Sleeper Seven by Mark Howard

lives too, so we just leave 'em well enough alone. He's probably already late for where he's supposed to be."
    "What do these researchers do, do
they
hunt them?"
    "Well the only shooting is through the lens of a night-vision camera, if that's what you mean. They're hard enough to find at night, and it's pretty rare to force 'em out into daylight like this."
    "But, why don't scientists know about them, I mean people think this is a big joke!"
    "Well, you of anybody should know by now truth is stranger than fiction, right? I don't know, I guess it's easier just to laugh at it and all that."
    The rest of the walk back to the house was silent, and Jess began to doubt herself. Had she been a sucker? Was this all an elaborate practical joke? She never saw the thing actually
move
— it could have been just a prop, or a statue, and they could have remotely pulled a string to make the thing fall over. Was it possible? It would have been a lot of work getting all the details right, though, and all just for her benefit? To what end? Testing her gullibility? Making her a believer in whatever they might say later? She didn't know what to think; by the time they reached the house her head was spinning a web of paranoia and conspiracy theories. The simplicity of accepting what she had just seen as fact was too hard to swallow, and her brain grasped blindly for any alternatives, plausible or not.

~ 20 ~
    B reakfast was Belgian waffles — just what she needed — and strong coffee, which ironically helped calm her stomach. Nobody mentioned the morning's excitement, and she didn't bring it up either. It seemed like it was a special event for her alone to witness,
if indeed it was real at all,
she thought skeptically.
    A morning excursion to a local Goat milk farm was on the schedule, to which Jess politely declined, preferring no further adventures for the day. Lounging in her room, she browsed a few of the old hardcover books arrayed on her dresser. One, titled
Annals of the SPR,
seemed to be from the late 1800's, the subject matter relating to early paranormal research. Another, dated 1923, was written by a woman who was apparently a famous medium at the time. The third was a first-edition, signed copy of the Adams book that brought her here.
    Thinking she needed a break from all the not-normal, Jess decided to sun herself in the wicker chair on her private balcony for a bit. She soon found herself nodding off, until the crunching of gravel below broke through her slumbering consciousness.
    "...and she got out. She's
got it
Len, definitely a traveller in this one."
    It was Terry; she could tell without opening her eyes. She sank lower in her chair so she couldn't be seen from the drive.
    "Seven," Helen grumbled.
    "Yeah," Terry agreed, and as the crunching receded, Jess slipped back to sleep.
    She awoke sometime later, to the sun shining in her eyes. Checking her phone, she noted it was almost one, and checking her stomach, she further noted she was hungry. Downstairs, she found Julian in the kitchen.
    "Afternoon, ma'am, like some lunch?" He held out a sandwich plate and coffee that was obviously kept for her.
    "Thanks, just what I needed," she replied, taking the offering into the dining room as Julian followed her with his own cup of tea. There was no one else around, and only the ticking of a large grandfather clock interrupted the peaceful silence. Jess felt comfortable broaching the subject as they both sat sipping and munching at the table.
    "That was pretty cool this morning, huh?"
    "Yeah, real amazing, and rare too. You're lucky to have seen it."
    "So...how did you find it?"
    "Ya mean
him?
" he answered with a smile. "Well I keep my radio on all night, cause it sorta interests me what JoJo's team does over there, so I heard one was headed our way, and went over and just waited in the dark, ya know, making some wood knocks and calls." Retelling the story seemed to energize him all over again.
    "Sure enough 'bout twenty minutes later