The Medusa Deception

Chapter 1

MANDY CAME-TO ON her back. Sheer vertical walls of sandstone towered around her. Moonlight seeped into the rim of the circular opening above, revealing the pinprick of stars in a veil of darkness.

The air was musky and cool. She shifted to her side. The sandy floor conformed beneath her, chafing her bare flesh. Her eyes adjusted to the dim. There was movement all around her, like waves rolling in a rocky stream. She froze.

Snakes.

The writhing serpents crawled along the base of the walls, moonlight dancing off their jet-black scales. Amber yellow eyes penetrated the gloom. Forked tongues flicked the air. Smelling. Tasting. All around her a moving blackness. A snake pit.

Mandy tensed, her heart thudding in her chest. The snakes circled, but kept their distance.

Where the hell am I? Mandy blinked repeatedly, trying to reset the scene in front of her.

A large snake slid out of the fray. It paused, its calm manner in stark contrast to the frenzy behind. Its forked tongue, black as night, incessantly probed the air. Its beady yellow eyes unwaveringly stared.

Mandy took a ragged breath and tried to calm her nerves. Shutting out the turbulent mass, she focused on just the one. It waited, not coiled to strike, but stretched out, vulnerable. Slowly, she extended her hand along the surface of the sand, palm up, fingers outstretched.

The snake approached, flicking its tongue, grazing her fingertips. It slithered forward, resting its head on her palm.

There it stayed. Waiting, as though wanting something. But what? She wondered. What could I possibly do? Could things get any weirder?

In that moment of calm, her fear subsided. There was something about that snake — a strange connection, unearthing a hidden strength she'd never known.

Breaking eye contact, the snake lifted its head toward the moon.

Mandy looked up, then back at the snake. She furrowed her brows. "You want out?"

The snake left her palm and agitated in front of her.

"Well, OK then. Let's see what we can do."

She rose to her feet and looked around. Like a giant culvert tipped on its end, the pit had nearly vertical walls. It was too far to jump to the rim, and even if she could, then what would she do? Hang there? She seriously doubted she'd be able to pull herself up.

Scanning the floor, she looked for something to stand on. The snakes parted, revealing an area of higher ground.

On her hands and knees, she pushed armloads of sand toward the wall. The snakes watched. Then using their powerful bodies, they joined in. Mandy paused to watch the snakes work — a harmonious and graceful ballet.

Once the floor had a good incline to it, she approached the wall. Standing at the apex, she reached for the rim. Her fingertips curled over the edge; her chest pressed lightly against the coarse sandstone. Looking back, she found the large snake coiled at her feet.

"Can you climb?" Mandy nodded toward the sky.

Slowly and deliberately it climbed her bare flesh, over her foot and up her calf, stroking the back of her knee. Goosebumps rippled over her skin. On it coiled, squeezing, pulsating up her thigh. Over her hip and abdomen it caressed.

Mandy's skin flushed. Not knowing the path it would take, the anticipation of touch, was overwhelmingly intense. Every nerve, every follicle it brushed, heightened the tension. Her breathing became shallow and rapid; she closed her eyes. She had to do this. She had to trust.