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

I try to

behind her.

her, dragging her away as she kicks and

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.

Pain sears. Ava's

the last. Ava, drowning in

55000

And always, I'm helpless to save

watch as she suffers.

I can't wake up. The horrors

I do wake

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

as the bitter liquid hits my tongue, but I force myself to swallow. Anything to chase away

torment.

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

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

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

you

mutters, "He must favor y

idea that this monster might favor me fills me with nothing but a sickening

]]

lase mast but

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's

want is

ere will die

mure endle

to care about my discomfort.

need to me agan her hate

that make

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

don't have any I rasp out, my voice rough from disuse and screaming. "He only bit

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

that. The memory of his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that

return.

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 you know? she asks softly, her eyes never

Fevers and

For