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

behind her.

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

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.

Impact.

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

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

55000

always, I'm helpless to

watch as she suffers.

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

mercifully, I

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

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

torment.

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

her, surprised by the question. "Just once," I rasp out, wincing at the pain in my

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

you

across her face as she mutters, "He must favor y greatly, for a single taste to affect

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

]]

room, tie lase mast but no words coming

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd behavior.

aut all I want is to

ere will die

mure endle

wees to care about

need to me agan her hate

that make me

press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down at my shoulder that I

have any I rasp out, my voice rough from disuse

intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if tasting the words. "But

don't know how to respond to that. The memory of his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and

return.

swallow hard, trying to

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 never leaving mine.

Fevers and

For