Stupid Sickness

Victims and Vulnerabilities (Wylan)

What am I doing here? Wylan wondered. 

Why was he bothering? Kaz always said no. Maybe this time would be different. Maybe this time something had changed.

Wylan pushed open the door of the Slat, looking around at the Dregs gathered there. He had heard about their newest victory, a rich mercher who'd gotten too big for his boots. Wylan knew why Kaz had really gone after him, but he also knew Dirtyhands didn't want it getting out he'd hunted the man down for purchasing a certain Suli girl for a night at the House of Exotics. In the end, it didn't matter to the Dregs. It made them look strong, gave them something to be proud of and celebrate.

Dirtyhands himself never participated in these parties. He spent the nights doing paperwork or whatever other work needed be done. Wylan hoped he might be in a good enough mood to come to dinner. Jesper missed Kaz. Wylan missed Kaz. They wanted to believe Kaz missed them, but who knew what Kaz Brekker wanted? What he cared about?

No one answered the knock on the first floor office, and when Wylan peeked in, it was empty. He climbed the flights of stairs to the top floor. Maybe Kaz was in his room?

What am I doing here?

Wylan could hear the rowdy laughter downstairs, registered that he was in one of the worst slums in the Barrel, coming to invite the king of thieves to dinner.

It sounded even more ridiculous the more he thought about it.

He kept going, reaching the top. He knocked on Kaz's bedroom door. No one spoke, told him to come in or to stay away, but Wylan thought he heard shifting around. 

Is Kaz alright? 

A thousand possibilities raced through Wylan's mind. 

Stop worrying, he told himself. Kaz is tough, he can take care of himself. 

No mere robber could get the better of him even in an unfair fight. In fact, Wylan didn't think anyone could get the better of Kaz in any fight, no matter the circumstances.

Wylan tried the knob. It was unlocked. This spooked him. If Kaz was in there, the door was unlocked, and he wasn't responding, something could be terribly wrong. He pushed it open. The room was dark, full of clutter on the desk and bed. Papers full of squirming black lines and maps lay on the desk, and clothes were strewn about. There was no one there. Wylan looked around again, searching for the source of the noise he'd heard from outside the door. More shifting. A shadow moved on the floor by the desk.

He approached cautiously, unsure.

"Kaz?" The shadow moved again and now the figure on the floor came into the dim light. Kaz Brekker was curled up, shaking badly. Wylan saw that he was breathing hard and his eyes were bloodshot, wild and terrified. His normally carefully arranged dark hair was a mess, stuck up and out and everywhere. One hand was clenched in it, and with a jolt Wylan realized it was bare. The boy on the floor wasn't wearing a coat and his shirt was messy, covered in blood. His cane lay in the middle of the floor, a few feet away.

"Kaz?" Wylan asked again, this time panicked and concerned. 

What had happened? Why was Dirtyhands curled on the floor, terrified, whispering half to himself, half to someone Wylan couldn't see?