On The Other Side (The Wall Series #2)

Chapter 2

A soldier materialized in front of me.

Anna found it funny. I didn't.

To pass the time, Alec had shown us what was upstairs. The stairs creaked noisily as we reached the first floor.

We were standing in a corridor. At the left end was a dusty window that allowed sunlight to pour in, highlighting the grooves and marks on the wooden floor. To the right end was a bookshelf that stretched from the floor to the ceiling in all its glory. Two darkwood doors bringing out the plain cream wallpaper lead to what I assumed were two bedrooms.

Anna and I made our way over to the bookshelf (of course) and after a minute of searching, my eyes set on a particularly dusty book with a red hardbound cover. I pulled it out of the row of books, coughing from all the dust, and ran my index finger over the title.

Earth.

It would've been interesting to see what aliens thought of humans, especially because the only aliens humans ever thought of were the green coloured ones with antennae on their heads. Pity.

Anna and I took our books downstairs and sat at either edge of the sofa to read. After thoughtfully running my hands over the book, I opened it.

Earth: Theories

To reveal what was hidden from us for centuries is the wondrous purpose of this book.

Earth: was it a tale someone ever narrated to you? Did you ever dismiss the ludicrous idea of it? Did you ever blatantly ignore its possibility?

You did. But it was real.

To clarify, there were, in fact, two leading theories about Earth. One school of thought believed that the idea of Earth had come from a part of imagination, and was thus, unreal. But the second school of thought accepted the possibility of another world just like ours, and people just like us.

There were many more discussions, opening to new thoughts and views. Are Earthlings equipped with the technology we are equipped with? If Earth exists, then where is it? Do they obtain their resources just like we do?

We don't know. But someone found a clue. A clue to a portal.

Let us go back to our previous thought. If Earth exists, where is it? This can be explained by true events. For example—

"Amy?"

I jerked my head up, and then instantly regretted it because a headache had begun to develop from all the hunger.

"Yes, Anna?"

"Can I see your book?"

"No." I went back to reading.

She snatched the book from my hands and got up. I shot up, a little irritated, now ignoring the throbbing in my head. No one interrupted my reading. No one.

"Give it back!" I yelled as she dashed towards the stairs, throwing me an evil laugh. That devil.

It might have been my boredom, or maybe an attempt to distract my thoughts that made me decide I wanted to chase her.

She bolted up the staircase, and just as I rushed to reach the bottom step, the soldier materialized in front of me.

"Ahhh!" I screamed, crashing into him, and we both toppled over on the staircase. A tangled mass of hands and legs thrashed around for a moment, and from above, I could hear laughter.

"Argh, get off, get off, get off of me!" he growled, and I scampered away on all fours. I didn't want to make a soldier mad and accidentally get shot.