This is for Lianna Young's contest book and for hopeless_romantic747's contest book

Linda Buckley had recently moved to Indiana in a quiet house. It was enormous and had recently been repainted

Even though the house looked really pretty, Linda was the least interested. She hated living here, in this quiet city instead of New York which was bustling with life.

She missed her friends too but did her mother understand her? No!

Ever sice they had moved Linda had had many fights with her mother. Ultimately when she had shouted that this house was ugly, her mom had lost her temper and shut her in the attic.

Which was basically grounding her cause her room was still being painted. For a while Linda pouted in a corner but then decided to explore the place.

After getting her haur tangled in cobwebs, sneezing on the dust fumes and tripping on things, Linda finally sat on a couch. Unfortunately for her it was very old and with a flump, she sank abnormally deep into it

Grumbling she picked herself up and looked for some 'safe' place to sit. Suddenly she came across a tall piece of furniture, covered with a red cloth

Curiously she lifted the cloth to find a 7 feet tall, gleaming mirror with golden edges. Linda looked at her reflection. Her blonde hair could have been mistaken for brown. Her face was covered with layers of dust and cobwebs and her clothes looked as good as a ragmuffin's

Her hazel eyes blinked. She had got many compliments on her beauty but right niw she could have been mistaken for a street girl, begging for money.

Suddenly she heard her mother call her. Linda turned. She hadn't even taken a step forward when she felt someone yank at her ankle.

Startled, she fell back, expecting to land with a crash.

Unexpectedly, she hit the floor with a thud. She looked around to find herself in a room, definately not like an attic. The walls were bright green and there was a small cot in the middle of the room. A huge cabinet lined a whole wall. Except that the room was empty. Linda turned to find herself looking back into the attic where a girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes stood.

Linda gasped. The girl looked just like her. The girl gave her a crooked smile and then turned to see Linda's mother

"Mom!" Linda yelled and ran forward only to crash into an invisible wall and smash her face. Dazed she realised something and her eyes grew wide in horror.

She was trapped in the mirror
_________________________________

Linda could do nothing but sob as the girl took her place and covered the mirror with the cloth.

She missed her mother already and wished that she hadn't fought with her so much.

After a while, she gathered herself and wiped her tears. She had to find a way out. Hesistatingly, she opened the door in her room and stepped out.

Immediately she had to cover her eyes. Everything was so bright that it hurt. After a few minutes of rapid blinking, Linda's eyes finally adjusted to the light.

The sky was bright blue and the park across her had flourescent green grass. She saw that she had stepped out of a very small house, the size of a large room. The whole street was lined with such small houses, each a different flourescent colour

"Where am I?" Linda wondered

Suddenly the door to the adjacent house opened a crack and a pair of bright blue eyes peeked out. There was a gasp and a boy with shiny black hair and pale skin appeared.
He firmly clamped Linda's arm and ushered her into his house

He quickly shut the door and heaved a sigh of relief.

"Who are you?" Linda demanded

The boy narrowed his eyes.
"Be glad that I found you and not anyone else. I am Bradley. You can call me Brad"

"Ohkay. I am Linda. Could you please tell me where I am and how can I go back to my place?"

"It's a long story" Brad sighed

"Yoy should wash yourself before someone sights you. I'll prepare something for ypu to eat"

Linda was utterly baffled but she decided to listen to Brad

As Brad pointed the way, Linda's hand brushed hers as she jumped at the mild electric shock she had got. Brad went away without saying anything so Linda shrugged and went ahead. Amazingly, she found suitable clothes and came out with damp hair, clad in a neon yellow top and bright blue shorts

Brad nodded at her and guestured towards a plate of pizza which Linda finished hungrily.

Without a warning, Brad started speaking.

"The whole world is divided into three parallel sections. One is called the Dark World, the second is called the Mediate World and the third is the World of Light, where you are. The Dark World is full of darkness and dreariness, as per myths. The World of light is a bright and quiet place as you can see and the Mediate World is where you come from"

So far Linda was with him

"The three worlds are connected through mirror portals through which we can travel. Unfortunately, the new king feels that travelling between the worlds is dangerous and therefore, travelling is forbidden and anyone else who enters our world is to be handed over to him"

Linda looked at Brad worridely.

"Don't worry" he said
"I wouldn't take you to the king. You are safe with me"

"Can I ask a question?" Linda spoke up

"That is a question" Brad said
"But yes you can"

"Why aren't you handing me over to the king? Why did I get a shock when I touched you? How does that girl looke exactly like me? And how in the world do I gey back?!"

