Chapter 8: Confusion
It took Meredith over two hours to actually find the silver cross that was lying with a selection of her grandmother's old things. She was glad that she was right about having it. If she didn't, she would either have to buy or make one, and she highly doubted a homemade cross would ward off vampires. So, she put the necklace around her throat and locked both her door and window, watching the outside until she fell asleep. Her dreams were filled with eyeless, soulless creatures who hissed and slithered to her side. They bound her and gripped her body, laughing as she squirmed in attempts to get away. Even in the times she did get away, they always found her, demanding that she give them what they want. Meredith awoke that morning at three a.m. and found it impossible to go back to sleep. So, she spent the most of her morning in a hot bath, fiddling with her cross necklace. She almost felt relief when the weekend was over, and Monday arrived. It gave her something to do other than fret and pace the house for hours; there was no way she was leaving her home alone after Saturday.
Monday seemed like any other, even though Jessica shot Meredith a glare or two. However, the girl was far too busy in her own thoughts to notice. What were those nomads doing there? How did they know about Derek's family? Why did he hate them so much? Would things become dangerous now? These questions and others flooded her mind as she made her way to first period, gripping her teddy bear bag tighter then needed. She sat next to Derek, as usual, who didn't seem frazzled in the slightest. He passed Meredith a glance.
"Are you wearing it?" he asked. She nodded and showed him the trinket. He averted his eyes with a curt nod. "Good. Keep it on at all times." She paused and looked at his reaction.
"Are you… bothered by it?" His eyes turned back to hers.
"Not really," he said with a shrug. "If you were wearing garlic, it'd be a different matter. No, what a cross does is sort of complicated. See, it makes it so that no skin of a vampire can come in contact with your neck. Watch." He moved his gloved finger over and touched her throat. "Now if my gloves were off, on the other hand, it would singe my fingertips." He took his hand away and Meredith rubbed the part he touched.
"Oh…" She looked up to the clock, watching as the second hand ticked on.
"Meredith?" The girl turned her eyes to the vampire, having been drawn away from her blank stare. Derek was looking at the table, his fingers mindlessly scraping off the flimsy paint. "I… think it'd be best if you stop being nice to me for a while." She blinked, confused. He glanced at her quickly before looking towards the wall. "I appreciate it… I just don't want you to associate yourself with me too much. At least until the nomads are gone…"
Meredith felt a strange disappointment in this. It was noble of him to try and look out for her, yes. And it might keep her out of the sticky situation that had presented itself the minute Derek began to insult the newcomers. Still… she was sad to hear Derek's conclusion. It was a strange thing, hearing someone say "don't be nice to me." It almost felt like Derek was rejecting her. A stupid thought, but her feeling on the matter none the less. She looked down to the silver cross, playing with it still. She nodded wordlessly but kept her eyes on the silver between her fingers. And so, the two of them worked in silence until the bell rang and they split off into different classes. Waiting for her in math was a very pissed off looking Jessica.
"Well?" she inquired. Meredith blinked.
"Well what?" she asked, having forgotten about the snowball fight.
"Why did you invite him?" The two girls scurried into class, sitting beside one another. Jessica's interrogation was just getting started. "You've been hanging with him a lot lately. I'm worried."
"He's not going to do anything to me," said Meredith with a slight pout. Of course, there was always a chance that she could be wrong about that.
Jessica rolled her eyes. "Well maybe not you, but what about the rest of us? You know he hates pretty much everyone. It's only a matter of time before he snaps and shoots someone."
"You don't give him enough credit," Meredith persisted. "He's actually really disciplined." Jessica snorted at that, making Meredith's frown deepen.
"Right. Tell that to Thomas Dean. That's the boy he murdered."
"What?" Meredith's heart did a back flip. "What do you mean…?" Her frown returned, blocking her shock. "Wait, are you talking about the boy who disappeared? You never said anything about murdered – he just went missing!"
"And where do you think he went?" Jessica snapped. "We all know Shepherd did it. They just haven't been able to pin any evidence on him yet."
"You don't even know him," Meredith retorted.
"Oh, and you do?" Jessica folded her arms, jerking her head so that her sandy hair flipped passed her shoulder. "Just how long have you two been hanging out together, hm?" Meredith kept silent, huffing, while Jessica smirked victoriously. "See? You don't know him that well."
"Better than you do," Meredith continued. At least that part she could be completely confident in. "Besides, just because you don't know someone doesn't mean you have the right to talk about them."
"Can you say for sure it's not true?"
