Medusa poured blood from a headless corpse around the Cetus stone head, drawing a circle. After she dropped the corpse, she dipped her fingers into the corpse’s open torso and rubbed the blood along the inner circle, drawing the Latin symbols.

Blood wasn’t truly required for the ritual to shrink an object. Medusa just needed ink to draw the spell circle correctly.

Lewis approached her back. “Shit, the pigs are coming.”

He meant the guard. Medusa gritted her teeth. She still needed more time to complete the circle. “Lock all entrancesss. Make sssure nobody getsss inssside.”

“On it.” Lewis rushed out of the nature chamber, leaving Medusa alone.

She finished the last circle and licked the blood off her fingers. “Time to begin.”

******

Chief Duncan stopped his car in front of the entrance to the California Academy of Sciences. The rest of his police force parked behind him. There should be enough until the Swat unit arrives.

He stepped out with his speakerphone. "Spread out in the front! Snipers on the left and right!"

The officers kneeled behind their vehicles with their guns out. The snipers hid in the bushes on both corners of the parking lot. There weren't top places for them to take positions on, but staying hidden was their best option.

Sergeant Lee got out and approached Duncan's right side. "So we are going to just stay out here and do nothing."

"Not until the Swat goes in first," said Duncan, "I don't want massive casualties on our hands."

The chief held his speakerphone toward his lips. "This is the police! Come out with your hands up!"

Through the broken glass doorway, a figure stepped out. It looked like a man with purple veins across his gray skin. He wore leather black jeans without a shirt on. His entire muscular mass body was exposed, and his eyes glowed purple too.

"What the hell is that?" Lee asked with a wide-open mouth.

The thing waved its hand while smiling.

Duncan pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the suspect. "Keep your hands up and step forward slowly."

Instead of walking forward, the stone man held up two middle fingers.

Duncan lowered his speakerphone. "The hell?"

The suspect kneeled and touched the ground. After his hands glowed purple, a wall of stone burst up in front of him, covering the entire entrance. Then more stone walls rose around the museum, covering it toward the top.

Duncan turned, speechless. What he saw made him question reality now.

While shaking, he grabbed his walkie-talkie and clicked it. "Where the hell is the Swat?"

*****

Labda, Katina, and Cilla landed in a tall tree behind the museum. They could see a strange wall of stone surrounding the structure.

"Oh, thank god we're there!" Roger shouted with a green face. "No more running and jumping."

"Don't you dare vomit on us!" Katina warned. "My fangs are this close!"

"What is that?" Cilla asked.

Labda beamed her eyes at the stone wall. "A stone barrier, I presumed. Only one monster could do that."

"Medusa? She is in there?"

"Why the hell would she trespass into a museum?" Katina asked. "To stare at the boring artwork?"

Roger glared at her. "For your information, the California Academy of Sciences is not boring. Friends and families visit there because it is very popular. You can learn so many things."

Katina rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"How can we get in?" Cilla asked. "The walls are blocking all the entrances."

Labda stared at the rooftop. "The surrounding wall didn't reach the top. We can enter through the roof."

"Good idea!"

Katina smiled at Roger. "You better hold on, puny man."

Roger gulped and held on tighter. He held on so hard, he almost thought his arms choked Labda's neck. But her neck was so thick, she didn't gag. Only a bigger giant with larger hands could choke her with more strength than his. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen to her.

From the tree, the beast woman leaped off the tree and landed on the rooftop with a loud thump.

Roger quickly let go of the girls' back and landed on his feet. Feeling his feet on the solid ground made him sigh in relief.

Katina looked around. "There is nothing here!"

Roger finished breathing and pointed his finger at a spherical window on the roof. "You can breakthrough there. It isn't covered."

Katina smiled. "Good eye, human."

"Wait!" Labda shouted, but the beast woman charged.

Close toward the window, she jumped up and dropped through the window, shattering it like a bomb falling through glass. Roger dashed toward the broken window and looked down.

The beast woman landed on the floor inside the main hall while pieces of glass rained around her. The alarm rang inside, but Roger assumed the alarm has been running since Medusa and the other monster broke in.

Cilla looked up. “Are you coming, sweetie?”

“It’s too far down,” said Roger.

The beast woman held out her arms.

“We can catch you,” said Cilla.

Roger sucked in some air. “Okay.”

He climbed on the edge and jumped down. He landed into the woman’s arms and she placed him down.

“Thank you,” said Roger.

Cilla giggled. “You’re welcome.”

“Don’t get in our way,” Katina warned.

Roger ignored her. If she didn’t want him around, she wouldn’t have followed him in the first place. But he guessed with two other heads on her body, she couldn’t make all the decisions.

From the nearby art chamber, a figure stepped toward them. And he doesn’t look human.