Tara was recently accepted at an elite school for young models. She said farewell to her friends and was off to her new life. The school was located on a small Island just inside the southernmost point of the area known as the Bermuda Triangle. The school had located there for the additional privacy that local superstition provided. Very rarely would anyone from nearby islands venture into that area. For the most part, Tara found the school to be physically demanding. The students' diets were strictly monitored. Everyone was challenged to keep in their best physical condition. Those that could not do so eventually left the school to return to their homes. Tara had become good friends with many of her fellow aspiring models. On some occasions, she would awaken to find that some of them had left during the night to return home... never to be heard from again until Tara herself left the school. After living on the island for several months, Tara found that most of her friends had left. Even though she continually made new friends of the incoming students, she found herself wondering about those that had left before her.

Tara found herself more and more in the spotlight. She had become a favorite of many of her teachers. She even won over the most cold hearted teacher when she began to demonstrate that she could handle the most taxing physical and mental challenges that were thrown Tara's way. The most difficult of these tests was the immobilization test, or the Medusa test as the students quickly named it. In this test, each student had to remain perfectly immobile for hours at a time. Not two or three hours, but ten to twelve at a time. It was this test that most people, including her friends, could not pass. Models who passed this test were placed into an advanced course and eventually left the island within a few months with guaranteed contracts with the most reputable modeling agencies. The day finally came for Tara to take the Medusa test. She wasn't nervous. Her teachers had provided

her with encouragement and had inspired confidence in herself. Tara had learned the secret to passing this test and she was ready for it. The test typically took place late at night and terminated late the next morning. Students were monitored at night by infrared sensors which would activate an alarm if someone moved. During the morning hours, the students were scrutinized closely by judges looking for signs of weakness or instability. To get that guaranteed contract one had to present a perfect statuesque pose, or just go home. Tara entered the testing room. This was the first time she had seen it. She took in her new surroundings. The room was completely white. The floors, ceilings, walls... everything. In the center of the room was a pedestal. It too, was white. It was raised about three feet above the floor. All Tara had to do was take her place on it, choose her pose and maintain it. In her mind Tara knew that in order to pass this test she would have to become one with her environment. To this end, she dressed the part, wearing a loose, long white garment over her left shoulder which left her right arm and outer right leg exposed. For her pose she chose to stand with her legs spread apart, completely exposing her right leg, and her arms held out in front of her. A very difficult pose to maintain for the required time. There was just one more element. She looked around the room and spotted on of the motion detectors. "Perfect.", she thought to herself. The motion detectors each had a blinking red light. All she had to do was focus on one of them and induce a hypnotic trance. She took her place on the pedestal, assumed her pose and fixed her gaze on the motion detector she had picked out. The test had begun.

Tara concentrated all of her attention on the blinking light of the motion detector. In her mind she felt for the pedestal that she was standing on. She made her feet a part of the pedestal, then her legs, torso and arms. She was about to reach that inner point of tranquility where she would empty her mind and become completely one with her surrounding when she heard someone quietly enter the room. "You're doing very well.", a mysterious voice said, " Almost six hours have passed. In another hour the judges will be here to inspect you. You must concentrate even harder if you're going to make it, and I can help you do that." The unknown person stepped onto the pedestal with Tara and whispered into her ear, "Do you know WHY the students call this the Medusa test? Not simply because you must maintain your pose, because the only way to pass it is to see yourself as an image sculpted from stone. Concentrate on my hands as I move them over your body. Wherever they touch, see that part of you transformed in your mind. Only when your entire body is transformed can you finally succeed." The stranger knelt beside Tara's immobile form and placed a hand on each foot. "Feel your feet grown cold and hard." Tara wasn't certain, but she thought she felt a chill race through each of her feet. The stranger's hands now travelled up her exposed right leg. The chill she felt in her feet followed the stranger's hands. Before the stranger's hands reached Tara's more private areas, she switched to Tara's left leg. Again, Tara felt an odd chill spreading through her leg, following the stranger's hands. The stranger grabbed Tara's right hand and stroked her exposed with arm. Tara felt her arm grow cold and heavy. She felt herself losing control as she exerted greater strength to keep her right arm from drooping. The stranger ripped the garment from Tara's body and began running her hand over Tara's shoulders and back. The odd chill still followed her hands, but with her shoulders and back nowtransformed in her mind, it was easier to maintain her pose. She no longer had to exert herself to keep her right arm in place. Tara felt the chill flow up her left arm and suddenly saw a pair of eyes staring into her own. The stranger had stepped in front of her. "I didn't mean to break you concentration, Tara. In a minute this will all be over." Tara felt a chill rise from her sex, through her torso and finally her breasts. She saw a hand flash in front of her eyes and everything went dark.

An hour later a group of judges entered the room. They were greeted by the immobile form of Tara. Tara heard the low murmurs of their voices. She felt some of them touch her. One of them even felt it necessary to inspect every inch of her. She felt a pair of hands run all over her body. When they reached her sex, she decided that this was enough. If it meant failing the test, she would not allow herself to be invaded in this manner. She reached down to slap the invading hands away from her body, but her arms wouldn't respond. She tried to jump off of the pedestal, but her legs betrayed her. She screamed, but her voice was silent. She was aware of what was going on, but was fixed in her position, unable to protect herself. The invading hands fell away from her body. Inwardly, Tara was relieved but panicking. She heard excited voices conversing not too far away from her, but she couldn't make out what was being said. Suddenly, one word rang out across the room, "Sold!". Instantly, Tara understood what had happened to her. She had become a sculpture not in her mind, but in reality. She felt something touch her eyes and her vision was restored. "Congratulations, Tara!", a person she did not recognize was speaking to her. "You'll be spending copious amounts of time in an upscale hotel lobby in Chicago!". A cloth was dropped over her head and all went dark again.

Some time later, Tara did not know just how long, the cloth covering her was removed. She could actually see her surroundings. She appeared to be in a luxurious lobby. In front of her was a water fountain and a white marble statue of a nude female. The detail was astonishing. She wondered how she, herself appeared. She watched two people walk between her and the marble image looking back at her. "Twins?", she thought. Almost immediately she realized that the marble image in front of her was her reflection in a mirror. Her expression was that of a person at peace, but inside she began to rage at what had been done to her. She didn't know how, but she was going to have some measure of revenge.

While Tara was still in a rage, a young woman passed in front of her. The young woman took notice of Tara and walked up to her frozen form.She reached out and touched the marble figure in front of her and let out a gasp. The young woman felt her hand grow cold. The feeling spread up her arm and through her body. She turned and started to run for help, but no one was around to assist. She turned around to stare at the statue that was Tara. In the mirror, Tara watched the young woman freeze in place. The hand she had touched Tara with had turned bright white. Tara watched as the effect spread through the young woman's body. Her legs turned bright white, followed by her short skirt, up her tight sweater and finally engulfing her face and hair. A look of shock and surprise with a touch of fear was forever frozen on her face. Tara had focused her anger on the first person that touched her, with petrifying effects. Perhaps she could have some measure of revenge after all.