Artificial Grinder

“What…the fuck?”

Breeana just…stood stunned. Fuck, she knew shit was bad when she caught the now-winged Cymbeline the first time. 

But now, it was even worse.

“I-I can explain,” Breeana stammered.

Yasmin still stared at the sky, watching the glowing dot that was Cymbeline become less and less visible. Cloe on the other hand, rubbed her elbows and edged towards the forest.

“So - So, like, she’s a pixie.” Yasmin stated, despite it sounding more like a question. Her eyes were wide and her skin pale, unable to determine if this was some weird fever dream.

Breeana shook her head feverishly. “We don’t say pixie. But that’s - -” 

“Oh, sorry. I meant ‘fairy’,” Yasmin continued sarcastically.

“Well…fairy is also a term we don’t use.”

“Jesus Christ.”

“We say fae or…”

“Breeana! It doesn’t fucking matter! Cymbeline literally just flew off right in front of our fucking eyes! I mean…what…? How…?”

Again, the youngest Devlin struggled to find the right response. But what could she possibly say to make all this go away.

“We gotta go!” Cloe shook her head, her anxiety just as high in the sky as Cymbeline. “W-We gotta get back to Sasha and Jade and - -”

“You can’t tell them!” Breeana blurted.

“Breeana! How?! How can we not?!” Yasmin held her arms out by her side. “Cymbeline is our friend! She - -”

“Then, if that’s true, and you really care about her, then you won’t tell anyone! I’m serious, Yasmin. This is…This is more complicated than it looks.” Breeana’s voice cracked, already shivering from the growing panic and the breeze from the cliff top.

“More complicated than it looks?! Bitch, are you kidding?!” Cloe yelled.

“God, now I wish she was just acting too cool for us!” Yasmin added.

Stuttering and fighting to find her words, Breeana slowly realised not a damn thing would keep these girls from staying silent. And the only thing she could bring herself to do…

Well she’d have to have a long and heated talk with her Dad.

She raised both hands, pointed at both Yasmin and Cloe. “‘So will those mere mortals be silenced, and unable to speak…’” She spoke quietly, reciting the spell she had learned so young. Outside of practising under her father’s gaze, things never came down to this. She was breaking his trust, but for his own good. And it hurt. 

Despite the few drinks both teens had before coming to the Devlin’s home, Yasmin and Cloe were too quick for Breeana.

“Oh, shit, let’s go!” Cloe snatched Yasmin’s hand, and both teens dashed into the sea of trees.

So many voices in Breeana’s mind told her to run…Take off after the frightened girls. 

But her feet remained planted. There was no hope in stopping them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Her knees gave in, bringing Breena down to the ground, her head empty of ways to fix this shit.

For what felt like the tenth time, Dylan messaged Sasha.

‘Yo where you at girl?’

Standing off to the sidelines of the club whilst everyone else lost their shit to the music, Dylan stared at his phone screen, begging whoever was listening to his inner thoughts to allow him a response. Yes, it seemed obsessive and extremely annoying, but with Cymbeline not here either, it was possible shit went down.

As concerned as he was, he was a drama thirst. He needed to know the T'.

Forty-five minutes had passed since Sasha let him know they were swinging around the Devlin’s house first, nothing out of the ordinary considering the two sisters were a bit out of town. But with no response, something had to have happened.

Sighing, Dylan looked away from the screen, impatience getting the better of him. And along came Cameron, and he was very very trashed.

“Yo, so I’ve been thinking, Dyl’.” Cameron slung an arm around his friend’s shoulder, the drink in his hand sloshing over the side of the cup and onto Dylan’s shoes. “About what you said.”

“What I said?” Dylan mourned the white colour of his shoes.

“Yeah. About Cloe.”

“Uh huh?”

“I just…you know…I gotta just - -” Cameron hiccuped, “be myself, you know? I mean, we made out at Nevra’s party that one time. I’m already a foot in. You feel, homey?”

“I feel, homey.”

Before Cameron could continue his ramblings, the music came to an end, only the sound of the crowd remaining. Koby was at the front of the stage, sweating dripping from his beaded forehead. He panted, peeling the black t-shirt from his form and tossing it into the screaming crowd of fans.

“Gross.” Cameron commented.

“You guys are awesome,” Koby said into the mic before pointing at Cade, the boy knocking back shots at the bar. “Cade? Happy Birthday, my dude. My brother from another mother for life.”

Not wanting to break his streak, Cade took another shot and raised a thumbs up, signalling his approval.

“Love you, dude.” Koby breathed into the mic before addressing the audience again. “Alright, so…I need a break. I need some water for real, guys. But this ain’t the end of the music.”

The crowd went wild again, as if they knew what was about to happen.

