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

my vision, dark tendrils snaking across the ground. I try to warn Ava, but my voice

behind her.

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

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 and closer

Impact.

rends. Flames erupt. Pain sears. Ava's

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

55000

And always, I'm helpless to save

watch as she suffers.

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

I do wake

my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels

but I force myself to swallow. Anything to chase

torment.

has the Master fed from you?" she asks,

the question. "Just once," I rasp

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

you

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

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

]]

lase mast but no

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd behavior.

aut all I want is to curl up

ere will die

mure endle

wees to care about my

hate prodding at

that make me

press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles.

out, my voice rough from disuse and

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

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

return.

hard, trying to

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

Lisa Fevers and

For