, he was grabbing her hand again and walking away from Syn, who was left nearly dumbfounded staring at their retreating figures. “Get in front,” He unthinkingly growled at her, making her flinch as he wrenched the passenger side door open for her.

Quietly, she got in without uttering a word of protest, and thought for the small moment it took for him to get in the driver’s seat. She was nearly about to ask about the off-chance of someone recognizing her, but then quickly zipped her lips. Maybe they would, and perhaps even call the police.

It was eerily silent after he slammed his door shut; all noise seemingly muffled except for Syn’s cursing that could be heard even in the car. “Trust me,” Matt muttered, quickly starting the engine and swerving chaotically around the dirt parking lot, looking for an exit. With a gasp, Mercedes jumped to put her seat belt on, knowing she was in for a pretty wild ride when Shadows was in such a state.

“No one’s looking for you, trust me. Your mother’s smarter than that.” He stated blandly, and she let out a sigh of relief, hearing that he was calmed down slightly.

Nonetheless, tears welled in Mercedes’ eyes, but Matt paid no mind to that, so focused on the road ahead of him that she doubted he even noticed her crying at all. “What did he tell you?” He demanded to know, and Mercy deliberated for a moment. Should she really tell him what Syn actually said?

Yes. Not only did she want to know the truth about Synyster’s accusations about her mother, but she guessed that it would get him even more trouble, and right then she wanted him as far away from her as she could get him. Getting him in shit with their apparent leader would hopefully do just that.

“Please tell me,” He said after a moment of silence, glancing over at her heatedly. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I’m not going to get mad—and I promise you that you’re completely safe here with me.”

Mercedes could only take advantage of this situation, and she pursed her lips as she thought. “I’ll tell you if… if you tell me where we are and where we’re going.”

Thankfully, Matt laughed at her negotiating skills, lightening the mood in the process, but he still unfortunately held a very serious air to himself. “Okay, but only if you go first.”

In a soft voice, Mercy explained to him the gist of what Brian had said after she took a deep breath. “He just said that—that my mother is not who I think she is.” She could not repeat every single word Brian had said, and she hoped Matt would understand that.

After hearing that, an angry, frightening noise escaped Matt’s lips. He punched the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. Mercy knew not to ask him her to answer her questions—at least not for a while, since he was in such a mood over Brian letting a very vague cat out of the bag. As long as he even remembered their agreement, she could wait.

The car rolled softly across the pavement once Matt slowed down to a reasonable speed, and Mercy found the feeling of the pavement moving underneath her oddly soothing. Maybe it was because she was being taken further and further away from Syn with each passing second.

“Sacramento.”

“What?” She asked in alarm, popping up in her seat to look at him as if he were crazy, just as Synyster had a few minutes earlier. “Sacramento… as in, Sacramento, California?” She finally choked out, her heart nearly vibrating in her chest. She was so, so far away from home…

“Yeah,” Matt nodded, sparing a small glance over at her before once again focusing on the road. “And we’re going to Huntington Beach.”

She slowly sunk back into her seat, too shocked to move or even sit up straight. “Huntington Beach,” No matter how much she repeated, she still couldn’t believe it. While she knew they had traveled far in the six hours they’d been driving last night—she had no idea they’d gotten that far.

“You should get some sleep,” Matt suggested, not fazed at all by her reaction. In fact, he seemed relieved that she didn’t completely freak out. The only reason she hadn’t was because she was shell-shocked by this new tidbit of information. “God knows you didn’t get much last night, kid.”