The Other Side of Me

Chapter Eleven: The Other Side of Me

As I step onto the floor, the small conversations abruptly stop. All the Dark Angels start to stand up from theirs circular tables around the room. Faces in awe stare at me as if they have been waiting for me their whole existence. Just thinking about it, some probably have. Mr. Polic stands up and comes up to me. "Everyone wants to meet you Bella." He leads me to the front of the room where dozens of eyes follow my every room. As I walk, I silently count the number of members. 56, 57, 58...

The front of the room has a chalkboard with the SPC symbol in the corner. The chalkboard has so much information, I can barely read it all. Information such as who I am and what the project's objectives are cover the surface of the board. Mr. Polic sits me in a chair beside the chalkboard and clasps his hands. I see Ms. Tanya and Michael stand in the back of the room, but Michael comes closer up with a concentrated look on his face, which make me feel more secure.

Mr. Polic clears his throat. "Now as always, our meeting will commence with the pledge."

Everyone remains standing and places their right hand on their individual SPC badge. In unison, the voices of the members ring through my ears as I hear hope through their words.

We fight, we pledge, we believe
That The Society will stand strong
We remember to not forget
What we were before
Our skin is bare, our soul is gone,
But our pride will stand tall
For we are and we will always be
The humans that roam the Devil's Heart

As they finish the pledge, I see that all the members believe every word that they said. I look to my right and I see Clare at one of the middle tables. She smiles and pats her badge. Next to her, I see Madeline taking her seat and nodding at me, giving me reassurance. I scrunch the folded piece of paper that is my project deeper into my navy blue jacket pocket. When everyone is seated, Ms. Tanya comes up to the front.

"As one of Bella's advisers," she begins, "I would like to introduce you to her."

"Many of you know Bella's story, but some have not been The Society for that long. During a Solstice ten years ago, a child was recovered from the middle of this lake. Something transported her here, and we assume one thing." She looks at me. "We assumed she was from Earth. Before her arrival, people who had the feeling were lead here to this lake and we all had the same connection. We all believed that we came from somewhere else. We remembered a world much different than this one. When we look into a mirror, we don't see what we saw are so familiar with. Instead we see a shell of a different person, a different creature. Besides our connection as The Society, we didn't know what we really were. But when this child came through the lake, all our thoughts were proven right." She points to me. "Isabella Harper is the reason why we sit here today with a purpose. And now through all of our memories and a human walking among us, we have an opportunity to send Bella back to Earth and gather more information from us. Thing we don't remember."

"How do we know she will help us?" A voice asks. Some other voices agree. "She's ten years old."

"And that's what makes her so valuable." Mr. Polic answers. "As a child, she is more innocent than a Major would be. We all know that Majors and up could be a cause of a problem." He looks at me. "And I believe that Bella herself is interested in who she is as well and why she is here."

I nod. That's the main reason why I'm going.

Mr. Polic looks into the crowd. "Are there any other questions?"

All there is is silence. He nods. "Good." He looks at his watch. "The Solstice will be at it's full peak at 7 falling and I want everyone ready at 6 third quarter. Thank you."

Dark Angels start to go into their own conversations and Ms. Tanya comes to me. "Come on, I have a table for us."

She leads me to a table on the left side of the board. At the table, I already see Madeline, Mr. Polic, and Michael at the table. I sit by Madeline and Ms. Tanya. Mr. Polic puts his elbows on the table and take off his glasses, uncovering his sharp dark brown eyes.