Finding Trouble
“What are you thinking? Everyone obviously knows who I am. Why aren’t you screaming and running away? What did you even think you could do here?”
Shock had me pulling back and I swore at myself for breaking contact. The world had changed. More than I could have ever imagined. I couldn’t leave him here, now was not the time to be careless. I put my hand back on the stone and pushed just a little power into it, watching with sadness as it crumbled and fell to the sandy ground. I could feel the turmoil left by the Titans’ escape. I could feel Zeus’ pain. I needed to make the gods pay for what they had done to me. I wanted to find my family, I needed to. I had my second chance. Whether Zeus intended it, or not, I didn’t plan on wasting it. I am Medusa, the most powerful Gorgon, and I am back.
“What are you thinking? Everyone obviously knows who I am. Why aren’t you screaming and running away? What did you even think you could do here?”
“What it looks like is a dead body! Did you do this?” I felt my control slip and struggled to push the Gorgon down.
That really was the question, though. Who was I? Was I the monster everyone feared or was I something else? Someone else. I wasn’t sure.
Distracted, I looked down at them. “Aww, aren’t they cute? You must be a baby witch if all you can summon are baby demons.”
We climbed out of the pool in Luke’s backyard, sputtering and coughing. Luke glared at me, and I felt lucky he couldn’t turn me to stone because it sure looked like he was trying.
I think you’re exactly who you’re supposed to be. Maybe that just wasn’t your time, and you were brought here now because this is where you belong.
I could feel pain radiating from Sayeh, such a bone-deep pain that I felt like I was being crushed under the weight of it. I hoped Artemis wasn’t able to feel this.
Goddess, please don’t let her be here to curse me. I didn’t want to lose my humanity again. I wouldn’t survive.
I landed hard on my knees, my snakes hissing and striking at the air in a frenzy as I went down. I screamed in frustration, stood, and pushed my way through the remaining passengers.
Why shouldn’t I have it? I’ve been through so much, didn’t I deserve a little good luck and fortune for a change?
They still saw the illusion, and I had a feeling no matter how many times they walked across the bridge, they’d end up at the beginning. “You have to trust me. I think this is part of a test. We have to trust each other and have enough faith to get through each challenge.”
I placed my hands on the smooth scales of Sayeh’s back and took a deep breath. As I let it out, I tried to call back the stone that ran over her body, but it resisted. I pulled harder, fighting against an unseen force. Her body had been wrapped in the stone for too long, and it didn’t want to let go.
I woke up slowly, keeping my eyes closed and tried to roll over, but Luke was lying almost on top of me, his legs tangled in mine. I cracked open one eye and found him watching me. “You’re thinking too loud. It’s keeping me awake,” I groaned.
I had been hiding in an old cemetery when she found me. The sound of heels clicking on the stone floor brought me out of the shadows. She trailed her fingers lovingly over a broken pillar of the once beautiful mausoleum as she moved throughout the room. My snakes hissed, and I ducked behind a crumbling piece of wall.
Just as I was about to release my power, lightning flashed through the windows, and thunder shook the building. A very girly and utterly embarrassing scream escaped my lips before I could stop it as I lost my balance and fell over.