The Explosion

Shawn POV

(End of flashback)

"They attempted to rape Poojah, but she fought them off, as she was a good fighter. She wanted to be a soldier in the future. When they saw that they couldn't rape her, they shot her in the stomach and had sex with her body and that of my mom." Julia said as she swam far away from me.

"Necrophilia," I whispered, feeling disgusted. "They're the ones that do that sh * t."

"You know them?" She asked staring keenly at me.

"Yeah, I do. I've heard about them. They go around having sex with corpses and if they're done, they burn the body." I said and she mouthed an 'oh.'

"I wonder what they enjoy in that."

"Don't you know they're cultists? Wicked ones at that." She said and I was shocked.

"They did it with my ex-girlfriend's corpse and we couldn't find her body again," I said, pain audible I'm my voice and she gasped.

"Poojah was already dead and I was the only one left. I lay helplessly on the floor, thinking of what to do next. When he came close, I kicked him in the groin. The other guys went to his rescue while I used that opportunity to run away. However, one of them pulled the trigger and I dodged. They started firing randomly and I used my dad's body as cover." She said and started sobbing.

"I--I--I never k--k--knew he was still a--alive, he was still breathing." She said in between sobs.

"I--I--I killed him, I killed the one I ought to protect." She said, crying bitterly.

I swam towards her and she hugged me, sobbing against my body while I caressed her hair.

"You're the first person I've ever told this to, don't tell anybody." She said, looking up at me, and I felt my heartbeat pace faster.

I'm the first person she has ever told?

"I wouldn't tell anyone, promise," I said and she withdrew from the hug and swam far away from me.

"Did I do anything wrong?" I asked but she ignored me.

Poojah's corpse was nowhere to be found, the men were worried and went to search for her, thinking she might have been alive.

"That was an opportunity for me. Anas' attention was fixated on something else, so I used that as an opportunity to run away, since I had lost everything; 'my family members'. His driver who was waiting outside the building saw me and fired several bullets on me. One of the bullets grazed my arm, but I didn't give up, I kept running. Something caught my attention, I looked back and saw thick smoke rising into the sky; they had burnt down my house. I think it's because they didn't want Poojah to escape as I did."

"What pains me the most is that the altar which was built in honor of our god was burnt to ash. If I had known such would happen, I would've taken him along with me." She concluded and I raised an eyebrow.

She's talking about a god as though it's living. I didn't know people still practice that.

"You're looking down at me because of what I said?" she asked and I was shocked.

How could she read my mind?

"N-No, not at all. Just that I didn't know people still that religion, I'm sorry."I apologized.

"Apologies accepted." She replied and turned her back at me.

"Thank you, Shawn.",

"What for?"I asked and she turned to face me.

"I feel like a burden has been lifted off my shoulders." She said smiling at me. I swam towards her and held her hands.

"My pleasure. You've got a shoulder to cry on." I said and she smiled.

We remained quiet and I glanced at her. She was wearing a smile.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked and she turned to face me.

"Nothing. I just feel a certain kind of peace. She said and I lifted her head with my fingers, we were staring at each other and I could see the passion in her eyes.

I don't know if it was a reflection of my eyes or hers.

I couldn't refrain myself as I brought my lips closer to hers. Her eyes were closed, meaning she was expecting it. Our lips touched, but we were interrupted by Ciara.

"Mommy, mommy, it's Poojah. I don't know what has come over her."

Julia POV

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me ignoring Shawn. I went to Shawn's room only to see Poojah looking out the window, clutching the teddy bear. Ciara was holding her by the shoulder and I noticed that Poojah's shoulders were trembling.

"Are you okay?" I asked touching her shoulder, and she jerked away.

"Don't touch me. (To Ciara) I didn't tell you to call her, did I?" She asked and I was dumbfounded. I glanced at Ciara and she looked shocked too. Poojah's cheeks were wet, which meant she had been crying.

"She's our mom for crying out loud," Ciara shouted and I hushed her.

"Point of correction, 'your mom' not 'our mom'." She said gesticulating with her fingers, as she had dropped the toy.

Ciara narrowed her eyes at her.

"You're rude. I never knew you were this rude." She said and huffed.

"It's okay girls," I said ignoring my heart which was tearing apart.

"Ciara, don't ever shout at your sister, okay?"

"She's rude." She said eyeing her.

I didn't know what to do and I was glad that Shawn came to my rescue.

"Ciara, go and meet Steve." He said and she left immediately.

"Poojah, please sit. I need to talk to you." Shawn said.

"I don't want to talk to you." She said, scoffed, picked up her toy, and left his room.

Shawn looked at me and shook his head, then he shrugged.

"Someone poisoned her mind about us. We should watch her closely." He said and I nodded, speechless. We kept staring at each other and my cheeks flamed up when I remembered what almost happened in the pool.

I'll never be alone with him.

"Why does she keep carrying the teddy all around?" I asked trying to forget what happened earlier.

"I will take it to the station and investigate it. I don't know what's in there, but it must be special, or given to her by someone special."

I sat in the bed and clutched the sheets.

"I don't know why I'm feeling this way."

"What's wrong?" He asked sitting beside me.

"Something bad is about to happen that might take lives. I--I--I don't know but I feel it."

"Don't you worry, nothing is gonna happen and no lives will be lost, okay?"

I knew he was trying to calm me down but I still felt it, strongly.

We heard water splash, then an explosion, 'BOOM'.