Ten

Tim and I made our way from the infirmary to the living room, seeing the early morning light flooding in through the window. Sat in the living room were Jeff, Liu, Keith, Toby, and Hoodie. This time, hoodie didn't have his mask on, revealing that he had sandy blonde hair- which curled at the tips- with dark brown eyes. As we entered the room, all eyes turned to Tim and I. Tim strolled over to the couch, sitting himself down beside Hoodie.

Now that everyone's attention was on me, my face flushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry." I apologised, grinning sheepishly, "Tim was injured and uh.... nursing habits?" I stumbled over my words, fiddling with my hands.

"Tim?" Keith hissed, staring over at the male in question. "First name basis already, huh?" He glared over at Tim, who only raised his hands.

"It's only Masky when I actually have the mask on." He explained. He had taken the mask off as we were in the infirmary. Keith calmed as Jeff and Liu nodded, agreeing with Tim's words.

I straightened up, strolling over to where Hoodie sat. "I'm sorry I didn't really meet you properly before. I'm Mel Woods." I smiled, extending my hand for him to shake. He stood, towering over me as he did so. He took my hand, shaking it.

"I'm Hoodie with the ski-mask, but when it's just me I'm Brian. So, I'm saying my name's Brian." He chuckled as we shook hands. He sat back down as I made my way to sit between Jeff and Liu. Keith was sat beside Toby, who were both on the floor in between the couches.

"Damn, I've just realised something." I stated, making everyone turn to me. "I'm so small!" I complained, falling back into the couch.

"What…. do you mean?" Toby asked, ticking.

"Well, I'm 5'4, you and Tim are 5'6, Keith's 5'7, Brian and Jeff are 5'8, and Liu's 5'9." I explained, pointing over to said person as I said their height.

"Oh…. Oh yeah!" toby exclaimed, as he surveyed us all.

"What time is it?�� I asked, looking out of the window at the rising sun.

"Around six." Brian stated, looking at the sun.

"I thought you said time doesn't move here?" I questioned, looking over at Tim.

"Days go by, but time doesn't." Was all he said.

We sat chatting idly for a few minutes, before there was pounding from the stairs. A masked figure came down the stairs, strolling into the living room. By the stature, I could tell it was a male, around twenty. He was slouched over, his cinnamon brown hair falling over his navy-blue mask. His black hoodie fit loosely, whereas his black jeans were skin-tight. His black converse were lazily tied. When he stood tall, stretching his arms over his head with a groan, he was around 6'0. There were two things off about this guy. His skin was a dark gray, and over the blue of his mask, a black substance dripped down from the eyes of the mask- but never dropped from the mask.

When he noticed all of us in the living room, he turned to us. "Mornin' guys, and good morning to you two humans that I've never seen before." He mumbled, making me smile and make my way towards him.

"Morning to you too. I'm Mel Woods, and this is Keith Woods." I pointed over my shoulder at Keith, before I extended my hand to him, but his mask only indicated that he was looking at my hand. He shook his head slightly, making me lower my hand.

"I'm Eyeless Jack. Call me Jack, and I would have shaken your hand, but I haven't had my morning coffee so I can't trust myself not to bite you. Nice to meet you both." He explained and I nodded.

"Has any coffee already been made?" I asked the others; they all said some form of 'no'.

"I'll make you some. In fact, I'll make breakfast." I grinned, turning to look at the others. "Does waffles sound okay?" I asked, only to see the looks of horror on everyone's faces- except for Keith. "Oh no, what is it?" I questioned, making Toby shoot up and run over to me.

"In... in this house��… we ...…we don't have... waf.... waffles." He mumbled, and I raised an eyebrow.

"Or cheesecake." Tim added, raising his hand.

"Why?" I pondered.

"Tim....and I are lac......are lactose…. Intolerant." He explained, making me nod.

"Well, I can make lactose free oatmeal and you guys can choose your toppings." I shrugged, looking around at everyone, who accepted the offer.

"I'm a cannibal." Jack simply said, and I nodded.

"I know. Do you have any food, or would you like me to make some? Or do you prefer it raw?" I muttered, making everyone slowly look between Jack and I.

"I have my food and I do prefer it raw but thank you for your concern." He responded.

I then took a step forward, planning to go to the kitchen before realising something crucial. "Ah…. where's the kitchen?" I asked, making Jack go first. We made our way to the kitchen, which in fact was connected to the living room by an archway. Everyone immediately went to a certain seat, but Keith stayed standing.

"Where can I sit?" He pondered, staring at Jeff.

