Free Valley of the Shadow by Tom Pawlik Page A

consistent for everyone they’d met so far. No one seemed aware that so much time had actually passed.
        All Mitch could figure was that the aliens had abducted vast numbers of people within a few months of each other but were holding them in some sort of suspended animation and then releasing them at different times—maybe just to see how they would react or interact with other people who’d been released earlier.
        Nothing else seemed to make sense. The whole thing was way beyond weird, with no logical explanation. But he had come to accept it by now. Logic had long since abandoned him. This was just the way things were.
        Jason talked the whole way back to the farm. In many ways, his story was very similar to Mitch’s. Jason had a serious girlfriend whom he’d hoped to marry. Now she was gone like everyone else. He was being watched and followed by the gray creatures wherever he went. He had come up with the plan to head east, just as Mitch had done five years ago. He’d driven through the night and run out of gas on this stretch of highway.
        Jason seemed to bounce when he talked, bobbing his head and gesturing with his hands. He was short and jittery. A tightly packed bundle of electrified caffeine. Like the hyperactive little mutt that followed the big bulldog around in those old cartoons.
        But Mitch liked him anyway. He was a refreshing change to the parade of senior citizens they’d been having over the years.
        They arrived at the farm and Jason jumped out of the truck.
        “Whoa.” He stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the compound. Mitch could see he was beginning to put two and two together. After a moment, he turned around. “How’d you guys get this all together so quick?”
        Mitch and Howard exchanged glances. Howard put his hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Son . . . I know it feels like this all started for you just a couple days ago. But truth is, we’ve been here for… well, for quite some time.”
        Jason shook his head. “Whaddya mean? How long?”
        Mitch shrugged. “I’ve been here for almost five years. Although it’s hard to keep track of exactly how long. And Howard was here long before me.”
        “Five years ?” Jason turned and gazed at the compound again. Then he looked back at Mitch and Howard. “How… ? I—I don’t get it.”
        “Dude,” Mitch said, “you’ll go crazy trying to figure it out. We don’t have all the answers. What we do know is that these creatures have been here for a long time and they can manipulate our senses. Make us see and hear and touch things that aren’t there.”
        Jason stared at them, openmouthed. For the first time since they’d met him, he was speechless.
        “Listen . . .” Mitch put a finger to his temple. “They know how to get inside your head. Read your thoughts and memories. For all you know, your whole life might have been an illusion. Or maybe this all is. I don’t know anymore.”
        Howard patted Jason’s shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to handle all at once. To suddenly realize your whole world might not be what you thought it was.”
        “No!” Jason pulled away. “Maybe you guys are the illusion. How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
        “You don’t.” Mitch headed toward the house. “So you need to decide if you’re going to stay here with us or move on alone.” He pointed over his shoulder. “But whatever you do, I’d stay away from those woods if I were you.”

14
    CONNER SAT IN HIS MERCEDES, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel and staring at the enormous stone house nestled among the trees. Walter Kent’s brooding mansion was set back a hundred feet off the street, half-hidden behind a pair of large oaks in the massive front yard. A six- or seven-foot hedge encompassed the entire yard.
        Conner’s mind was still bristling