It turned out talking to Slenderman would have to wait until dinner because they couldn't find him anywhere. Even after splitting up and asking all the other creepypastas no one knew where he was, no one had seen him more recently than Nico had. Besides it was Masky, Hoodie and Toby's turn to make dinner for the group. Nico agreed to help. Even though he didn't know much about cooking he could with far less worry of him cutting off his fingers by accident then Toby.
Nico was having trouble focusing on what was going on around him. He was too busy trying to delve deeper into the off feeling that had started a few days before. If he had grabbed ahold of it when it had first appeared he might have been able to tell more, but now it had faded to an odd sort of hum. It was as if someone had put a wall between the feeling and him so the best he could do was press against the wall where the humming was strongest. It made him shift uncomfortably, he couldn't tell if it felt bad or just wrong. He gritted his teeth letting out an annoyed hiss.
He didn't eat much that night either, Slenderman was there, Masky and Hoody had sat on either side of him. Even though Nico couldn't hear what they were saying. But he could tell by the faces that they were making that they were having a internal conversation. He would much rather have paid attention to that, but Toby seemed to have made it his job to make sure Nico ate, after a while Nico gave in.
"Slenderman has a job for me and Hoodie tonight, but we can leave tomorrow afternoon." Masky told Nico and toby after dinner. He looked angry, there was always a sort of coldness about him, but now nothing but the coldness was showing.
"Do you want my help?" Toby offered looking a little worried when Masky broke into a coughing fit. Hoodie stepped forward putting an arm around Masky's waist to help support him. Where had that come from? Masky had seemed fine earlier, was he sick?
"Too late, I've already skipped my meds, so me and Hoodie need to get going now." Masky said, he was starting to shake a little. Hoodie pulled him away quickly. Nico gave Toby a questioning look.
"Masky's meds keep his personality disorder under control." Toby explained to Nico softly.
"If he doesn't take them he can get really violent. Hoodie's basically the only person he won't try to hurt so Hoodie needs to go with him to look after him."
Nico nodded, he didn't want to know more about whatever job Slenderman had for them if it required violence. But still, the fact that Hoodie was the only person Masky wouldn't hurt was sort of sweet.
"Well if we're leaving tomorrow I should go back to camp and get my stuff tonight." Nico said half to himself, running his hands back through his hair. He wasn't looking forward to this but it needed to be done, he would just have to hope no one noticed him. "Is it dark yet?"
"Almost." Toby said eyeing Nico with concern. "Are you going to be okay going back there? I thought you needed to run away from it."
"I should be fine, I'm very good at hiding when I want to be, I'll just make sure no one sees me." Toby didn't look comforted.
"I'll be fine don't worry about it." Nico assured, glancing out the window. The sun was setting the shadows were dark. Now would be the best time.
"I'll be back soon." Nico said taking Toby's hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze before heading outside heading to the tree line, walking into and through their shadows.
It was almost completely dark in the Hades cabin, just barely enough light coming through the window to see. Nico wouldn't turn on a light, as long as the lights were off the light from outside would reflect on the window and no one would be able to see in.
He could see some stranglers wandering back to their cabins, including one blond girl he thought might be Annabeth. He turned away quickly, now was not the time to worry about them he had to pack. He hadn't been fully unpacked anyway, he hoped it wouldn't take long.
