The intruder

Shreya and Vansh gazed into each other's eyes, holding onto their ends of rope tightly ready for the tug of war. She smiled sneakily, and her cousins started counting down.

"3... 2... 1... Go!", they cheered.

Shreya pulled on her end, using all her might and Vansh did the same. He tugged at the rope that held his love on the other end , harder and harder until he didn't.

In just a moment the flow of force changed it's course. The tension in the rope reduced as both of them took a step forward at the same time.

They smiled as they gazed into each others eyes and took another step.
And another.

Until only a foot distance remained in between them.

Shreya felt herself falling as Vansh tugged her forward. Her palms landed on his powerful chest as his arms circled around to hold her in place. A tingle ran up her spine as his beautiful fingers held her waist. Seemingly innocent touch, but the emotions it illicited said otherwise.

She smiled shyly up at him, basking in the wamrth of his body while the crowd watched in gasped silence. Proximity wasn't something usually seen in their culture and so, an almost hug that wasn't staged for a photo illicited a gasp.

She tried moving away from him, but he held tighter. Digging his fingers into her waist almost painfully, 'almost' because she wanted his touch, she needed his touch and she understood his desperation for she felt the same.

Her grey eyes met his grey-blue ones again; after looking around at the half-awwing-half-scandalized-crowd who looked at them with wide eyes, she stubbed his toe with the front of her heel.

His palms loosened and she staggerred back to her feet, making sure to keep a good two feet distance between them.

He took a step forward and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything her cousins arrived with two huge flower garlands sitting on a gold plate. She shot him a winning smile and grabbed a garland from the plate directed at her, and begrudingly he did the same. But soon, his smile appeared and his eyes shined.

Grudges could be held later, it was time to marry his love first. The one that stubbed his toe.

As Vansh reached forward, Shreya's cousins and uncles picked her up and shot her out of his reach. He narrowed his eyes at the giggling Shreya and directed his group of cousins to pick him up.

Reaching her height, he smirked as he moved forward, but Shreya leaned back teasingly. "I'm not going to be tied to you so easily, you'll have to work for it", her eyes said and he accepted the challenge.

After a little push and pull, his garland landed around her neck and he beamed. She was his, now it was her turn to mark him as hers.

He wouldn't make it easy though, he leaned back when she moved forward, staring unblinkingly at her pouty lips and inviting eyes. When she noticed his gaze, she bit her lower lip and met his grey-blue eyes.

Suddenly, they were in a trance. The noise of the surroundings, the cheers of the crowd were all forgotten; all they saw was each other; all they knew was each other.

Their bodies moved forward, almost automatically, eager to close this distance between them. Vansh leaned towards hers, as did she. When no more than a foot distance was left, she brought the garland up and put it around his neck.

The crowd cheered.

He blinked.

Confusion swirled in his eyes, but it was soon replaced by pride and love.

He smiled at her and recieved an equally happy smile back.

They got down from shoulders and stood on their feet, intertwining their hands as they moved towards the 'mantap'.

Standing in front of the fire, their hands tied together with a cloth, they took their seven vows as they circled the pure fire ignited in front of them.

Surrounded by love, together with love and for love, they were finally one in the world's view as well.

A booming voice from their left caught everybody's attention, and as they turned their eyes towards the source they were met with a huge black screen, in front of which stood a tall bald man with a very-well groomed beard. He held the microphone to his lips and in a thick voice started, "Congratulations to the lovely couple. To all of you gathered here, I'm sure you would like to know more about these good people, allow me"

He flipped his palm and a picture of them smiling together appeared on the huge screen. Shreya was smiling at the camera, glowing with happiness while Vansh stared at her with a smile of his own. They looked adorable, and a round of 'awws' ensued.

With a nudge of her elbow, Shreya whispered exitedly, "Who is he? I haven't met him"

"I don't know", Vansh shrugged, gazing at the screen, which now showed a picture of them laughing.

A moment later, he turned around and asked, "You don't know him?"

"No", she shook her head.

"If we both don't know him, then what is he doing here? And why is he sharing our pictures like he knows us?", he asked puzzled.

