Uma was six when chachiji visited from London.

“She’s my brother’s wife,” daddy said. “I’ve asked her to stay and help us settle in our new home. She’ll visit us often now.”

The whole household brightened when chachiji arrived. A tiny woman in jewel-bright satin, six green suitcases following her in a neat line like obedient pets. She pulled out a rose sapling from a Fly British Airways carry-on. A Housewarming gift. Uma saw the roots stir in the cloth, a small writhing like worms. A mottled lizard suddenly appeared and lingered poised on the wall above chachiji’s head as she unpacked. Its tiger eyes followed chachiji’s movements. It materialized with its active tongue, in every room chachiji visited.

Chachiji cast a spell, or so it seemed. Daddy beamed. Mummy listened to her stories. Even Ria, Uma’s sister, interrupted her reading and agreed to model the gold satin dress chachiji got her. Uma pressed her pink dress far into her cupboard. The fabric sighed under her fingers.

“Isn’t she elegant?” Mummy said.

“She’s like a film star.” Ria agreed.

Uma shuddered at chachiji’s eyebrows, two dark wings, painted high up on her forehead. The way her two front teeth rested on her lower lip, too sharp, too greedy. The purple polish on her nails, like folded beetle wings. Her smile, wider when no one else was looking. Her mouth, a red gash as though she’d eaten something raw and bloody.

At the puja to plant the rose creeper from London, chachiji commanded the pandit and scolded the servants. The family smiled, charmed by her bossy confidence. Uma saw the sudden flush creeping up her aunt’s neck when Ayah stumbled over the chant. Chachiji’s lips trembled. Uma saw the faint ripple of her moustache, stirred by her furious breathing. And the ever-present lizard flicked its tongue, tasting the moment. 

The rose creeper was planted by both sisters with everyone’s blessing. Uma heard the soil groan as it swallowed the roots. She quickly withdrew her hands in case the earth reached back and plucked them off.

Day by day the house grew warmer, brighter. The light thickened, syrupy and strange; even the shadows gleamed with a sinister radiance. Daddy lingered to hear chachiji talk in her clipped British accent. They admired her clothes. Mummy sought her advice. Ria massaged her feet. Uma hugged herself tight, feeling watched, pinned by chachiji’s amber eyes. Lamps flickered, the walls sweated, and shadows pooled in corners when Uma stood alone. The satin dress in her cupboard exhaled.

As the days passed, the air quivered faintly with chachiji’s presence. Something vibrated under the marble floor. Curtains fluttered though the windows were shut, mirrors gathered a soft mist like someone had breathed on them. Uma’s spoon stirred in her teacup, a candle flame bent toward chachiji as she passed. 

At night, the house whispered. The taps dripped in rhythm. The clock stopped ticking. Furniture creaked. The rocking chair rocked like oars on a boat.

Chachiji’s things began to spread — a silver hairbrush on Mummy’s dresser, a faint scent of violets on Uma’s pillow, a single sparkling golden strand of hair caught in the soap dish. At meals, they all laughed together, mummy, daddy and Ria, their faces alike in the flickers of light — smooth, golden, dancing. 

In the day, Ria walked lightly, as though she was learning to float, her eyes glazed amber, like chachiji’s. In the garden, chachiji’s shadow lurked, the silhouette of a fox with a swinging tail.

Late one night when the dew drops fell and the owls turned silent, Uma awoke with a start to the fluttering sound of tiny wings. In the blankness of half-sleep, a magnetic force pulled her to the balcony. Standing in front of the rose creeper in the garden, surrounded by candles and a swarm of suspended flying insects, stood chachiji talking to a yellow-green toad the size of a kitten. Its eyes were molten gold. The lizard, ballooned into a giant chameleon, clung to chachiji’s shoulder, its head turned, listening.

And as Uma watched with a thudding heart, chachiji reached up, caught a firefly and ate it.