Tangled

166

166

166 Lisa: Fevers and Dreams

LISA

How long has it been?

A few days?

Weeks?

The sun should keep me oriented, but a fever gets me the first night I'm there.

The girl, Marisol, comes by every so often. Always with food. A few times with bowls filled with some noxious liquid that has my nostrils trying to close, avoiding the smell coming from within. She's expressionless as she shoves it down my throat, and I'm too weak to fight her off.

It's medicine, I think.

I think that because I slowly get better after the third bowl,

In between moments of lucidity, I dream.

Normal life. Home. Mom and Dad.

Working with Ava at Beaniverse.

Flirting with that cute guy who accidentally wandered into our professor's Eng Lit class instead of some sort of philosophy class

two doors down.

Cozy, happy dreams, of a place far from here..

An escape from the reality that chains me.

17:37

At some point the dreams turn from happy comfort to something uneasy and dark.

Sunshine warms my face as Ava and I relax at our favorite cafe,

sipping lattes and chatting. For a moment, the world feels right again, like I'm back where I belong

But then the shadows come

tendrils snaking across the ground. I try to warn Ava, but my voice won't work. She keeps talking, oblivious, until the shadows coalesce

behind her.

out. The shadow reaches for Ava, engulfing her, dragging her away as she

the turbulence. I reach for her hand to comfort her, but the plane lurches, throwing us forward. Oxygen Ava's screaming. I'm screaming. The world outside the windows is a blur of sky and ground, rushing closer and

Impact.

rends. Flames erupt. Pain sears. Ava's hand. slips

keep coming, each more horrific than the last. Ava, drowning in a sea of blood. Ava,

55000

I'm helpless to save her, forced

watch as she suffers.

thrash against my chains, but I can't escape. I can't wake up. The horrors play out

mercifully, I do

drenched in sweat. My throat feels raw, my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels beside me. holding a bowl of that foul-smelling liquid to my

hits my tongue, but I force myself to swallow. Anything to chase away the lingering

torment.

often has the Master fed

"Just once," I rasp out,

shouldn't be this strong, not for a single feeding." There's something in her tone, an undercurrent of emotion

you

her face as she mutters, "He must favor y greatly, for a

idea that this monster might favor me fills me with nothing but a sickening twist

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lase mast but no

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd

want is to

ere will die

mure endle

wees to care about my discomfort.

to me agan her hate prodding at my skin with

detach that

I'm not sure what she's doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down at my shoulder that

out, my voice rough from

with a strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if tasting the words. "But the

agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed, makes bile rise in my throat, the medicine

return.

trying to push the

arms and resting her check on them as she stares at me. There's something wistful in her expression, a longing that I can't quite comprehend. "When did you know? she asks softly, her eyes never leaving mine. "When did you realize

Fevers

For