"Believe it or not, we also left seats for you two during our separation." Jeff grinned-the cut smile making it wider- before gesturing to a seat beside him and opposite Tim. "That's your seat, Mellie., and the one beside Liu is yours, Keith."

I nodded, putting some coffee on for Jack. "How many cups of coffee ae needed?" I questioned, looking at the others on the table.

"Uh…. Well Jack, Jeff, Tim, Slender, Toby, Clockwork and Lj drink coffee, whilst Jane, Brian, Nina, and I have tea. Unless it's Sully fronting- which it's usually only when I have to kill. Ben and Sally have milkshakes. Both have strawberry. Nobody has any nut allergies either." Liu informed, making me thank him quietly as I opened my backpack.

I pulled out fifteen mugs, separating them into three groups. Two for milkshakes, five for tea, and eight for coffee. I set the kettle off for the tea, the coffee machine on for the coffee. I duh around in my backpack, pulling out two sashes of strawberry flavouring powder, pouring them into the two other cups. I went over to what was definitely the fridge, pulling out the milk, not being bothered by Jack's food.

Once the kettle had boiled, I made the tea for everyone present who wanted it- leaving the rest inn the kettle to keep it warm. I walked over to Liu, placing a mug of tea beside him. I did the same for Brian. I then sipped on one of the cups myself, savouring the taste. I then did the same with the coffee, placing them beside Jack, Jeff, Tim, Toby, and Keith. I moved onto the oatmeal, pulling fifteen bowls out of my backpack. I immediately handed one to Jack, letting him get his food himself. I then pulled out the ingredients of the oatmeal, making it fairly quickly.

Once I was done with it, I stared at Jeff. "Wake everyone up, will you?" I demanded. He did a mock salute, getting two unused pans. He ran out of the room, banging the pans, loudly yelling that breakfast was ready. Within a few minutes, everyone was down, groaning, glaring at Jeff as they rubbed their eyes. Except for Slender, since he's faceless.

I put a bowl of oatmeal besides everyone, handing them their drinks too, as they told me their names as I did so (I also introduced myself). I pulled multiple toppings out of my bag, placing them on the table. I then got my own, sitting beside Jeff.

I then slowly began to eat, surveying the others as I did so. At the end of the table was Slender, with a small girl with unruly brown hair and bright green eyes sitting to his left. She had blood dripping down her face, dirt covering her pastel pink dress. She looked around eight; that's Sally.

Beside her was another girl- around fifteen- that looked fairly similar to Jeff. She had ebony black hair, streaked with purple. Her purple hoodie fit just right, being tucked into a poofy black skirt. She had red and black striped socks and dirty converse- Nina.

Next to Nina was Jack, who had his mask tipped to the side. He was demolishing his meal, his sharp, bladed teeth tearing at the meat. Tim was beside Jack, with Brian beside him. Toby was next to Brian, a clown beside him at the end of the table. The clown had pasty white skin, a black mop of hair upon his head. His nose was a cone shape, striped black and white. He wore a black shirt, with black and white striped sleeves, and tight black pants. That's Laughing Jack, or Lj.

On the right of Slender was a short, young boy-which is Ben. He had very pale skin, with blood dripping down from his red eyes and his black scleras. He had golden blonde hair and wore an outfit identical to Link's from the Legend of Zelda franchise.

Next to Ben was Clockwork, a lanky, brunette, girl my age with one eye shining and green, the other a ticking clock, and a stitched smile in her face. As soon as she introduced herself, she insisted to be called Natalie. Naturally, I also asked about if her clock eye and stitched smile were clean and that the infection-rate was low, which she replied with a positive answer, which is good. She wore a clean white tank top that fit her well, a teal hoodie on top. Black skinny jeans were tight against her legs, her knee-high brown boots clean of all dirt.

Between Clockwork and I sat Jane, a small girl the same age as Jeff. She was quite a round girl, with skin as white as Jeff's and a white mask upon her face. The mask was similar to Tim's- the eyes, mouth, and eyebrows coloured black. As she ate, she had it slightly tilted my way- making sure I couldn't see under the mask. I respect that, as if she didn't want me looking- I simply wouldn't look. She had black hair that cascaded down her back in flowing waves, wisps of hair pushed back behind her ears as she ate. Her black dress hugged her figure, going from her neck down to her upper thigh. The dress had sleeves, but no shoulders. On her feet were black flats.

I was beside Jane, with Jeff, Liu, and Keith making the rest of the people I ate with. From across the table, Keith and I exchanged a happy look and a wide grin. Because for the first time in a while, I knew that this place was home.