"Jesus, Creed. I thought you were a ghost. Don't sneak up on people like a damned wraith. You nearly gave me a heart attack." Peter scowled at the handsome teen that appeared out of the mist and approached the group.

"Pete, you should have felt me coming." Half Cherokee and half Irish, Creed Lewis looked at ease in the forrest. He moved powerfully without making any noise. He had a medium athletic build and a high-bridged hawkish nose with unblemished sun kissed skin. Raven black hair brushed the collar of his flannel-lined brown cargo jacket. His intelligent, dark brown eyes masked inner emotions as he crossed his arms and leaned back on his heels. "You're all late."

"This isn't Twilight. I was distracted." Peter shook his head. "This place gives off enough energy run a power plant."

"You're early," Gemma put her hands on her hips.

"How did you get here so fast?" Jaxxon stood up and wiped his pine needles from his palms and onto his jeans.

"I came up from the other side of the mountain." Creed stepped out of the forest. "My bike is parked at the scenic lookout area in The Gap." He nodded at the two black backpacks. "Did you get the gravimeter?"

"Yes, Ms. Landry let me sign it out it from the science lab," Jaxxon said.

"I'm impressed. That sub hates me." Creed's eyes glinted with amusement.

Gemma grinned. "It's not just you. That witch Landry hates everyone." She laughed. "Except, Jaxxon, of course. She wants to sleep with him."

"Ugh," Peter said. "I hate cougars." He curled his upper lip, imitating Elvis, and bared his teeth.

"She's too young to be a cougar." Gemma laughed. "She's just vicious."

Jaxxon blushed. "Come on, Gem. I explained how Professor Kinsey allowed us to do a substitute lab. I think Miss Landry was trying to be nice."

"You're so blind, Creed." Gemma smirked.

"Kinsey's cool, despite being an adult," Mallory said.

"He's an epic teacher. His handle on the science forum is breaking-badass. He's as interested in this mysterious gravity zone as we are," Peter said.

"He's like us." Gemma agreed. "He feels too much. He knows what it's like to be empathic and absorb everyone else's emotions."

He's a brilliant scientist." Jaaxxon agreed. "He should be teaching at MIT."

"Why isn't he?" Mallory asked.

'He's had some personal issues. I think he went through a bad divorce and lost custody of his son. He gives off depression and anxiety. I guess he can't work under too much pressure."

"Is that where we're going to end up because we're empaths? In public service?" Peter shook his head.

"Teaching in a high school's not that terrible. My father used to work at the prison," Creed said. "He saw a lot of shit he still won't talk about. Kinsel hates being trapped here, but he's a social outcast like us. His job options are limited."

"My father works at a corporation, but calls it a prison," Mallory said.

"We're not here for a therapy session," Jaxxon interrupted. "Show us where to set the equipment up."

Creed nodded and grabbed the backpack next to Peter's knees. He hoisted it onto his shoulder.

"You're a sight for sore eyes." The smaller teen scrambled to stand up and stood beside Lewis. "I was being treated like a starved pack animal."

"You're a lousy beast of burden. What we need is your brilliant mathematical mind," Creed grinned at Peter who had the highest Math and science SAT scores in the school.

"Follow me. I know the trail." He turned and followed the overgrown path into the forest. Lewis' long legs made short work of the steepening grade. He swiftly covered the terrain that was made uneven by exposed roots and rocks embedded in the loose soil, advancing as if an invisible cord inexorably pulled him forward. The hazy mist lifted as the others followed in his wake.

"Creed, did you see anyone near the cabin? Mallory scrambled to keep up with him.

He stopped and leveled his gaze on her. "No, why?"

"There was a stone wall and a handwritten sign that both looked like they were both recently done."

He nodded. "I saw them. There's bedding in the cabin and wheel set up as a turbine for electricity. Someone's been using it as shelter." He leveled his gaze at her. "Don't worry. There's five of us. We'll be fine.

"Safety in numbers." Gemma agreed.

"Safety's never guaranteed." Peter countered. He stumbled on a root and grabbed a conifer branch.

"Don't forget, the sooner we finish the experiment, the faster we can leave." Creed called over his shoulder.

