Shatter

Where have you been?

"May I take your order ladies?" the waiter asked

"Two cups of caramel macchiato please, two shots" Pennelope replied

The waiter went away leaving the two girls in their seats

"So... how's life Pan?" Pennelope asked softly

"Shit..." Pandora replied as she stared at the floorboards

"Heh... and your mother? How did the funeral go?" Pennelope asked once more

Pandora sat there speechless, she had nothing to say about the funeral. It went well but what can she say, her mother was her only family left and now, she's gone.

"Ignore what I just said Pan..." Pennelope said as she pat me on the back

"It's going to be okay Pan, you'll get over it..." she continued

"Going to be... okay?" Pandora whimpered

"Nothing is going to be okay... my life ends here Penn..." she continued, a tear running down her cheek

"Look at the bright sid-"

"There is no bright side!" Pandora cut through Pennelope's words

"My mother died! The rest of my family hates me! Marcus cheated on me! And guess what? I lost my job! Do you see any silver lining in any of those?!" Pandora shouted furiously

"I've had it Penn... life gave me lemons and I just can't stand the sourness of it..." She continued as she stood up, a fist by her side.

She was furious. Everyone stared at her as she hurriedly left the shop. Pennelope tried to stop her but before she could do anything, Pandora disappeared into the crowd in the bustling city of New York.

"Did I do something wrong?" she thought to herself

She thought about what she did wrong in her entire lifetime. None crossed her mind. Maybe it was that packet of...? No... I stopped long time ago... Her head was pounding and swirling with regret and sorrow, until her phone suddenly rang. The loud ring startled her. She quickly wiped her tears and answered it.

 "Hello...?" Pandora struggled to answer with her normal tone

"Miss Blackmine?" a deep voice answered back

"Yes, this is she..." She was confused, it sounded unfamiliar and suspicious

"Listen well... Go to the Acacia Research Facility in the far north, I'll escort you from there..." the man instructed

"Wait! What?! Who are you?! And why sh-" Before she could finish her sentence, he hung up.

Was he calling the wrong number? But he knew my last name... Then what's with that? Acacia? What the hell is that? She cleared her head and took a deep breath. Asking questions won't solve anything, she immediately went off the bus and proceeded north of town where most factories and facilities are located. When she was little, someone took her there but as she recalled, that was 17 years ago.

After quite some time, she finally found a building of white and orange. She stood at the entrance awed by its size. She must have forgotten how big it was when she first visited it. But even though she had no memory of the place, it felt oddly familiar. She gathered herself and entered to see what's behind those doors. To her surprise, it was quite crowded for a research facility.

"Excuse me... what is this place?' She asked politely

"This is the Acacia Research Facility, a facility specialized on supernatural and extraterrestrial projects... Is there something I can help you with miss?"