Just then, a loud gasp erupted from the crowd and they turned around to find Shreya on the screen. She was lying on her bed with her legs spread wide in a red bra and skirt that did nothing to hide her glistening wet folds and an almost naked body. Vansh stared at the screen with his eyes bulging out of his skull, but he regained his senses soon enough and ran towards the screen.

The clip moved forward to show Vansh, in all his naked glory, undoing the last remnants of Shreya's clothes.

Vansh sped up his steps and pulled the wire off the system. The screen instantly went blank but the faces did not. Whispers and giggles started almost immediately, and before Vansh could throw himself on that despicable excuse for a human, he started speaking.

"Seems the fun was shortlived", he laughed - a cruel sound that pierced the ears in the weird silence, "Well, I just wanted to show how this girl is nothing more than a slut and you can watch her for free, go to porx.com/thevoyeurgetslucky. Maybe someday I will get luck..."

The man stopped speaking as a hard punch landed on his jaw. He spit on the floor and stood up straight to find Vansh glaring at him, fire blazing in his eyes.

Vansh pulled this man roughly by his collar, glaring staright in his eyes, he threw him down the stage and spit as several others started surrounded this scene. Before the man could even stand up, Vansh jumped down and throwing a hard punch right in his face, he forced that ugly duckling back to the ground where he belonged.

Steam rising from his ears, Vansh kicked him in his jewels without holding back and the loud, pitiful scream that left his mouth echoed through the hall.
Phones were flashing, cameras were recording, and people were crowding - but even with the thousand whispers the man's wails were the loudest.

Vansh readied his fist and aimed for another punch when his younger brother, Ansh, rushed to reach his side and with a hard grip on his waist pulled him away from that man.

With a harsh jerk of his back, Vansh threw Ansh to the ground and taking long strides to reach the man he was about to murder with his bare fists. He felt two people tugging at his back but he shook them away as he kept walking, determined to murder his goal.

When he was just a step away from that man who was cowering back as he got closer, four men surrounded him, towering over him from all sides and pushed him back. Two men kept that man on the ground with his hands comfortably planted below their feet.

While everyone was looking or recording at the spectacle that was happening in front of them, the one person that was humiliated, the one that was slut-shamed, ridiculed, was also the one that was forgotten.

Shreya stood in the same place she did when she was laughing with Vansh, when that man arrived, when she was hoping to see some cute pictures - instead her sextape, which she didn't really consent to, was played and now, her husband (or soon-to-be-ex-husband) was fighting a duel with a man she knew nothing about.

Her body was in shock, standing as still as things frozen while her mind was spiralling into all the things unwanted. She was sad, humiliated, naked, worthless and alone. Alone.

'I told the truth, didn't I?', whispered a voice that sounded so much like her uncle.

'The man you love, look at him, what is he doing? Fighting and out of control because people saw you naked? Because someone else saw something that was only his - your body? Do you now believe me, my little girl? Your worth is in your body!', her uncle said cruelly.

'You are a slut - nothing more, my little girl', he laughed then and his voice flew away in vapours.

She wanted to cry, but her eyes had no desire to secrete tears. She wanted to fall on the ground, but her legs didn't seem to listen to her. She wanted someone to sob on, but she could find no shoulder around. She wanted to die, and yet her heart was beating and her nose just seemed to breathe no matter what she told it to do.

No one listened to her.

No one cared for her.

No one asked for her consent.

All they did was take away the right to her own body, and used them as it pleased them.

They used her to please them.

Uncle and his friends used her body to please them.

Vansh peeped and recorded her body.

That man used her body to please his sexual fantasies.

And now, someone shared her video to the whole world when she hadn't even approved of it.

Everybody used her, her body for their own pleasure, and now, when she was breaking down - there was no one around. Not even her mom. And friends, she never had.

With great effort she took a step back. Her right leg moved just a miniscule but it was progress and so she concentrated all her mind on moving her legs followed by her...um.. their body away from this crowd.

It was suffocating, she was drowning and without anyone help her, she was slowly reaching the depths of the oceans.