Tinseling

Chapter Sixteen - The Zoo

When Treasure woke, she found herself alone. The faint scent of fruit hovered in the room, telling her Nadia had been through somewhat recently. Rolling over to look at the time, Treasure felt glad she had no scheduled work because she would’ve been very late.

Something by her bed caught her attention and she flicked on the lamp to examine further. The object of interest was a simple piece of plastic, just like a state identification card. Treasure flipped the card over to see her own face staring back at her. Scanning over the front, it took Treasure a few times to find the difference: her name.

Treasure Davis.

The picture started to change to Treasure, too. The image wasn’t an official photo, but it looked like one. This was a photo taken sometime when Treasure had her hair back, making her face look slightly different: more angular, older. Stumbling up from the bed, Treasure looked for her pants only to have images crash through her mind like waves on the beach.

Harrison had been here, washing her off. He’d been wounded but ignored it. Treasure remembered Aidan and Harrison acted like they were keeping something from her… and then she’d gone to sleep.

Moving to the closet when she didn’t find any pants on the floor, Treasure grabbed clothes—trying her best not to remember if she’d been naked when Harrison scrubbed her down—and pulled them on hurriedly. While buttoning the shorts Treasure walked into the main room to find Nadia watching TV and Aidan sitting next to Nadia but obviously not paying attention by the way his eyes roamed.

“Someone slept late,” Nadia commented.

Treasure looked at the TV, met Nadia’s uncaring gaze, and looked at Aidan, who hadn’t turned to look at Treasure. Walking toward him with the altered ID in her hand, Treasure demanded, “Did you do this?”

Now Aidan moved to look. “Do what?”

“This,” she said, waving the ID in front of him.

Giving her an exasperated look, Aidan said, “I can’t read it if you’re waving it around like that.” Treasure stopped and he held one side to keep it steady. It took him a few times of looking the card over before he caught the changes. “A fake?” he asked skeptically. “No, I didn’t do this.”

“Nadia?” Treasure asked, almost hopefully.

Nadia shook her head.

That left very few people who could’ve done it, and Treasure didn’t feel like either of her friends were lying. Just as she started to open her mouth to wonder aloud about it, the news switched over to Treasure’s picture as the missing person.

“No new leads…” the lady said, but Treasure stopped listening. She moved closer to the TV, looking at the image they showed and holding up her fake ID next to it. They looked close enough to provide confusion but different enough for Treasure to claim to be someone else. It was almost like she could forget the missing Treasure and start anew.

Sitting down on the floor, Treasure said, “No talking to the police, I guess.”

Aidan made a grunting noise that clearly said he didn’t agree. Treasure figured it was the best answer from him she’d get.

“What happened last night?” she asked when the TV switched to commercial. “I remember parts of it, but I’m not sure how much happened. And if it really happened and wasn’t just in my head, I can’t remember what led up to it.”

Shaking his head, Aidan said, “I don’t know Treasure. I just know whatever happened is between you and Harrison.”

Stunned, Treasure asked, “Since when do you settle for that? I thought you hated him.” The words she didn’t say were, “I thought you were on my side.”