Pandora - Safeplace for Gifted

Standing in front of the polished mirror Kiowa swore under her breath as her older sister properly sorted her disordered hair out. Typically her hair was merely golden brown, but after today’s brutal fight there were distinct strands of crimson blood mixed into her hair. Aside from a cut in the back of her head she only had a few bruises that would easily be covered up by a long-sleeved shirt. “This could have been avoided, you know that.” Costia said as she gently placed her hands on the shorter girls shoulders as to relax the girl. Costia’s piercing brown eyes stared at Kiowa through the mirror. Although her face was stern, Kiowa could see her sister wasn’t mad, but worried. Kiowa relaxed and let her raised shoulders sink to a more comfortable position, observing instantly how she had been tensing every muscle in her body, sore or not. “I suppose you’re right.” Kiowa talked back in annoyance, knowing her sister was indeed right. She couldn’t control herself when the anger got so bad that her sight went red. Plus, why would she ever admit her sister was in the right? Kiowa flinched as Costia brushed a strand of hair too close to the cut, but kept silent. There was a possibility she would get teased about the fight later on and therefore wanted to give Costia as few things as possible to not become a more significant target in the teasing and bickering between the two sisters. A short while later Costia considered her work completed.The cut was cleaned and bruises were inspected. Kiowa accepted a blanket that she curled around her body as she followed her taller sibling out on the little balcony they had in the apartment. It was so long ago their parents were alive that she could barely recall her life before the incident. Sitting across each other in the mild breeze Kiowa looked into her sisters brown eyes, searching for answers as to what she would do next. Costia stared back at her with her stern look, seeing through the younger sisters greenish eyes. “Today could have gone bad for you, seems like you weren’t the Speedy I’m used to seeing you as.” Her sister spoke, sending a sting of shame through Kiowa’s body. She broke eye contact and stared into the sky above her instead, concentrating on the vivid colors that mixed beautifully into a pinkish sky. Kiowa's thoughts wandered away, remembering the night she received the famous nickname. Kiowa was 14, her sister 16. They had gathered with friends in school. Although it was too late for class an organisation built up to reduce crime amongst teenagers had a café opened until late at night. There was no tension in the air that night, everything had gone as planned. Costia won the 8-ball tournament and Kiowa the ping-pong game, none of them were okay with losing and did everything in their might to win even though it was only a classic game of cards. By the time it got late, they had gathered two handful of people sitting around the sofas, on the floor or hanging by the edges. They came to the topic of both William’s girls fiery temper. When asked a question Kiowa was direct and told the collection of friends and strangers that she would simply annoy and trigger those who she didn’t respect. Whenever the tension was high enough for a fight to break out at any moment Kiowa ran out of sight. Her strategies of escape including climbing up a roof or disappearing into the streets and alleys. From that day they called her Speedy, and she bore the name like a trophy, always reassuring her of belonging and power. The nickname eventually caught on and by the ending of the year even teachers would refer to her as Speedy. She would usually have snapped back with an explanation or excuse but today her drive was dead and her sister was right. She wasn’t quite the same Speedy she used to be, the sole piece of excuse she had: Costias absence from her for 4 months. Though she had attempted that one before, she considered whether to try it again or not. It was an easy route of escape. “I would do more for you, Kiwi. But I suppose you’ve received the letter by now?” Kiowa snapped back into reality, her glance searching for some sort of teasing glint in her sisters eyes. “What letter?” She asked in confusion as her sister broke out in a smile, although Costia’s facade collapsed she kept her mouth shut for a little longer. Frustration filled Kiowa from head to toe. She hated the teasing and leading on. In a matter of seconds, Kiowa's face had gone from her ordinary pale color to a bright red tone, cheeks burning as she was forced to keep herself together. “Just give me the damn letter.” She said with gritted teeth, staring angrily into her sisters eyes. If looks could kill… well, you know. To her delight her sister delivered her a purple envelope, the paper seemed old and fragile, yet important and expensive. On one side Kiowas full name was inscribed “Kiowa Williams.” As she turned the envelope around, she almost dropped it in shock. On the other side there was only one word written, however it wasn’t the word itself that shocked her. It was the fact that the ‘Pandora’ text on her envelope was shining from the paper and out, moving slightly around the frames of the envelope. Kiowa was so focused on the envelope she didn’t even think about opening it, yet alone wiping that surprised look off her face. Costia snapped with her fingers, calling her back to reality, or what reality now was. “You know, it’s better to actually read the letter than to stare at its label.” Her tease was left hanging as Kiowa didn’t care to react to it. When realising her sister wouldn’t fall for it, she swiftly changed the subject. “Well, since I’ve been at Pandora for the last two years I’ll leave you to it now. There are instructions in the letter and I’ll be there to meet you when you get there.” Costia said as she gathered her stuff and neatly packed them into her backpack. “What f*****g school is Pandora? And what the f**k happened to West Spring College? You’ve been talking about that school for two years now.” Kiowa spat out, her sister’s words and unwillingness to help made her both confused and frustrated, which clearly satisfied Costia who let out a light chuckle. “Kiwi, you’ll get the hang of it soon, and when you do I won’t even have to explain to you why I lied about West Springs. But for now you need to take a few deep breaths and calm down, then read your letter and follow the instructions. It’ll all be sorted out soon, good luck.” And by that her sister went out the door just like she always did, never telling anybody where she was going or when she’s be back. Her teasing smile and that twinkle in her eye frustrated Kiowa even more now that her sister had left. “What the f**k is going on?” She mumbled to herself as she walked into the apartment from the balcony. Now was clearly not the time to read a letter about some school with hologram labels, she lacked food. Kiowa placed the unopened envelope on the dining table and began cooking up some affordable food, her sisters words refusing to leave her confused thoughts. ‘It’ll all be sorted out soon.’ “Sure thing.” She muttered as she jerked her plate to shift it to the table. Following instructions had under no circumstances been her strong side, but with Costia acting all fake and weird Kiowa had to figure out what was going on.