The car hummed along the empty highway under a sky thick with late-night haze. Streetlights flickered past in dull orange streaks. Inside the sedan the air felt heavy, still carrying the faint smell of the restaurant’s spices and leftover curry. Tanisha sat in the front passenger seat, arms crossed, staring out the window. Her uncle Ramesh drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting loosely on the gear stick. In the back seat her cousin Aditya lounged with his legs spread, scrolling through his phone, the blue light painting his face.

They had left the rest of the family in the other vehicle after the dinner. “You come with us,” Ramesh had said, smiling in that easy uncle way. “Aditya and I will drop you home. The others are going the long way.” Tanisha had agreed without thinking. Now the doors were locked. She had tried the handle twice already. Nothing.