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 coalesce

behind her.

but no sound comes out. The shadow reaches for Ava, engulfing her, dragging her away as she kicks and struggles. I

scene shifts, and we're on a plane, Ava beside 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 world outside the windows is a blur of sky and ground, rushing closer

Impact.

screeches and rends. Flames erupt. Pain

each more horrific than the last. Ava, drowning in a sea of

55000

I'm helpless to

watch as she suffers.

against my chains, but I can't escape. I can't wake up. The horrors play out again and again, an

I do wake

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

I force myself to swallow. Anything to

torment.

watches me with a curious intensity. "How often has the Master

once,"

withdrawal shouldn't be this strong, not for a single feeding." There's something in her tone,

you

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

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

]]

room, tie lase mast but no

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's odd behavior.

all I want is

ere will die

mure endle

doesn't wees to

hate prodding

that make me

wrists, my ankles. It's only when she

out, my voice rough from disuse and screaming.

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

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.

to push

back on her heels, crossing her arms 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

Lisa Fevers

For