Unholy Trinity: Medusa By Jack Reigns

Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

I.

The statues filled the courtyard. Two women stepped carefully around them, not wanting to disturb their terrible beauty. The lifelike detail amazed them. Gilly reached out to caress one, frozen in agony like all the others. “Can you believe this? The artist made pores on its skin.” Her girlfriend Nora stepped closer. “Why are they all men?” A hissing noise makes them look up. A large serpent tail slides out of view. Gilly stepped back, heart racing. Nora picked up a stick, and leaned forward, searching. A hypnotic voice hums from behind a statue and asks, “Where is my tribute?”

II.

Clyde made it to the end of the trail, and the statues began exactly where he was told they’d be. An enormous scale art instillation, hidden deep in the forest, only for the most desperate to find. The rumors at university were true, all this abandoned art for the taking. He looked for a piece he could break off to present as a final project. A quick rattling noise made him jump and pause, there weren’t rattlesnakes here. “Are you admiring my art, young man?” a sultry, feminine voice asked. “Would you be interested in seeing more of my collection?”

III.

She wove between statues, missing the touch of a living thing, wishing attraction were a conscious choice. If only the ones I craved weren’t so fragile. Those at the far end of her garden were lost strangers, robbers, and thieves. The middle was filled with truth seekers, manipulators, worshippers of her cult. The ones closest to her home were those who’d entertained her, intrigued and attracted her. Four thousand years alone in this cursed forest and there would be no end to this hell. She wished her visitors understood, only those who meant her harm could be turned to stone.