“So I’m gonna have a friend of mine take over for a bit.” And Koby looked over his shoulder, already seeing said friend make her way on stage. “Dudes…Dudettes…All you peeps in between…here's Roxxi Sin.”

Both Dylan and Cameron joined in on the cheering as Roxxi stepped up to the mic, adjusting her guitar. The girl let her eyes trail the audience, just for a moment, before they landed on one girl in particular – her girlfriend.

“Hi, Nevra,” Roxxi smiled into the mic.

“Hi, baby!” Nevra waved her hand around, excitement coursing through her. She looked at those around her. “That’s my girlfriend! She’s my fucking girlfriend, and I love her!”

“You’ll love this one, babe.” And Roxxi strummed her guitar, bringing the rest of Koby’s band to join in.

“Man,” Cameron started, “Love is like…love is the tits. You know?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I know.” Dylan laughed now.

“But what would you know, my guy?” Cameron continued, taking a large swig of his drink. “You used to be, like, in every girl’s DM’s. Nowadays I never see you with any.”

“Cam’, my entire friend group consists of girls,” Dylan squinted his eyes.

“Yeah, but you ain’t dating any of them.”

“Well, maybe I don’t wanna date them.” Dylan went back to watching Roxxi serenade her girlfriend, telling Cameron the conversation was over. But now lost in thought, he knew his friend was right. Once upon a time, Dylan was the biggest player in school. But times had changed. His friendship with the five girls enlightened and educated his juvenile mind, and even though he still had a long way to go, he rarely ever felt the need to comment on the appearance of attractive girls. 

Of course, there was that time Lina was introduced in chemistry class, but that soon fizzled – just a quick fascination that passed.

As for now, there was one girl on his mind. And yet, he wasn’t so sure if it was even possible.

Pulling his phone out again, he hoped for a message from her only for those hopes to diminish. Sasha had yet to reply as well. Crazy.

But there was one message – an unknown number.

‘We need to talk, big boy. Call or she’ll be hurt.’

Immediately, his heart was struck by a sting. Staring at his phone screen, his stomach as seconds passed. Who the fuck was this? Who would be hurt? To call the police or just call the person right then and there?

“Hang on, Cameron,” Dylan quickly pat his drunk friend on the shoulder as he rushed towards the exit.

The music became quieter and quieter the closer he got to the door. And once outside, it was just a thumping beat. 

Dylan’s hands shook as he called the number, wishing so much that it would just keep ringing. He was a nervous wreck, but the thought of something happening to someone because of his carelessness...

The ringing ended, and yet, nothing was heard on the other end.

“Hello?” Dylan said quietly.

Another moment of silence ensued before, finally, someone spoke in a low and dangerous tone. “What’s up, Dylan?”

Just like that, his nerves diminished. “Zach. What the fuck do you want?”

“Straight to the point, my guy. Nice,” Zach continued, chuckling to himself like he was getting off. “Now look, you and me are due a fight.”

“Since when?”

“Depends how you look at it. Maybe it was the recent spat we had in the hall. Or maybe the long years of competition.”

“Competi - - Man, what the hell are you talking about? Are you high?”

“Shut the fuck up, Dylan. Now listen to me; get your ass out to my location right fucking now so I can kick your ass to ground. Got it?”

Dylan could have laughed. “You really think you can beat me down? You think you scare me? ‘Cause all I hear right now are pathetic bitch ass words and an asshole breathing heavy on the phone like he’s touching himself.”

Zach completely ignored the comment however. “I’m not alone, Dylan. Did you even read my message?”

And now did Dylan’s anxiety return. “H-How do I know that’s not just some pathetic way to get me to come to you?”

“You don’t believe me?” Zach chuckled darkly again. “Well then, I guess I gotta prove it to you then. Here, baby.”

Dylan squinted. Baby? Was he even talking to him anymore?

Another moment of silence…

Before a sweet voice came through...

Her voice...

“Dylan?”

The boy’s eyes widened. “B-Breeana?”

“Dylan, c-can you…” she paused, sounding weak, “Can you come get me? I…I don’t know where I am.”

“Breeana!” Dylan began to pace. “Breeana, ha-has he hurt you? What did he do?!”

“I can’t…I can’t move. I’m sinking…I can’t…” Breeana trailed off as Zach clearly pulled the phone back to his mouth.

“Believe me now, tough guy?” Zach glowered. 

“What did you do to her? I’ll fucking kill you if you’ve hurt her!”

“Relax, man. All I did was…probably slip something in her drink. But don’t worry. I haven’t laid a finger on her, Dylan. Well...not yet, at least. Just depends how fast you can get here. Have I made myself clear?”

Dylan was panting now, his blood boiling. Just the thought of anyone hurting that girl made him see red. “Drop the fucking pin, man. I swear to God, you’ll never live to see the day.”

“We’ll see about that. Bye, Dylan’.”