"No…"
"Then I think that settles our case right there." Jessica leaned against her seat, satisfied that she had the last word. Meredith pouted, but decided not to continue the fight. Besides, she wasn't supposed to seem attached to him because of the nomads, anyway. Still, the way Jessica acted like she knew him was irritating to say the least. She went through the rest of the day like that: frustrated and slightly helpless at the reality around her. When school let out, she marched over to her truck, still peeved at the whole thing. She was getting ready to leave, when she saw a very peculiar sight. She looked over to her left to see Derek Shepherd in a slightly heated conversation with Mark Sloan. So, she put her things in the truck and headed over two the both of them.
"Mark?" The two turned their heads to her. "What are you doing here?"
"Meredith?" the boys said in perfect unison. They looked at one another. "You know her?" They shared mirrored frowns. "Of course, I do. Quit that!"
Mark broke the copying in order to turn his attention to Meredith. "I figured I'd pick you up," he said lightly, though Meredith could tell he had something to hide behind that charming smile.
"Don't downplay her intelligence," Derek snapped. "She knows full well what's going on."
Mark's smile turned to a snarl at him. "Really? If she knows full well, what exactly is she doing within a hundred feet of you?"
"Oh, get bent, you flea bag."
"Bite me, blood sucker."
"Is that an invitation?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Meredith jumped in between the two, putting both hands up. "Easy, both of you." They glowered at one another but said nothing. Meredith turned to Mark. "Listen… I do know what's going on. I'm taking precautions. Look." She held up her cross, and he seemed satisfied with that, if only slightly.
"Well that's good…" He turned his glare back to Derek. "I hope he's taken steps to keep the nomads away from civilization this time?"
"This time?" Meredith turned to him. "Has this happened before? Nomads popping out of nowhere, I mean." Derek said nothing, looking off to the side.
"Sure has," Mark spat, Meredith turning her attention back to him. "In fact, just four months ago, there was an incident with one of the local boys. Funny, it seems like they show up whenever you first introduce yourself to a group of humans – "
"Are you suggesting I brought them here?!" Derek said, his voice a low, dangerous hiss.
"The first time a boy went missing, you just started human high school," Mark pointed out. "And then, right as it's rumored that you're getting friendly with a group of humans, they show up again, unannounced. It sounds to me that you're their food delivery boy…"
"Well then get your ears cleaned, mutt," Derek said defensively. "Or are you forgetting that the reason we're here is to protect you sniveling little – "
"Correction," Mark snapped. "The reason we letyou stay here is because we didn't want to fight such low creatures in the first place. And if you want to kill off your own, then that's fine with me. But it's not like you guys are doing such a bang-up job lately, are you?"
"You got complaints? Then don't come crying to us when your tribe is made an all you can eat buffet. Or better yet, we'll let you watch as they pick off the lesser, weaker humans. You really want that on your conscience, Cujo?"
"I'm sorry, who was it who gave you shelter when you were hurt, and dawn was approaching? Even though it was against our will?"
Derek huffed and spun on his heal. "Whatever. Just tell your Dad that I have nothing to do with it."
"I'll think about it," said Mark spitefully. Derek gave him one last glare before storming off. Mark smiled to Meredith. "Sorry you had to see that…" He let it fall slightly as he crossed his arms. "Anyway… So, I guess you know why I'm really here then?" Meredith nodded and Mark rubbed the side of his head. "Yeah… Well just as long as you know what's going on." He let his steal eyes travel to Derek's back. "Keep an eye on him for me…" Meredith looked over to where Derek was also getting things into his car like the other students. Meredith sighed, feeling like she was talking to Jessica all over again.
"Please, Mark. He's really not that bad." She turned her eyes to the native, though she could have sworn Derek had stopped in his motions, almost perking up to hear, even though he was well over thirty yards away. "He's disciplined himself to stay here without attacking anyone. He even had a chance to hurt me one time… He didn't. You need to give him a little more credit."
Mark's lips parted at her defense. He glanced over to Derek, and Meredith did the same. Her pulse quickened as she realized that Derek was staring over to the both of them. He quickly looked away and she did also. She turned her eyes back to Mark, who closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He nodded. "Alright, alright… So, he's disciplined himself." He gave him a weak smile, taking his hand away. "But for me… just be careful, ok?" Meredith nodded and he gave her a friendly hug. After one more glanced to Derek, he got into his car (he passed his test a while ago) and drove off, Meredith moving towards her truck. She got in, looking at herself in the mirror. Her eyes trailed down to the crucifix on her neck and she touched it yet again. Maybe… everyone was right. She had only really known Derek for a less than a couple of weeks. Maybe he was as bad as everyone said. She shook her head and started the car. All of this was very confusing.
Something told her things would only get worse.
