He left Aiden’s glasses on.
“Hang on, I just have to do some stuff,” Tanner said, and went back to rummage in his backpack. There was a faint click and then a small lantern lit up in his hands. Tanner yanked off his headband and turned the flashlight off. He rubbed vigorously at his scalp. “That’s better. This thing itches.” He went back to searching in his pack.
Aiden was able to loll his head toward Tanner, but when Tanner walked around the stump, Aiden couldn’t see him anymore. He could hear Tanner shaking a can of spray paint, then the distinctive hiss of him painting the stump. Aiden felt the cool, barely-there touches of paint mist settling on his face and the naked skin of his arms. They sizzled like static when they landed.
I think I’m hallucinating, he thought.
“Yeah, the veno
