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jumped out of his skin. The shudder of fast-moving air around the muzzle sent a shockwave, before the sound ever hit Aaron's ears. That was when he knew that Jake was dead. Yet, his ears were ringing so loudly, everything seemed like it was vibrating. He hoped that he hadn't let out a scream when it happened. If he had, he never would've heard it. He didn't even hear Jake's body hit the ground–Jake simply fell into view, pale and flaccid; his cheek slamming against the ground right outside the canoe–mere inches from Aaron's terrified face.
    Struggling to control the roll of his dying eyes, Jake looked up and made contact with Aaron. Jake's eyebrows rose, perhaps involuntarily, or maybe in surprise at seeing Aaron beneath the canoe. A wave of blood washed over Jake's brow and down his nose.
    Aaron shook his head, trembling, as Jake stared now unblinking at him. Aaron raised a shaky finger to his lips– shhh, for God's sake, shhh.
    Jake's tongue fought back against the blood in his throat. He gurgled, “Help me… he's a… ” A second bullet was fired, silencing Jake, snuffing out his last words. The flash of the gunfire illuminated Aaron, as he cringed, wishing this nightmare would end and he could just wake-up in his bed at the mansion. Just get me out of here.
    The alligator boots crunched closer to the canoe, as the figure squatted down, checking Jake's pulse. Then came a husky whisper that sent a shiver down Aaron's spine: “It better be around here somewhere, that's all I can say.”
    The tightness in Aaron's chest began to uncoil as the alligator boots stepped away from the canoe. The figure shuffled over to the fire pit. He picked up the stick, the same stick Aaron used to poke the ashes and, devil-may-care, started swishing the grass at the edge of the clearing.
    Aaron's heart, already pounding faster than he ever thought possible, began pounding even louder, echoing in his ears. The man was not leaving anytime soon, and the longer Aaron stayed beneath the canoe, the more likely it was that he would be found.
    Boom, boom. Boom, boom. His heart pounded and drowned out all possibility of reasonable thought. Then his leg started itching, maddeningly in tune with his beating heart. Boom, boom, itch. Boom, boom itch.
    Aaron moved his leg slightly, trying to satisfy the itch by rubbing his leg against the ground. Something in his pant leg snagged at his skin instead. A leaf? A bug? Something had slipped in as he slid baseball-style under the canoe. And whatever it was now had the perfect position to tickle him and make him itch.
    Boom, boom, tickle, itch. Boom, boom, tickle, itch. As his heartbeat got louder, the tickle became worse and the itchbecame unbearable. Aaron reached down to itch carefully, and he bumped the canoe with an almost imperceptible knock.
    In that exact same instant, in a moment of madness, Steve and Mike made a run for it. They rushed out of their hiding place in the bushes, while the figure's back was turned on them, darting across the campsite.
    Their footsteps weren't dainty or quiet. A couple of knuckleheads trampling like a herd of crazed buffalo. They might as well have screamed, “RUN!”, because the figure spun around, dropping the stick to the ground once more, and barreled after them, gun raised.
    Steve and Mike hurdled the canoe with ease, but Aaron panicked, curling into a ball as the figure jumped the canoe, his foot catching on the lip. In a second, the canoe flipped right over, totally exposing Aaron in his fetal position.
    Then another few seconds passed. A gunshot in the distance. Aaron opened his eyes. Nobody. They were all gone.
    Aaron unfurled himself and slowly found the will to stand up. At his feet, Jake had bled out. Something then caught Aaron's eye, right out of the corner of his peripheral vision. Stuffed under the seat of the canoe. A green backpack.

nine
    Aaron whipped through the long grass as fast as his legs would carry him. His eyes were filled with angst and