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

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

behind her.

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

scene shifts, and we're on a plane, Ava beside me. She's gripping the armrests, making a joke about the turbulence. I reach for her hand to comfort her, but

Impact.

Flames erupt. Pain

coming, each more horrific than the last. Ava, drowning in a sea of blood. Ava,

55000

monsters. And always, I'm helpless to

watch as she suffers.

can't wake up. The horrors play out again and again, an endless loop

mercifully, I do

in sweat. My throat feels raw, my limbs heavy and weak. Marisol kneels beside

tongue, but I force

torment.

"How often has the Master fed from you?" she asks, her voice almost

at her, surprised by the question. "Just once,"

strong, not for a single feeding." There's something in her

you

mutters, "He must favor y greatly, for a single

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

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lase mast

weten, my mind dealle

Mariel's odd

all I want is to curl

ere will die

mure endle

doesn't wees to care

me agan her hate prodding at

detach that

doing. Her fingers press against my neck, my wrists, my ankles. It's only when she peers down at

don't have any I rasp out, my voice rough from disuse

with a strange intensity. "Only once," she repeats, as if tasting the

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

return.

swallow hard, trying to

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

Lisa Fevers

For