METANOIA;// Kaz Brekker

CHAPTER ONE

The air was thick and humid. It always was in Ketterdam. The streets of West Stave were unusually quiet. Dark clouds loomed over the city, threatening to rain down at any moment.

Most people with a head on their shoulders have already seeked shelter for the night. Few people still walked the streets, Kaz Brekker was one of them.

His crow cane made a clanking sound on the stones as he walked the back allies of The Barrel. Inej was somewhere on the roof tops above him, Jesper was already back at The Slat. They had just finished up a job. Kaz's pockets full kruge.

Kaz had been looking up at the circling clouds when a force almost knocked him to the ground. A girl had ran straight into him at full speed. Before he even had the chance to shove her off of him, she jumped back like he had burned her.

Inej was on the ground beside him in seconds. For a second he's was angered that she jumped in, like he couldn't protect himself. That was until he realized that Inej wasn't trying to help him.

The girl had long black hair. It was a tangled mess and covered her face. She wore a blood stained dress, the dress did little to cover her. Her arms and legs were exposed and covered with cuts and shards of glass. Her knees looked the worst, as if she knelt on shattered glass. The girl had no shoes on and there was a large gash on her forehead accounting for most of the blood on her clothes.

Inej held a hand out to the girl, reaching to help the girl up from the ground. Kaz watched the girl. He recognized the wild and panic look in her eyes. He raised his cane, blocking Inej from reaching the girl.

"Wait" Kaz demanded when Inej looked back at him in confusion. The girl struggled back to her feet, staring at the pair with wide eyes.

The girl went to speak but stopped when the shouts of men sounded from around the corner. She whirled around to face a group of men.

There were five of them. Each were at least a foot taller then her and probably responsible for her wounds.

"There you are little witch" One of the men spoke, he help a pistol at his side. The other men with him spread out, blocking the ally way.  "Have you made some friends?"

Inej's hands drifted towards her knives, prepared for a fight. The men had called her a witch, so she was grisha. Inej looked to Kaz, wonder why they were still standing around. Why they didn't just leave? This wasn't their fight. What was Kaz thinking?

"Just let me go" The girl pleaded "Don't make me hurt you"

One of the men lunged at Inej and another went for Kaz. Inej was quick to take the man down. His body falling next to his comrade, knocked out by Kaz's cane.

The remaining three men stood in front of the girl. The man in the middle pointed his gun at her head.

It all happened so quick, Kaz wasn't sure he saw it right. With a wave of her hands, a wall a black colored mist formed between her and the gun. He could hear the gun fire but the bullet never came. He glanced at Inej, wondering if she saw what he did. Judging by her open mouthed stare, she did.

The wall fell and the men stood still for a moment. It was all the girl needed. Another wave of her hands and the men were engulfed in shadows. Their screams were heard faintly through the darkness. Then, it stopped. The shadows disappeared and the men's bodies crumbled to the ground.

The girl turned to the pair. Kaz and Inej both readied themselves in case the girl attacked them too. Kaz wasn't sure what he would do against shadows and he hoped he would never have to find out.

"Thank you" She spoke. If Kaz was shocked, he didn't show it. "You could have just ran and left me but you stayed"

"Are you looking for some work?"