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

try to warn Ava, but my

behind her.

her away as she kicks and struggles. I lunge for her, but my feet are rooted. Darkness swallows

we're on a plane, Ava beside me. She's gripping the armrests, making a joke about 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

Impact.

Pain sears.

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

55000

And always, I'm

watch as she suffers.

I can't escape. I can't wake up. The horrors play

I do

weak. Marisol kneels beside me. holding a bowl

but I force myself to swallow. Anything to chase

torment.

watches me with a curious intensity. "How often has the Master fed from you?"

once," I rasp out, wincing at the pain in my

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

you

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

that this monster might

]]

room, tie lase mast but no words

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's odd behavior.

want is to curl up

ere will die

mure endle

to care about my discomfort.

hate prodding at my skin with

that make me

doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down

rough from disuse and

and she looks at me with a strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if tasting the words. "But the withdrawal... it's so strong. He must have taken

know how to respond to that. The memory of his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed, makes bile rise in

return.

trying to

her 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

Lisa Fevers and

For