Tangled

Chapter 166

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

ground. I try to warn Ava, but my voice won't work. She keeps talking, oblivious, until

behind her.

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

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

Impact.

Pain sears. Ava's hand.

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

55000

And always, I'm

watch as she suffers.

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

I

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

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

torment.

has the Master fed from

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

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

you

she mutters, "He must favor y greatly, for a single taste to

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

]]

room, tie lase mast but no words

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's odd behavior.

aut all I want is to curl

ere will die

mure endle

doesn't wees to care

need to me agan her hate prodding at my skin with

that

wrists, my ankles. It's only when

rough from disuse and screaming. "He only

she looks at me with a strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as

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

return.

hard, trying to

she stares at me. There's something wistful in her expression, a longing that I can't quite comprehend. "When did you know?

Fevers

For

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