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

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

behind her.

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

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 blur of sky and ground, rushing

Impact.

and rends. Flames erupt. Pain sears. Ava's hand. slips from

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

55000

And always, I'm helpless

watch as she suffers.

I can't escape. I can't wake up. The horrors play out again

I do wake

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

force

torment.

has the Master

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

widen. "Only once?" 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 emotion I can't

you

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

that this monster might favor me fills

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room, tie lase mast but no words coming

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's

aut all I want

ere will die

mure endle

doesn't wees to care about

me agan her hate prodding at my skin with

that make

fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down at my shoulder that I realize what

my voice rough

as if

pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed,

return.

trying to

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

Lisa Fevers

For