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

across the ground. I try to warn Ava, but my voice won't work.

behind her.

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

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

Impact.

rends. Flames erupt. Pain sears. Ava's

more horrific than the last. Ava, drowning

55000

always, I'm helpless to save

watch as she suffers.

chains, but I can't escape. I can't wake up. The horrors play out again and

mercifully, I do wake

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

gag as the bitter liquid hits my tongue, but I force myself to

torment.

the Master fed from

the question. "Just once," I rasp out, wincing at the

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

you

favor

to that. The idea that this monster might favor me fills me with nothing but a sickening twist of my

]]

lase mast but no words

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd behavior.

I want is to curl

ere will die

mure endle

she doesn't wees to care about my

me agan her hate prodding at my skin with

that make me

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 I realize what she's

rough from disuse and screaming. "He

strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if

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

return.

hard, trying to push the

something wistful in her expression, a

Fevers and

For