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.

sound comes out. The shadow reaches for Ava, engulfing her, dragging her away as she kicks and struggles. I lunge for her, but my feet are rooted. Darkness

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 screaming. The

Impact.

Flames erupt. Pain sears. Ava's hand. slips

than the last. Ava, drowning in a

55000

monsters. And always, I'm helpless to save her, forced

watch as she suffers.

I can't wake up. The horrors play

I do

raw, my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels

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

torment.

watches me with a curious intensity. "How often has the Master fed from you?" she asks, her voice

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

not for a single feeding." There's something in her tone, an undercurrent

you

favor y greatly, for a single

monster might favor

]]

room, tie lase mast but no words

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd

want is to curl up

ere will die

mure endle

she doesn't wees to care

hate prodding at my skin with

detach that make me

what she's doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my

rough from disuse and screaming. "He only

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

and

return.

to

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. "When did you realize

Lisa Fevers

For