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

behind her.

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

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

Impact.

Pain sears.

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

55000

And always, I'm helpless to

watch as she suffers.

chains, but I can't escape. I can't wake up.

mercifully, I do

raw, my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels beside me. holding a bowl of that foul-smelling liquid to my lips. "Drink," she commands,

as the bitter liquid hits my tongue, but I force myself to swallow. Anything to chase

torment.

"How often has the Master fed from you?" she asks, her

"Just once," I rasp out, wincing

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

you

must favor y greatly, for a single taste to affect you

to that. The idea that this monster might favor me fills me with nothing but a

]]

lase mast but no words

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's

I want is to

ere will die

mure endle

wees to care about my discomfort.

me agan her hate prodding

detach that make me

my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when

out, my voice rough from disuse and screaming. "He only bit me

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

his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and the

return.

hard, trying to push

strange girl settles back on her heels, crossing 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 did you know? she asks softly,

Lisa Fevers

For