The trail grew narrow and uneven. Jutting roots, rocks and the ascending grade slowed their speed. They could smell the earth, moist and rich under their feet.

After fifteen minutes, they reached the lower basin of the natural gorge. The scent of fresh water grew stronger. Gemma stood at the edge of the pool on a boulder, twice her size, and gazed at the crystalline, glass smooth surface of the greenish pool. The water hole was seductive on a hot day, but in late spring the pure aquamarine color was mesmerizing. Here, in the deepest section of the gorge, the deadly current moved in complete silence. Through the bottle green water, the granite sides of the pool were visible, but the rocky bottom was obscured by a deepened lagoon color as the depth increased.

The basin was ringed with a silvery circle of foamy scum.

"Ugh, is that soap?" Gemma's lip curled..

Creed nodded. There's a water hole up further. Bikers often use it to bathe."

"That's disgusting." Her nose twitched with disgust.

"Right here. These are the coordinates." Jaxxon held up his phone. "According to the Internet forums, water flows uphill from the deepest section of the pool."

"I have to see that to believe it," Peter scoffed. "The current must have twenty pounds per square inch of pressure in the the center. It gets higher as the chute narrows, but nothing can move backwards in that much force. Even in a whirlpool."

"Nothing can escape the force," Gemma murmured.

Mallory unzipped one of the backpacks and pulled out a heavy gray piece of equipment that looked like a hand held Geiger counter. "What does this do?"

"That's a absolute gravimeter." Jaaxxon answerd. "It measures variations in the Earth's gravitational field. With this we can record the pull of gravity in Gal units."

"Gal units?" Gemma echoed.

"The absolute gravity units were named after Galileo." Peter said.

"Oh, cool." She answered.

"I also a brought Densimeter and a Specific Gravity Tester." Jaaxxon unzipped the other back pack. "We'll take water and soil samples and measure them in it."

He handed Gemma a note book to record the results of the experiment. "You do the honors, Gem."

"Funny, the water is so still and smooth. Like the air." She tilted her head tilted sideways as she accepted the notebook and pen. "Do you hear that?"

Creed looked at her. "No, I don't hear anything. Don't worry, the equipment will capture everything we can't see or feel." He crouched down on his knees. "Mal, can you take video without falling in?" She stuck her tongue out at Jaxxon and nodded.

He handed Peter the sample vials. "Pete, can you mark and stow the samples we take. "

"Excuse me?"

"And analyze the data."

"That's better. Wait a minute." He sat down on a smooth rock and pulled out a trail mix bar. "I need sustenance before we start the experiments."

"Everyone ready?" Creed nodded.

"Nobody heard that?" Gemma tilted her head and shifted her feet on the boulder. "It's sounds like the rocks are humming."

Peter balled the power bar wrapper and stuffed it into his pocket. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's do it."

At the northern end of the pool, Jaxxon dropped a small red ball into the water.  The surface appeared smooth as glass, belying the powerful current below it. The ball flew over the surface, barely making a ripple in the water.

Everyone gasped when halfway through the deepest part of the basin, the red sphere stopped moving as if it had snagged on an invisible wire. Slowly, it moved backwards against the current as if it was being manipulated by a magician's skilled hands.

"Are you getting this, Mal?" Creed's voice was taught as a wire."

Shaken, Mallory nodded as she filmed.

"That's physically impossible." Peter said. He tilted his head to one side in a birdlike manner.

"Holy moly." Gemma covered her mouth with her hand. "That's as unnatural as a snake eating its own tail."

Jaxxon leaned forward to get a better view and placed his hand on a nearby boulder to steady himself. His hand brushed against a loose set of keys in the leaves.

"Shit!" He leapt away from the object as if it had scorched him. Horrified, he sucked in his breath as his eyes rolled back in his head.

Mallory dropped her phone and leapt to his side, "Jaxx, what's wrong?" She grabbed his arms to steady his spasms.

Watery bubbles rushed by his face as he was sucked through the rocky chute. His body slammed against the boulders before being wedged underwater. He opened his mouth to scream and ice cold water filled his lungs.