"Whoa" Brad said
"Slow down, will you"

"We all are not made of flesh and skin. We are made if particles of light and can dissolve easily. That's why you got a shock.
This is also a reason why Melly was able to change form to look like you. As for giving you to the king and taking you back to the world... I will help you do so only if you promise to take me with you"

"I promise" Linda said

Brad smiled. "Then let's go!"
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Brad had explained that to get Linda back to her own world, they would have to bring Melly back. For that they would need the essence of light of which she was made up of. And that could be found only in the Ray area.

So Linda and Brad had been walking for a while now, towards a huge flourescent green hill.

After a while Linda grew tired and they decided to rest for a while. Linda stretched on the grass while Brad set off to get some water.

"Don't talk to anyone or go near anyone" he had warned

Linda had got bored waiting for Brad. She had been thinking of her behaviour with her mother and had promised to herself that she would never fight with her again

Suddenly she saw a small girl with flowing brown hair and green eyes coming towards her.

Startled, she realised that it was a doll who was crying

"Aww you poor little doll" Linda said sympathetically
"Why are you crying?"

She bent towards the doll and was about to stroke its hair when she heard a shout and suddenly Brad was there. He had an amulet in his hand which was now glowing golden

The doll gave a cry and suddenly her teeth turned into fangs and her brown hair turned into slithering snakes

She jumped towards Linda but before she got near her, she dissolved into black dust

Brad scowled.
"I told you not to go near anyone. You could have got killed by that monster!"

Linda's lip quivered.
"Sorry" she muttered.

He sighed. "Come on quick"

"What's the hurry?" Linda asked

He looked at her and blinked.
"I guess I forgot to tell you that if you do not escape within 24 hours, you'll become one of us.

Linda's eyes widened in horror. She had begun to feel a little lighter but had thought it was he r imagination. She had also begun to like these fluorescent colours. Linda shuddered. She was definately changing

Linda looked at the sky. I guess we have plenty of time though sthoughthe

As if reading her thoughts, Brad said " The sky never gets dark here. I think you have approximately 5 hours left"

That was all the encouragement she needed and she scurried after him.

After a long time they reached the brightest hill of all. On top of the hill stood a huge gleaming castle. It's base was white but the tiles were neon yellow and neon pink for the towers.

"Hurry" Brad said urgently
"We cannot let the king see us"

Still in a daze, Linda followed him down a path which led us to the back of a castle. There stood a dome which was fluorescent  green in colour.

No wait, it was pink. Or blue. Or yellow. It kept changing colour and reflected a lot of light.

"That is where the essence of our light is kept" Brad said quietly

He handed Linda a dark black pebble and warned her to hold on it hard and not lose it. The moment she let go of it, she wouldn't remain invisible

Linda nodded and quietly entered the dome. Linda gasped and Brad glared at me. But she couldn't help it. She could feel her body turning into particles and she was literally floating.

Brad must have noticed it for he quickened his pace. After some twists and turns, they reached a big room.

There were two dolls right outside it. But Brad took out another amulet, a bright purple one and muttered something. Without a sound, the dolls dissolved into silver fumes

Creeped out a little, Linda stepped into the hall. The hall was illuminated with dazzling lights that came from different coloured flowers that were scattered everywhere. Pink, green, blue, purple, white, yellow - every single colour.

Despite that beautiful scene, panic started building inside her. How would they find the right flower?What would happen if they didn't find it in time?

Brad grabbed her arm and pointed to a green flower in a corner that was fading away.

Realising his mistake, he took away his hand but the damage was done. Linda felt the same electric shock run through her and dropped the stone. A few seconds ago there had been pin-drop silence but now a kind of alarm started blaring.

Brad cursed

"Grab the flower!" he yelled

She raced towards the flower not caring about trampling the others. It wouldn't have mattered. Linda really was floating now. She snatched the fading flower and ran up to Brad.

"Quick! Repeat after me" Brad cried

"I Linda -"

"I Linda Buckley" she said, hyperventilating

"Wish to go back to my realm, in my rightful place"

Linda repeated after him and the flower started glowing. Light particles flowed around me, lifting her higher and higher.

"Linda!" Brad cried

Linda remembered her promise and grabbed his arm and together they travelled back to Linda's world.

_______________ _________________________________________

Linda got just enough time to steady herself when her mother came in. She cried in delight and hugged her and apologised for her behaviour. She looked really astonished but smiled.

"Who is he?" Linda's mother asked

Uh oh Linda thought

But before she could say anything Brad said that he was Tyler Grein, our neighbour. She noticed that his hair were now blonde and he looked much more muscular.

"You can't keep up this lie forever" Linda said after mom had left

"Who says this is a lie" Brad grinned and gave a creepy chuckle

"Tyler Grien is enjoying his stay in my house"

Looking at his smile Linda was suddenly having second thoughts.

Was bringing Brad here really a good idea?