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

behind her.

her away as she kicks and struggles.

reach for her hand to comfort her, but the plane lurches, throwing us forward. Oxygen Ava's screaming. I'm screaming.

Impact.

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

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

55000

unseen monsters. And always, I'm helpless to save

watch as she suffers.

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

finally, mercifully, I do

raw, my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels beside me. holding a bowl of that foul-smelling liquid to

tongue, but I force myself to swallow. Anything to chase away the lingering images

torment.

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

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

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

you

her face as she mutters, "He must favor y greatly, for a single taste to affect

how to respond to that. The idea that this monster might favor me fills me with nothing but a sickening twist

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room, tie lase mast but

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's

want

ere will die

mure endle

to care about

her hate prodding at my skin with

that make me

sure what she's doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when

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

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

that. The memory of his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed, makes bile rise in my throat, the medicine threatening

return.

trying to push the

and resting 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

Lisa Fevers

For