Laughing Jack reached out one of his long fingered hands and shook Nico's offered one, he didn't hold very tightly but that was just as well since his fingers seemed to be as sharp as knives. Nico surprised, shivered, and L.J. gave a rusty sounding giggled before letting go of Nico. Nico reached out to Sally to shake her hand too, at first she half hid behind L.J. but after glancing at Hoody, and receiving an encouraging nod she crept out giving Nico's hand a quick shake before letting go again.

"So where's the new one come from?" L.J. asked Masky as if Nico wasn't there, his voice sounded like metal screeching on metal.

"Can we play with him?" Sally asked in a small voice that sounded just like a regular little girls. Nico was about to say that he could answer for himself and of course they could play when Masky cut him off.

"Toby found him in the woods, and Slenderman wants to know more about him. Since Slenderman wants him around you can only play non-violent games, understand Sally? Or at least non-lethal if you play with him like you play with humans, uncle Slendy will be very upset with you." Nico was annoyed for a moment to have Masky speaking for him but then he was glad Masky had. It sounded like if Nico had said he would play with Sally without conditions he would have ended up dead.

"Awww but that's no fun." L.J. eyeing Nico as Sally pouted for a moment. Nico stood his ground and stared back at L.J, he would fight the clown if he had to. L.J. seemed to realize because after a few silent tense minutes he shrugged. "He's almost too old for your games anyway, if the old man wants him then whatever." Nico wondered what age L.J. liked for his 'games'.

"Do you like hide and seek?" Sally asked seeming to warm up to him as L.J. did.

"I love hide and seek." Nico agreed once he glanced at Masky to make sure it was safe. "Just to warn you I'm really good at it, I kind of disappear into shadows by accident sometimes when I try to hide." Sally perked up squeezing her teddy even tighter and bouncing up on her toes.

"Oh no, you can't run off with him right now, Sally." Masky intercepted her apparently next action. "He still needs to meet E.J. before dinner. Do either of you know where he is?" Sally shook her head and L.J. shrugged he seemed bored.

"Can he play with me once he's met E.J.?" Sally asked innocently, Masky nodded and Sally smiled. "Then I'll help you look for him!" She glanced at L.J. who shook his head and wandered back into the woods. Sally didn't bother watching L.J., running over to Nico she grabbed the hem of his shirt and started dragging him towards the mansion. Nico glanced back to make sure that Masky and Hoody were following, before relinquishing control to the little girl in the blood stained dress.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING WAIT FOR ME!" Nico had nearly forgotten about Ticci-Toby as he heard pounding feet and panting rushing up behind them. Nico glanced back just in time to pull Sally back as Toby, tried to stop too fast and face-planted right were Sally had been standing. His arms were stretched in front of him, Nico doubted he had even tried to break his fall and as Sally burst out laughing he understood why. Masky laughed to and even Hoodie gave a small chuckle, Nico didn't join in laughing but he did smile slightly. It looked like L.J. wasn't the only clown.

Toby pushed himself up grinning, there was a little bit of blood trickling from his nose but Toby hadn't noticed, there hadn't been a crunching noise so it wasn't broken and no one bothered to tell him. The nosebleed would either stop or Toby would notice when the blood got in his mouth, either way no harm done.

"We're going looking for E.J. so we can play hide and seek!" Sally informed Toby starting to drag Nico again so forcefully that he stumbled, she was very strong for her size.

"Oh okay, but why hide and seek? Hiding is boring you have to stay still for ever!" Toby said getting to his feet and walking on Sally's other side. "Why not tag?"

"Because you always win that game and it's not fair." Sally said pouting at Toby. "The only way you lose is if uncle Slendy plays with us and he hardly ever does."

"Ya that's why I like it!" Toby said laughing and giving a larger than normal twitch, Nico had already stopped noticing Toby's twitches, they were almost constant and hardly worth noting anymore.

"That's mean Toby!" Sally said pouting . "No, I wanna play hide and seek! You don't have to play if you don't want to! Nico agreed to play with me, and Masky, and Hoody, that's enough people for a game without you!" She hadn't asked Masky and Hoody but they didn't object. They had reached the stairs now and Nico gently untangled Sally's hand from his shirt so that he wouldn't get dragged up the stairs. Once they were inside Sally paused and looked at Masky expectantly.

"Were should we look for E.J. first?" She asked.

"The infirmary." Masky decided after a moment. "I think he had to fix up Jeff when he got back, so he'll probably be in there cleaning." Nico braced himself for Sally to grab him again but this time she went over to Hoody instead and lifted her arms like she wanted to be picked up.

"Piggyback ride?" She half asked half demanded, Nico suspected that either would have the same effect because Hoody wouldn't say no to her. Sure enough he crouched down so she could clamber onto his back, and stood back up bouncing her slightly to settle her more comfortably. She giggled happily and Nico noticed as they started walking again that Hoody walked with more of a bounce in his step to make Sally laugh. Hoody was good with kids it seemed.

