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

in at the edges of my vision, dark tendrils snaking across the ground. I try to warn Ava, but my voice won't work.

behind her.

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

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

Impact.

screeches and rends. Flames erupt. Pain sears. Ava's hand.

last. Ava, drowning in a sea of blood. Ava, burning

55000

And always, I'm helpless to save her,

watch as she suffers.

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

I do wake

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

I force myself

torment.

a curious intensity. "How often has the

the question. "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 undercurrent of

you

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

that. The idea that this monster might favor me fills me

]]

tie lase mast but no words coming

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's

want is to

ere will die

mure endle

to care

need to me agan her hate prodding at my skin with

detach that make

my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down at my shoulder that I

I rasp out, my voice rough from disuse and screaming. "He only

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

the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed, makes

return.

hard, trying to push the

expression, a longing

Fevers

For