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

behind her.

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

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

Impact.

Flames erupt. Pain

Ava, drowning in a sea

55000

always, I'm helpless to

watch as she suffers.

wake up. The horrors play out again and again, an

finally, mercifully, I do

weak. Marisol kneels beside me. holding a bowl of that foul-smelling liquid to my lips.

my tongue, but I force myself to swallow. Anything

torment.

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

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

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

you

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

idea that this monster might

]]

room, tie lase mast but no words coming

weten, my mind dealle

with Mariel's odd behavior.

I want is to curl

ere will die

mure endle

she doesn't wees to care

need to me agan her hate prodding at my skin with

detach that make me

she's doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's

voice rough from disuse

she repeats, as if tasting the words. "But the withdrawal... it's

how to respond to that. The memory of his fangs sinking, the agonizing pain, and the sickening rush of pleasure that followed, makes bile rise

return.

swallow hard, trying to push the sensation

strange girl 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? she asks softly, her eyes never leaving mine.

Lisa Fevers

For