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 the shadows

behind her.

her, dragging her away as she kicks and struggles. I lunge for her, but my feet are rooted.

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,

Impact.

screeches and rends. Flames erupt. Pain

the last. Ava, drowning in a sea of blood.

55000

unseen monsters. And always, I'm helpless to

watch as she suffers.

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

finally, mercifully, I

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 lips. "Drink," she commands, tipping

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

torment.

intensity. "How often has the Master fed from you?"

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

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

you

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

that this monster might favor me fills me with nothing but

]]

tie lase mast but no words coming

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's

aut all I want is to curl

ere will die

mure endle

to care about

me agan her hate prodding at my skin

that

wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers

out, my voice rough from disuse and

hands still, and she looks at me with a strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if

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

return.

swallow hard, trying to push

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 leaving mine. "When did you realize you were in love with the

Fevers

For