Break Point

The point at which a person or system succumbs to stresses or pressures and descends into crisis. crisis. exigency. emergency. juncture ...

A wall of physics books surrounded Mallory and Peter as they sat at his desk in front of his computer. Mallory had a protective shield of literature books in her own bedroom for the same reason. The psychic energy the books gave off created a buffer from the chaotic energy swirling through their households.

Creed was in the shower and Gemma was laying on Peter's neatly made bed. She admired the light and airy beach theme that his mother had done up his room with. Wall-to-wall graphics of colorful surfboards, sand colored walls and furniture that reminded her of the bleached driftwood washed up on the shore. Her delicate fingers smoothed the indigo blue, soft cotton bedspread that had a sea coral pattern. The recessed. soft lighting from made her feel as if she was an in an underwater garden. The bath towels in Peter's private bathroom were decorated with the same coral pattern, except the coral was a deep orange-pink. She sighed as she thought of her own bedroom that was filled with junk and the size of a utility closet in their trailer. She stood up and her toes brushed the plush ocean-blue rug. "It felt as if I'd taken she had taken a mild mescaline hit."

"How would you know what taking mescaline feels like?" Jaxxon asked her.

"Everything feels surreal." She rolled over onto her stomach.

"But it's real,"Jaxxon insisted. "Don't make light of it."

"Stop being dramatic," Gemma said. "I'm just saying it's a situation we can deal with."

"Let's hope."

"Are you sure your parents won't mind if we stay here over the weekend?" Creed asked Peter. He had a seahorse patterned towel wrapped around his waist as he towel dried his dark hair.

"No, they won't mind. They'll be glad I have company while they're at their Global Warming conference in San Diego. They're going to stop in Carlsbad before they come home and visit LegoLand. Mom always wanted to see it. Don't ask me why."

Jaxxon moved towards the door. "I'll go and wait for the pizza delivery. It should be here any minute. Don't start without me."

Creed noticed Gemma eyes locked on his nude torso and followed Jaxxon. "I'm gonna check if my clothes are dry." When Mallory felt the exchange between Creed and Gemma, her violet eyes widened.

"Hurry back, this data's interesting," Peter said. The equipment's readouts he'd loaded into his computer reflected in his gold rimmed wire glasses.

"Interesting how?" Gemma asked. Her eyes were feverish. She touched her lips. They still tingled from Creed's kiss.

Mallory walked over and sat on the bed. She lowered her voice. "What's up with you and Creed?"

Gemma shrugged. "I was out of it after we saw Mr. Kinsey killed.. He kissed me."

"He kissed you? You've both been friends since you were toddlers."

Gemma nodded. "I don't think it was anything romantic. He helped me ground myself. I was in shock."

"I'm glad you survived." Her voice was neutral but her eyes has turned a deep violent. The color of the storm.

Creed returned, dressed in his short sleeved vermilion-colored shirt and jeans and they ended their conversation. "I've downloaded seismic activity from the area," Peter said. "It's just as so thought. As the anomaly becomes increasingly active, the seismic activity in the area increases."

"How did you access that data?" Jaxxon asked.

Peter grinned sheepishly. "I have access through my mom's EBSCO account. She lets me use it for research. I've been writing a treatise on the continual magnetic charge in the earth's core. I believe it's tied to the sun."

"And here I'm struggling with Advanced Algebra," Jaxxon said.

"Ditto," said Mallory.

Jaxxon returned with boxes of takeout. Everyone except Peter was distracted by the fragrant smell of melted cheeses oregano and tomato. He put two slices on each paper plate with a few napkins and handed them to each of them.

"Mm..good." Mallory says around a mouthful of cheese. "Leonardo's has the best pizza."

"As I was saying," Peter continued. He took a sip of seltzer water. "There's research that shows correlations between magnetic perturbations and seismic responses, convincing scientists that the magneto-seismicity is not a myth."

"English, please, Mallory said. She wiped a few drops of tomato sauce off the side of her mouth with a napkin.

