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

to warn Ava, but my voice

behind her.

The shadow reaches for Ava, engulfing her, dragging her away as she

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

Impact.

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

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

55000

always, I'm helpless to save

watch as she suffers.

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

I

limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels beside me. holding a bowl of that

my tongue, but I force myself to swallow. Anything to

torment.

"How often has the Master fed from you?" she

by the question. "Just once," I

once?" She shakes her head. "The withdrawal shouldn't be this strong, not for a single

you

face as she mutters, "He must favor y greatly, for a

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

]]

mast but no

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's odd

aut all I want is to curl

ere will die

mure endle

to care about my

hate

detach that

first, I'm not sure what she's doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down at my

I rasp out, my voice rough from disuse and screaming. "He only bit me

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

sinking, the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed, makes bile rise in my

return.

to push the sensation

settles 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?

Fevers

For