Mirror Image

By Mallika Sinha

This is the story of Teresa whose best friend loses her memory. An accidental encounter brings her into an intriguing world of selfish interests and wormholes, a parallel universe. Her friends and family support her as she gets pulled into an incredible new reality, which is fascinating and dangerous at the same time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Jun 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482831672

Mallika Sinha

Mallika Sinha is thirteen years old. In addition to writing, she learns ballet and plays the piano and brass instruments. She has lived in Europe, Asia, and now lives in New Jersey, with her parents and younger sister. Mallikas world is made up of music notes, dance moves, and her imagination. Her fascination with words began when she was young and continues to this day. This is her second book.

Book preview

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Copyright © 2015 Mallika Sinha. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-4828-3166-5 (sc)

978-1-4828-3167-2 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

05/29/2015

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

CHAPTER 1

Teresa was doing her maths homework in her room when her little brother, Andrew, rushed in and tugged at her sleeve. She ignored him, but he tugged resolutely till she looked up, exasperated.

‘What is it with you, Andrew!’ she snapped, and pulled her sleeve away. It was more of a statement than a question, but he answered anyway.

‘I want cake.’

‘So go and get it,’ she said, tossing back her hair, annoyed that he should have interrupted her for such a trivial thing.

‘I can’t. It’s kept too high.’

‘Then ask Mom.’

‘She’s sleeping.’

‘Wake her up.’

‘I don’t want to. Just go and get me cake.’

Tired of the conversation, she got up and took out the cake. ‘There. Fine?’

She had turned around when he said, ‘Cut me a piece.’

She cut him a piece of the cake and was closing the kitchen door when he said, ‘It’s too small. Cut me a bigger piece.’

Irritated, she cut him a bigger piece, stuffed the smaller one in her mouth, and stalked off, slamming the door behind her.

‘She’s so grouchy, not nice at all,’ Andrew mumbled under his breath and then started eating his cake.

When she was in her room, Teresa closed the door and sighed. Andrew can be such a pain sometimes, she thought. Hearing a distant shout from outside, she went into the hallway and yelled, ‘What did you say?’

‘I said the evening news will have started. Please switch on the TV!’ came her mom’s voice.

Teresa ran to the TV and switched it on. The opening line caught her attention.

‘The volcano in Quito, Ecuador, has erupted, covering the entire city in an ash cloud. Many buildings have collapsed, and other structures have been damaged severely. Scientists had evacuated the city, but the thousands of people who had yet not been able to move out were all stranded. As you can see in this picture, taken by a remote sensing satellite, the destruction caused by this sudden eruption was extensive. The southern part of the city was completely destroyed, and some of the structures elsewhere have also been damaged severely.’

‘Many people in the northern part of the city have escaped with injuries, but close to a hundred people in the city have been killed in this devastating eruption. After the break, we will interview an eye witness, Mr Dallas Vaupen of Sydney, who was visiting a relative in Quito at the time of the eruption.’

Teresa dropped the remote, staring dumbly at the TV, now playing an advert for breakfast cereal. Her mouth opened slowly, and her eyes widened in horror.

CHAPTER 2

At 9.30 a.m. in Sydney, Australia, no one noticed a green Ferrari slide into the complex, nor did anybody observe a tall, thin woman with olive-green eyes and shoulder-length, straight black hair, wearing a black leather jacket with jeans tucked into her boots, quietly slip out of the car and glide to the nearest building where someone was waiting for her. The woman was led up to the sixteenth floor by Dr Gregory Watts, a man of medium height with neatly parted blond hair, fair skin, and ocean-blue eyes; he was dressed in a dark-blue polo shirt with jeans and brown leather shoes.

They came out of the elevator and entered an apartment, which was tastefully furnished with paintings by Vincent van Gogh and glass statues. The marble floor supported white leather sofas with dark silk cushions. Dr Watts settled comfortably into one of the sofas, but the woman remained standing.

The woman said softly, ‘Dr Gregory Watts, here is your