AAHARA

"Aahara come out. Didn't you wanna meet them? What happened now?" Naana said.

I was hiding behind his massive frame, trying to disappear but who was I kidding. He sighed, and turned around so that he was facing me, and I hid my face in his chest. Yes, I always wanted to meet them, my family, but here standing infront of them, in their house, I was too overwhelmed with everything. None of them showed anything, neither any signs anxiety nor anything else. They were all stonic, and it didn't help my nerves one bit, they only managed to
scare me even more.

Also it wasn't just my family's stone cold expression that made stomach drop, it was Naana too, afterall it was a goodbye from his side. I didn't want him to leave, but he didn't want me to stay with him after the incident. Naana significantly changed after Naani's death, he had always been the less affectionate one among them, but now his affection wasn't the same.

Naana in hindi actually means the Father of our Mother, meaning Grandfather.
Naani means Mom's mom, Grandmother. Mom².

He was worried, worried that I will end up the same way as her, and that was what had him never leaving me alone. So, after spending my entire life with my grandparents, recently being caged by my grandfather for sometime, here I was standing in my parents house, as Naana had to leave for some mysterious work and he didn't want me alone.

I always thought that nothing could affect him, he was like that, strong yet soft, deep yet grounded, harsh yet caring. Well to me and Naani, but after the incident and him loosing the love of his life, he changed and that change was only for the worse.

I could see it, even if he didn't want to admit it. He was angry and that was scary and he knew that, that I was getting afraid of him. So, that's why he didn't want me around, he said that in his anger, he might hurt me, but that wasn't something I was worried about, okay maybe I was, but I more worried about his mental state. He didn't look good and he kept avoiding my questions. Lies. All lies.

I knew something was up and he didn't want me to be a part of it. He was worried for me. Over the years, that I spent with him, I could read him like an open book and the same went for him, yet I had a feeling that he was intentionally neglecting my feelings.

He knew that I don't want to go. I don't want to live here, with my Father and older brothers. I don't want to live anywhere but with him, yet he was leaving me here. Not to mention the fact that everything in this house was intimidating and scary.

Guards that didn't bother showing any signs of being alive, the house itself was more lavish and extravagant then anything I had ever laid my eyes on yet the place had a unapproachable vibe, like stepping one foot inside would be your biggest mistake, it would be your end.

Gardens filled with fountains, flower beds, freshly trimmed healthy grass, surrounded the place, though something as beautiful as nature couldn't help this place either, and I knew why. The reason was clear with one glance at my family, all of them made their nefarious personality overpower everything else.

I was scared. All these years these people never contacted me once, I wrote them thousands of letters but nobody replied to even one of them. Only four months ago, I stopped, the reason being the fact that I gave up, gave up all the hope I had, but I guess destiny had it's own plan. A very atrocious one at that.

The reason I wrote to them, in the first place, instead of anything else was that I wouldn't have to worry about their response being bad. Isn't it a sort of one way thing? Like I can write to them whatever I feel and I don't have to worry about them getting mad or something as we weren't exactly speaking to each other.

At least admit the truth now, you were scared of them, so scared that, here you are hiding rather than facing them head one like you said you would. My subconscious mind snickered at my pathetic self. I sighed knowing it was the harsh truth, and that I had been trying to reassure myself with lies, again.