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

to warn Ava, but my voice won't work. She keeps

behind her.

out. The shadow reaches for Ava, engulfing her, dragging her away as she kicks and struggles. I lunge for

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,

Impact.

erupt. Pain sears. Ava's

than the last. Ava, drowning in a sea of blood. Ava, burning alive. Ava, torn

55000

I'm

watch as she suffers.

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

I do

My throat feels raw, my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels beside

liquid hits my tongue, but I force myself

torment.

intensity. "How often has the Master fed from

her, surprised by the question. "Just once,"

once?" She shakes her head. "The withdrawal shouldn't be this strong, not for a single feeding." There's something in her tone, an undercurrent

you

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

might favor me fills me with nothing but a sickening twist of

]]

lase mast but no words coming

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's

want is

ere will die

mure endle

she doesn't wees to care about my

hate prodding at my

that

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

my voice rough from disuse and screaming. "He

hands still, and she looks at me with a strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if tasting the

agonizing pain, and the sickening

return.

trying to push the

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.

Lisa Fevers

For