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“All of the cities cut up and merged together.”
She placed her view back on me. “What cities?”
I blinked. “Prague and Paris. Moscow.”
She shook her head. “It’s only darkness and demons.”
“You do not see the buildings and alleys? The towers?”
She shook her head again.
“Can you hear the music or—?”
“No. It’s always quiet out here.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
I turned to Pavel. “Do you see it? The cities? The other places?”
“I see Moscow among Harlem.” Pavel’s gaze fixed on a point in the distance. He extended his hand, and his finger pointed toward St. Basil’s Cathedral.
The iconic red-brick structure, with its swirling, multicolored domes and golden spires, stood out like a beacon in the chaotic fusion of worlds. It was a surreal slice of Moscow sitting incongruously amidst the New York skyline.
“That’s one of Emily’s favorite Russian buildings,” I remarked, more to myself than to Pavel.
The little girl shook her head again. “But. . .it’s only darkness. . .”
Her response clarified something vital for me. These visions, these glimpses into other worlds, were something the alters—Emily’s fragmented selves—couldn’t perceive.
While I might not have possessed the power to heal her, to fuse back together the shattered pieces of her psyche, I held a unique advantage. I could see beyond the darkness that enveloped her, see the landscapes and memories that perhaps held the key to understanding her pain, her fears.
I couldn’t mend her mind, but maybe, just maybe, I could guide her through the darkness that her alters were trapped in.
If these places, these snapshots from around the world, were pieces of Emily’s past or her inner world, then understanding them, acknowledging them, might be the first step in helping her confront and perhaps integrate her fragmented selves.
Okay. This is good.
The realization settled in, and a weight lifted from my shoulders.
I didn’t have all the answers, but I had a direction.
A purpose.
And in that moment, that was enough.
I turned away from the mosaic cityscape and looked back at the little girl. “One day you will see all of this.”
The look she gave me, said that I was possibly the craziest person she had ever met.
Silent, she returned to climbing up to the roof.
Pavel and I followed.
Once on top, the panorama before us was a breathtaking urban patchwork—Parisian rooftops snuggled against Moscow’s industrial skyline, and sprinkled amidst them were the towering skyscrapers of New York.
Fucking awesome.
I turned my view to the rooftop.
