The sun was dipping low in the sky, bleeding a warm, golden-yellow shade over the rooftops. It was the kind of evening that promised peace, but inside our house, there was only a beautiful, chaotic mess.
The air was thick and heavy with the mouth-watering aroma of fresh ginger and garlic sizzling in the kitchen. My aunts were in their element, their voices rising above the clatter of pots as they shouted for us to set the table for dinner. In a quiet corner, a newlywed couple—my cousins—were whispering, trying to steal a few romantic seconds before the family storm swallowed them whole.
"Women are always better than the men who try to boss them around!" my eldest aunt declared loudly.
She was sitting with the elders, a circle of uncles and aunts lost in their usual, endless debates about cricket scores and local politics. I smiled, tucked away in my own corner of the living room, squeezed onto a sofa between two of my cousins.
I was the youngest of the lot. The only sister to four fiercely over-protective brothers. To them, I was something to be guarded—a "free spirit" they felt the need to cage in their shadows. We were playing a game, laughing, and my younger cousin casually rested his arm across my shoulders in a brotherly gesture.
Then, my phone buzzed.
It was a sharp, aggressive vibration against the pillow behind me. I reached for it, expecting a meme from a friend or a notification from a vlog.
My heart stopped.
The message was from an unknown number. My breath hitched as the words burned into my retinas:
"You have exactly tem seconds to tell that guy to put his arm away, little kitten"
A rush of ice-cold fear traveled through my spine, making the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My eyes went wide, frozen on the glowing screen. Someone was watching me. Someone who knew exactly where I was sitting. Someone who could see the hand on my shoulder.
"Your turn, kiddo!"
My second brother's voice boomed, snapping me back to reality. He was looking at me, his brow furrowed when he saw my pale face.
I forced a smile, my hands trembling as I tucked the phone away. I managed to continue the game, my laughter sounding hollow in my own ears. But my mind was miles away, racing with a thousand questions.
Under the table, I slowly leaned forward, making it look like a casual movement as I brushed my cousin's hand off my shoulder. I felt a chill, as if a pair of dark eyes were boring into the back of my head from the window.
In a house full of protectors, I had never felt more alone.