The infirmary was on the ground floor on the other side of the house, not far enough that Hoody had to ask Sally to get down. Which was good because Sally was clinging to him with arms and legs and showing no intention of letting go. The first thing that Nico noticed when the door to the infirmary was opened was a strong smell, it was metallic and tangy. It was similar to blood but just a little bit… darker seemed the best word, Nico remembered that E.J. was the one they had said was a cannibal, the one he would real have to look out for.

The second thing Nico noticed was E.J. himself, he was standing with his back to them cleaning blood off of what looked like an old hospital table. From the back he looked completely human, wearing a hoodie like all of the proxies but his hood was down revealing tousled, staticy brown hair. It wasn't till he turned around that Nico realized why he was called Eyeless Jack, Nico was glad they had waited till last to show him E.J. or he might have reacted badly.

E.J. wore a mask similar to Masky's, but unlike Masky's it was blue, also unlike his, the eyeholes were open to wear his eyes should have been. Should have been being the main phrase, because they weren't there, where his eyes should have been were only black pits. There was some sort of blackness leaking from them, dead infected blood Nico suspected, that was probably part of the smell. As Nico watched E.J. reached into his hoodie and pulled out a black cloth, using it to wipe some of the blackness from his face before it could drip to the floor. Nico felt a little sick as he realized that the cloth had probably used to be a white handkerchief, now stained completely Black.

"E.J. Uncle Slendy brought a new friend!" Sally slid down from Hoodies back and ran over to E.J. "His name is Nico! He's gonna play hide and seek with me, do you want to play too?" She grabbed the hem of E.J.'s hoody and E.J. put the cloth back in his pocket before resting one surprisingly delicate hand on Sally's head.

"No I don't think I will Sally, sorry. As usually Jeff has made a mess, he doesn't approve of having to answer to Slenderman about anything, so as usually he has taken out his frustration on my things." E.J. waved at the spill. Nico noticed for the first time that there were shards of glass in it and something else. Small darker lumps, some for of flesh, an organ he suspected, Nico felt sick. Of course they were human that was probably what he ate. "So I'll have to go into a city tonight to get more, that only made Jeff angrier of course because he's forbidden to come with me."

"I'll go with you." Toby said slipping past Nico and into the room. E.J. gave a sigh and seemed to be about to say something but Toby cut him off. "Sally's already claimed Hoody and Masky for her games tonight so you can't have them." Toby smirked, obviously E.J. preferred the other two proxies. E.J. sighed again but he nodded accepting that he would have to make due with Toby.

"Now, this 'new friend' Slenderman has brought. Come closer please, Nico was it? Unsurprisingly my vision isn't very good." Nico swallowed he didn't want to go closer really, but it was obvious that E.J.'s vision wouldn't be very good. Nico was honestly surprised he had any at all, but Nico didn't want to be rude. He tried not to hesitate as he went closer but he stayed tense, ready to fight if he needed to. So far E.J. had seemed rather tame and even polite, but Sally had been enough to warn Nico that first appearances meant nothing.

As Nico got closer he noticed that in addition to looking at him E.J. was also sniffing the air subtly like a dog. He must rely on scent as well as sight to make up for the lack of the second one, though how he could smell anything over the smell of whatever had spilt on the ground was a mystery to Nico. Nico stopped a couple arms lengths away from E.J. he hoped it would be close enough because he really didn't want to get any closer, E.J. seemed content with it and observed Nico for a few more quite tense minutes.

"You don't smell like most of the humans I've encountered. Like any human in fact, but you don't smell like one of us either. What are you?" Nico fidgeted, E.J.'s sense of smell was uncomfortably acute, Nico wondered what else it could tell.

"Well I'm only half human." Nico admitted. "I'm a Demi-God, my mother was human, my father is Hades the Greek good of the underworld." Nico resisted the urge to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, he needed to keep his hands ready to fight.

"Interesting." E.J. sniffing the air again and moving a little closer to Nico. Nico took a step back. "So that's what Slenderman wants you for? He wants to know how you're different from humans?"

"I suppose." Nico said stepping back uncomfortably. "He said he had never seen a power that worked quite like mine so he wanted to help me learn more about them."

"Hmm." E.J. sounded still moving forwards, Nico struggled between a desire to look behind him to make sure E.J. didn't back him into a wall and not wanting to look away from him. "I wonder if you're any different on the inside." E.J.'s eye sockets were angled towards Nico's abdomen hungrily, so whatever the organs he ate came from that area. "I wonder if you taste any different."

"Well I wouldn't know, I mean I've tasted my own blood but I have nothing to compare it to." Nico said trying to sound calmer than he was, he succeeded though 'calmer than he was' still meant he sounded pretty freaked out.

"I do." E.J. said and Nico noticed E.J.'s mask shift up as he smiled and lunged at Nico.

Whats up everybody, its Void here and welcome back to another chap[ter and for one I have asked Past if I can reload this story, also she is a friend of mine. See ya