She placed the compass on the dash, calculated the time of travel at her given speed and then set off.Vin had to admit to a bit of curiosity about the...forbidden area, or the "Place where the Spirits dwell", as the natives of this place called it. It appeared to have a weather all of its own, often in conflict with that of the whole planet. She had read that the scientists had put it down to being in an isolated valley and that the contours of the mountains, elevation and possibly the presence. J. could see Faust standing before themwith a demonic grin on his face. To his surprise, he found that he wasunable to move. Weirder still, something felt wrong. He felt incrediblyuncomfortable. Looking down the line at his parents and the Merrils, hefound that each of them wore looks of confusion on their faces as well.None of them spoke. P.J. tried to say something, but found himself toweak to utter a word.Walking back over to the poster, Faust began to pull off the blue stripsof satin, one. ’ God, can I get anymore lame, he thought. Ryan watched her disappear into the cabana and then he went back to cleaning the pool. Within minutes, the sweat began to pour from him again. He looked up at the bright sun and wiped his brow. What the hell, he thought. With that he dove forward, his body slicing into the cool and refreshing water. With strong strokes he swam under water toward the side of the pool. The water felt great on his overheated body. At the pool wall he reached for the side. Edwards slowly, and carefully, laid out the remaining strokes with the strap, giving the dark-haired girl time in between each swipe with the strap to recover and to re-take her position bent over the table.“Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!”“Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!”“Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!” “Smack!”By the time Melanie had concluded the girl’s strapping, the Year Thirteen girl was crying loudly into her arms and her bottom was burning. The Deputy.