On this last day of school, classes were only ten minutes long to allow students to get their grades and to turn in any final books or papers. The students would then return to their homerooms to get their report cards.
The principal decided it was best to keep things on sched-ule, but to close off the gym for the time being. The rumors were flying through the school like a rabid pigeon. And the more police vehicles and secret service-type cars that showed up, the larger the rumors grew.
"I heard it was a new kind of virus that turns you to stone. I bet we'll be quarantined in the school all summer long."
"I think they found toxic waste in one of the lockers."
"I heard there's a group of fugitives held up in the gym.
What if they take us all hostage and hold us for ransom…"
As those and other ridiculous comments filled the air, Emma sat at her desk, trying to come up with a logical expla-nation for what had happened. Unfortunately, she could not.
All signs pointed to the supernatural. Granted, she was supernatural herself, but she could only think of one being from her realm who would be able to turn somebody to stone-Medusa.
Medusa was probably the most popular character in Greek mythology, known for her hair of snakes and ability to turn those who looked upon her to stone.
Emma was sure that none of the police detectives in the gymnasium would come to that conclusion, but then again-they hadn't battled a Minotaur earlier that school year.
Medusa could be anywhere in the school, ready to inflict more damage. And unlike the Minotaur, this foe was very intel-ligent, and would not let herself be caught easily.
The school day passed in the blink of an eye.
As the students sat in their homerooms waiting for their report cards, the principal made an announcement:
"I would ask all students to leave the grounds immediately after school. I'm sure you are all aware of the police presence in the gymnasium, so I ask you not to disturb them so they can do their work. As soon as they have all the information, they will release it to the local news reporters."
"I doubt that," one of Emma's fellow homeroom students laughed.
Emma agreed with him.
Her attention was now drawn to the report card her home-room teacher placed before her. A row of A's was stacked on the paper, punctuated with a B in Math. So much for being the per-fect superhero. Math did not come as easily as her other sub-jects, especially History, but she studied hard and always asked her teacher to clarify things she didn't understand.
But the subject on Emma's mind right now was Mythology.
She had a basic knowledge of Medusa, but needed to learn more about her. If she could, maybe the Muse could stop her before she made her next move.
When the bell rang, a roar of excitement rolled throughout the school. For the moment, the stone girl in the locker room was forgotten. Forgotten by everybody except Emma, that is.
She worked her way out of homeroom and towards the exit.
"What's the rush, Em?" Dawn said, catching up to her. Brett and Gloria were behind them.
"I need to get to the library."
"Uh…Em?" Dawn was caught off guard. "You do know today is the last day of school, don't you?"
"I have to do some research on…the incident."
"Ohhhhhh," said Dawn, her eyes now wide with realization.
"Wanna go grab lunch at Jay's Diner?" Brett asked his friends.
"Can't," Emma replied. "I've got to do some prep work for my internship tomorrow."
"That stinks," Brett said. "How about you, Dawn?"
"I'm going to see if my dad is here," Dawn told him.
Dawn's father was a police officer. She admired him and often thought about becoming a cop herself.
Brett turned and stared into Gloria's eyes. "I guess it's just the two of us, sweetie."
He turned back to his friends. "Well, see ya!"
After they'd gone, Dawn growled, "They're really getting on my nerves."
"We have more important things to worry about now," said Emma. "I could really use your help, since it appears Brett's out of the picture this summer."
"Between his new girl and your job," Dawn said, "I'll have nothing better to do."
"Then go see if your dad is here," Emma suggested, "and bring me back any information. I'll be at the library."
"Will do!"
Dawn saluted, then trotted off.
It was a beautiful, sunny day outside, and Emma was about to lock herself in a dark library.
The library was like a ghost town. Except for a few elderly people in the periodicals room, the building was empty. Usually it was filled with students doing homework or research for reports, and in the summer, there were plenty of kid and teen activities going on. But nobody wanted to be at the library on the last day of school.
Not even Emma.
She flipped though various mythology books and was sur-prised there wasn't much information on Medusa. However, using information from several of the books, Emma was able to put together Medusa's story.
In Ancient Greece, Medusa lived as a beautiful woman, and her most notable quality was her magnificent hair. This induced many men to propose marriage to her. But the goddess Minerva was jealous of Medusa.
Out of spite, she turned Medusa into a monster called a Gorgon-and all her beautiful hair was transformed into a writhing mass of hideous, hissing snakes. And one look from this horrible creature turned any living thing to stone.
It was Perseus who was sent to stop Medusa's rampage. In order to kill her, he used his shield to look upon her reflection, so that he would not see her directly and be turned into stone.
Then, using his sword, he beheaded her.
"And now for some reason she's wandering around my high school," Emma whispered to herself.
But that wasn't the only thing that struck her. The idea that Medusa was decapitated with a sword also stayed in her mind.
Then she remembered the sword stolen from the museum.
Emma was not one to believe in coincidences. The petrified stu-dent and stolen sword had to be related.
But how to find the person responsible?
Emma pondered the situation, and soon Dawn arrived, relating what little news she had been able to gather.
The police were baffled. As far as they could tell, this poor girl was indeed literally turned to stone. The city was flying in medical experts to determine if this could be some kind of bizarre X-Files-like virus.
Emma showed Dawn the pages about Medusa she'd found.
"Looks like one of your old friends might be in town," said Dawn.
"Well, we won't be inviting her to a slumber party or braid her hair," Emma joked.
"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "What is up with that hair? Snakes?
Talk about hard-to-manage. At least she doesn't have to blow-dry it."
"You'd think a girl with snakes for hair would be easily spotted at a high school," Emma said. "Heck, you have a pim-ple, they ridicule you for a month."
"Maybe she had a makeover," Dawn suggested, half joking.
But also half serious.
Emma knew exactly what she meant. Like the Muse and the Minotaur, Medusa may be taking the form of one of their fel-low students, teachers-or anybody in town for that matter.
Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier.
And, Emma assumed, much less painful.
The Muse patrolled the city that night-all night. And this night was even more active than any of the previous because school was now out. From Pier 39 to the Golden Gate Bridge, the city was packed. If Medusa showed up at any of these places, she thought, there'd be more statues than at the Legion of Honor.
The little Emma voice inside her told her Get to bed early!
She had to be up even earlier than a school day to start her internship. And that would be longer than the average school day. She'd be zonked out at her desk if she didn't get at least four hours of solid sleep.
The Muse continued on in her quest to find Medusa-at least find some sign of her. But there was nothing.
As if she'd just vanished.
