I Think I Love You

Noticed

I sat on my bed looking around my new room, the sheets on my bed were soft. Unexpected, but I welcomed them with open arms. Glancing at my bedside alarm clock I realized it was nearing 6 pm, so I left.

I walked down the empty hall, reaching the winding steps, I traced my delicate fingers along the wooden banister. I stepped quietly down each step. Old habits die hard, I'd have to unlearn all my old ones. My father was no longer alive to yell at me or worse — But I was safe, a foreign concept to me.

I could hear many voices coming from the dining room. I took a deep breath and walked in, preparing myself. Would they berate me as I was used to? I stepped through the door, going unnoticed.

"Hey, Toby! Come sit over here!" Jane yelled, waving at me.

I walked over and sat down next to her. Sally sat at the other chair next to me, they had previously introduced me to her when I arrived. She immediately warmed up to me, to my surprise.

I glanced around, multiple seats lined the long dining room table, and they were all filled. I recognized multiple faces, but few were still unknown to me. Their voices echoed off the walls, some were friendly, but some of the chatter was more hostile.

Something caught my attention in the corner of my eye, turning my head I came face to face with a man in a blue mask. He stared at me and I stared back at him curiously.

"Quiet." He spoke. I learned from Jane that he is called the "Slenderman."

Everyone went silent. "Considering recent events, we will need to be more careful from now on," Slenderman said.

Everyone looked towards Jeff, and he threw his hands up in the air in a passive-aggressive manner. Judging everyone's annoyed reactions he must have pulled some stunt. Which doesn't surprise me at all based on our previous interaction.

From then on he discussed plans with everyone. Addressing different people with various tasks, all custom to the individual. How many people to kill, who to watch, what to bring back here, precautions, etc. Being assigned missions seems to be a common occurrence in this mansion.

"And Toby, for you... You'll be training. I'll have you assigned to someone. They will be your mentor and oversee your progress, guiding you and preparing you for future missions." Slenderman said, addressing me last.

I nodded, I wasn't looking forward to training, and I wasn't exactly sure what that would entail. I hoped my "mentor" would go easy on me. I wondered who they were and if I had met them before.

"If you don't mind me asking. Could I know who they are?" I asked, looking at the faceless creature in front of me.

His tendril began to reach up towards his face, cradling his cheek.

"I hadn't decided yet. I would assign you to Kate, but she isn't very good at communicating so I don't think you would get adequate feedback that you require." He spoke, his staticky voice entering directly into my mind.

I didn't recognize the name he mentioned. I'd probably bump into her eventually, but she didn't seem like much of a talker.

"I believe I'll assign you to Jack." He said. "You all may continue your meals." He finished.

Jack turned to me and then shrugged, I guess this isn't too big of a deal for him.

I pulled down my mouthguard and pushed up my goggles. If I wanted to eat, they would have to be out of the way. I picked up a piece of bread and tore it into pieces. I chewed slowly, not wanting it to come out of the gash in my mouth. Perhaps covering it with a bandage or bandaid would help?

"H-hey! You're bleeding!" Jane exclaimed, I could see she was worried.

"Huh?" I said confused, reaching up to touch my cheek. The all too familiar warm red liquid staining my hand.

I must have been chewing the side of my cheek again. A nasty quirk when I'm anxious and I had a lot of those little quirks.

"That looks like it hurts," Ben said, staring at the gash.

The man in the navy blue mask raised his head to look at me, no longer looking down at the table. I couldn't read his expression because of his mask. Was he thinking badly of me? I cracked my neck. I hate that tic, the sound irritated me.

"How did you not notice it?" Jane grabbed my chin and turned my cheek towards her inspecting it.

"I-I can't feel anything." I stuttered. I hated being the center of attention.

Many people were clearing out of the room since they had finished their meals. I continued to eat the rest of my food and quickly finished. Jane noticed and took my plate for me.

"Oh, thank you, Jane," I whispered.

She's so nice to me. Maybe it won't be so bad here. Besides the missions of course and the verbal abuse from Jeff, but that's nothing I can't handle. I'm used to that sort of treatment.

"Jack. Treat Toby." Slenderman said before teleporting away.

I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing that. Who knows why he stayed that long in the first place, it's not like he can eat without a mouth. Maybe he was just damage control in case a fight broke out amongst us. I turned to see the masked man in front of me, waving at me to follow him. I must have been looking at him confused because he spoke.

"You're hurt. It will get infected if you leave it the way it is." His voice was deep but gravelly. It was nice to listen to. It reminded me of a scary story narrator. If he wasn't working for the big guy, he could have made that his career choice. I pushed those thoughts aside and out of my mind.