Psychopathy

Chapter 56- The Space Between

Isabel was at a crossroads. She hadn't known how long she had been walking that road. But now she had a choice to make. At the end of one path, she could see people from her earliest memories. People from a past life. People she had loved and had lost. She could go down that road and join them. She would never suffer, never hurt, and all would be right with the world. Down that road was a version of home she could barely remember, but home nonetheless.

At the end of the other were the friends she had known when she was dragged down to hell. The friends that had come to rescue her. He was standing at the front of the group, smiling softly at her. He had been the one she had missed the most, the one she had gone straight to when they came to rescue her. He held his hand out to her, but she knew he understood. He understood that, in the end, it was her choice. Down that road was the home she had worked so hard to build. The home that she would spend so long rebuilding.

Each road held people she had loved. Each road ended at a version of home. But she knew that whichever road she took, she would never again see the people at the other end of the road. She would have to give up one home to reach the other. She wanted both, but she understood that could never happen.

She looked down each road. She had to make a choice. And with the sun setting in the distance, she knew she would have to make it soon.

**************

Ciara stood in a field of grass, hills rising up around her. How had she gotten here? The last thing she remembered was the light fading and the cold settling in. She remembered her mother's voice telling her that it wasn't her time and a faraway voice reminding her of something important. And then a light had formed and burst, chasing the dark and the cold away. She'd closed her eyes, protecting them from the blinding light. When she opened them again, she was standing in the grass.

What was this experience? A dream? A trick of the mind? Or had her mother been wrong? What if it had been her time and she had reached heaven? She looked around slightly, trying to take in her surroundings. In the distance, she noticed three hills that were close together, each one a different height. Something about them looked familiar. She looked the other way and saw three hills in a similar arrangement. She began to smile brightly.

Idir na cnoic i ngrúpaí de thriúr, seithí teach chomh gar don fharraige.

Between the hills grouped in threes, hides a house so close to the sea.

The song her mother had taught her came flashing back to her. She'd been worried that her daughter would wander someday and get lost. The house was rather in the middle of nowhere, so both of Ciara's parents had come up with a song so she'd know how to find her way back. And now, after all this time, their work was paying off. Ciara broke out into a run, crying and laughing the whole way.

This place must truly be heaven. In this place, she could run and not get tired. In this place, she didn't feel any pain. She was the proper weight and when she looked at her arms, they were free of scars, and she had all ten of her fingers. In this place, she was finally whole. And in this place, she would finally see her parents again. Where else could she be, if not heaven? She ran between the hills and followed the rest of the landmarks the song mentioned. And, before she knew it, a house appeared in the distance.

Ciara had to stop. It was exactly as she remembered it. It was painted light green to blend in with the grass around it.  It didn't have the square design that most houses did but was circular. In her later years, she learned that the proper term for the house was a "rotunda". There were two floors, just as she remembered. She looked in an upstairs bedroom and saw the starry curtains she knew belonged to her room. And on the roof was an intricately painted pattern of flowers, designed to look like the field of flowers the house sat on.