Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 242 Lisa: Waking in Comfort

LISA

Waking up in a bed is too comfortable.

My brain wants to wake, but my body wants to keep sleeping.

If this comfort is little more than an elaborate trap before I'm murdered, just take me away. At least I'll be going in bliss.

A sharp poke in my side jolts me from my half-asleep musings. I crack open an eye, squinting against the sudden brightness. A face swims into view, so close I can count every wrinkle etched into leathery skin.

"Up! Up, you lazy girl!"

The voice is shrill, grating against my eardrums. I blink, trying to focus on the owner of that voice. It's a woman, impossibly small, with a nose so red it could guide Santa's sleigh.

I open my mouth to speak, but my tongue feels like sandpaper. Before I can form words, a stinging slap lands on my calf. The pain is sharp, unexpected, and I jerk away, nearly tumbling off the bed.

"Ow! What the—"

"No time for your nonsense," the tiny woman interrupts, waving a hand in front of my face. Her fingers are gnarled, reminding me of tree roots. "You stink. Shower. Now."

I sit up, head spinning. The room tilts and sways around me. Where am I? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is... Darkness.

Cold. A strange man who brought me out of my personal hell.

The tiny woman's groan snaps me back to the present. "Look at this mess. Filthy! You've ruined the sheets."

I glance down at the bed. The once-white linens are stained with dirt and... is that blood? My stomach lurches at the sight of my wrists, raw and a little bloody.

on. No time to waste." She tugs at my arm by

Clothes I don't recognize—a simple white night dress that is several sizes too big, soft and deceptively clean. I'm sure it's a mess on the

breath. I want to ask questions—so many questions—but they stick in

time in fear that it almost feels comforting to be afraid of someone like

serious therapy, if this tiny person isn't dragging me around to

it open, revealing a bathroom. "In. Shower. Make

protest, she shoves me inside and

alone in the sudden quiet, staring at my reflection in the mirror. My face is pale, eyes wide with confusion and

And speaking of bones…

grow to little more than bony sticks,

God.

like a skeleton with some skin hanging

Horrible.

happening?" I whisper to my

girl in the mirror has no answers. She looks as lost

turn to the shower, eyeing it warily. Part of me wants to march over and

the promise of hot water, of washing away the grime I can feel coating my skin,

is a map of bruises and scrapes.

Marisol didn't beat me.

being a kidnapping victim, it wasn't technically all that

do a lot of thrashing around, trying to escape my chains. That usually involved falling to the floor in various painful ways. And when it wasn't

my wrists and

under the spray, whimpering as the hot water hits my battered skin. But the pain fades, replaced by a

with a sense of peace and cleanliness I haven't

soap on the ledge is the first thing I grab, rubbing it all over me until it turns in a dingy gray, scrubbing at my skin as if I could wash away the memories along with the dirt. By the time I'm

hair is a tangled mess. I'm not even sure it's possible to brush it out. Still, I take my time washing it with shampoo and conditioner, leaving in a

it away with my hand. The face that stares back at me is familiar, but strange. There's