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

vision, dark tendrils snaking across the ground. I try to warn Ava, but my voice won't work. She keeps talking, oblivious,

behind her.

scream, but no 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

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 blur of sky and ground, rushing closer and closer

Impact.

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

the last. Ava, drowning in a sea

55000

I'm helpless to save her,

watch as she suffers.

I can't wake up. The

mercifully, I do wake

in 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 liquid

liquid hits my tongue, but I force myself

torment.

intensity. "How often has the

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

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

you

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

The idea that this monster might favor

]]

tie lase mast but

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd behavior.

I want is

ere will die

mure endle

she doesn't wees to

need to me agan her hate prodding at my skin

detach that make me

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

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

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

his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure

return.

hard, trying to

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

Lisa Fevers and

For