"The force in the gorge is affecting the ground and the surrounding area in two ways. First, seismically and second magnetically. If these currents become sufficiently large, they can cause stimulation of nerves and muscles or affect other biological processes. In other words, this is how they could be affecting the animals that fall into the pools."

"And people," Gemma said.

Mallory shuddered. "Would that mean bringing them back to life?"

"I didn't say that," Peter said. "Some of this is still theoretical."

"Yes, but the homesteader did. He said that the force didn't reanimate the animals, it improved them physically. Made them younger and healed the deer that was injured," Creed said.

"Let's call him, The Murderer." Gemma said. "I'll never forget what I saw him do. Twice. We can't believe anything he says."

"Why do you think he pushed Mr. Kinsey into the pool?"

"I don't know. Professional rivalry?" Gemma said. "The killer said he worked with Mr. Kinsey in a government department. They knew each other and had some sort of falling out."

"So he killed him?" Jaxxon said.

"He said he pushed him into the pool to protect us. He insinuated that Mr. Kinsey sound have done the same to us," Gemma said

"Pete from what you're saying. The magnetic field is strongest in the pool, but you don't have to be in the gorge itself to be exposed to this magnetic current. Right?" Jaxxon walked over and stared at the data on the computer screen. He didn't understand the equations and numerical sequences.

"That's right." Peter warmed to his subject. "The magnetic field is invisible but apparently it surrounded us." Creed nodded, remembering the hawk, swiveling at the last minute as if to avoid an invisible wall.

"So now we're the Fantastic Four. Mutants," Gemma laughed.

"Speak for yourself, mutant," Mallory said.

"Stop it you two. What's going on. You're acting like hell cats tonight."

"It's the anomaly—it's affecting us." Jaxxon waved his hands in a theatrical manner. Gem and Mal are fighting over Creed."

The aforementioned crossed his arms over his muscular chest. "Don't be ridiculous."

"If you have noticed, Creed. You seem to have that effect on women," Peter laughed.

"We were all exposed to it at some point," Peter noted.

"And yet we didn't kill anyone," Gemma said.

"It's still early," Mallory said. For a moment her eyes glowed with an ultraviolet prism of light.

She blinked and they cleared, but not before Creed saw the physical change." He grew serious. "We have to consider that whatever that force is up in Huntington gorge, it might have changed us."

Peter nodded,"Magnetic fields induce circulating currents within the human body. The strength of these currents depends on the intensity of the outside magnetic field."

"The same way, the animals were attracted to the pool?"

"I felt a pull when I was up there. It was physical and psychological." He scanned the room, looking at each of their faces. "Did anyone else feel a compulsion to jump into the pool?"

"God, no," Gemma said. "I never want to go back there. You're acting like one of us is The Thing in that movie.

"All my theory does so far is explain why animals are attracted to the gorge. If you want to know the truth, I think it's tied to evolution more than weird science fiction."

Gemma's mouth fell open. She closed it and then grinned. "You're saying were not throwbacks who feel everything. We're the future of the human race."

Pete nodded. "Anything's possible with evolution. If this is an advanced alien technology, maybe our genetics make us able to connect to it more than neurotypical individuals."

"Like Superman except it's the opposite if his kryptonite," Gemma triumphantly threw pizza her crust into the empty takeout box. She was flushed with excitement, the room smelled of pizza and pheromones.

"I guess you could spin it hat way," Peter said. "Although, kryptonite's not a real element."

"Doesn't matter," Gemma said. "It's served its purpose. I'm not afraid of this phenomena anymore. I want to see what else it can do. This is why Mr. Murderer was willing to kill anyone who got in his way."

"I'm afraid," Mallory said. "The force in the pool nearly killed me."

She looked over at Jaxxon and he nodded. "I'm afraid of the physical effect it can have on me too."

"Maybe you both need to learn to channel it," Gemma suggested. "Like The Force."

"Oh stop with all these fantastical movie explanations," Peter cried. "We have hard science in front of us." He pointed to his computer screen. "I have a friend in Russia who knows about these kinds of phenomena. Andre. Let me contact him. Maybe he can give us some sort of guidance."

"Or sick the KGB on us," Gemma said.