Dirtyhands

six

Kaz pulls himself out of bed with a soft groan due to the pain in his leg. He limps over to a mirror and looks himself over. The bags under his eyes have gotten worse and his hair is a mess. Kaz turns away from his reflection and grabs a new suit. He tugs off the old one and discards it in the corner of the room. Then he pulls on the new one before he fixes his hair. He forces it to lay flat against his scalp before he grabs his cane and limps out of the room.

He limps down the stairs. It appears as though nobody else has come down yet. He crosses the living room and leaves the quiet house without a sound. Kaz inhales deeply. The air here is fresh and clean, unlike The Barrel. The Barrel had the ever-present odor of fire, gunpowder, sweat, and death. It truly was a magical place.

Kaz limps towards the dark parts of Ketterdam. Towards the streets that he knows in and out. He heads to crows club. Kaz limps past The Menagerie. He looks over and notices Tante Heleen glaring at him through the window. He gives her a devious smirk as he walks past. Oddly, that made him feel slightly better. To know that she hates him.

He hardens his face and holds his head up. He can sense the people looking away nervously. He strolls at a comfortable and brisk speed as his cane hits the cobblestone, the sound echoing.

He crosses the Crows Clubs threshold and looks over at the business he built from the ground up. He put his blood and kruge into this gambling den and it hasn't let him down yet. He walks to the back and into the office. He quickly goes through it and grabs the deed to the property. He stuffs it into his pocket and turns back around. He feels the eyes of the customers and employees on his back as he steps out of the door.

He goes into the streets and feels the sun on his cheek. It's a warm feeling but the light is starting to hurt his eyes so he steps into the shadow of the buildings. He walks for almost two blocks uninterrupted before he notices that someone is tailing him. He turns left into a short alley and tucks himself into a hidden corner. He listens to his tail's footsteps as they approach. Then, like a snake, Kaz strikes. He slams his cane into the man's head, knocking him unconscious.

He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a Razorgull tattoo. "Should have known." Kaz mudders as he runs a hand through his hair. The Dime Lions tend to hire this smaller gang to do their dirty work. Kaz shakes his head as he pulls out his lock picks. He gently slides them into the lock of the nearby door. He starts to work them through the pins of the lock until he hears the satisfying click.
He drags the Razorgull into the small dark room and finds some handcuffs.

"This should do." He mudders as he approaches the man. He clips the cuffs behind the man's back. The Razorgull looks like he is in his late twenties. He is short but muscular. He has a scar going down his cheek, most likely from past jobs. Kaz starts to go through the cabinets and drawers as he waits for the Razorgull to wake up. In a drawer, he finds a candle and matches. In a cabinet, he grabs a small blade.

Then he lights the candle and waits. It doesn't take long for the man to come to. "What happened?" He mumbles and looks at Kaz with a dazed expression.

"You fail. Rather miserably too. You should definitely work on your tracking skills if you make it out of this alive." Kaz rasps.

"Shit. Shit. Shit." The man whispers and starts to struggle against the handcuffs.

"So tell me, did Pekka Rollins hire you to follow me?" Kaz asks as he lights the candle.

•Authors note:
It might get kind of graphic from here on•

"I can't tell you. They'll kill me." The gull says desperately. "Please don't."

"They aren't your concern at the moment." Kaz hisses as his eyes darken again. He steps forward and pushes the knife into the gull's shoulder.

The gull lets out a scream as tries to back away but there is nowhere to go. He is trapped.

"Tell me or I'll do a whole lot worse." Kaz rasps.

"Yes. Yes. He did. He wanted me to follow you." The gull whimpers. Kaz pulls the knife down, creating a scar. 

"Anything else?" Kaz asks as he eyes the blood going down the gull's torso.
"No. No. He just wanted me to report back to him at the end of the day." The gull replies and tries to look away from the blood.

Kaz pulls out the switchblade and pushes away the fabric of the shirt. Then he takes the candle and cauterizes the wound. The gull screams louder than before as his skin burns. It smells like someone forgot about their dinner and it is burning. "Where are they?" Kaz says, his voice full of venom.

"On the edge of Ketterdam. One of the old Van Eck warehouses. That's where we met for the deal." The gull pants "that's all I know. Please let me go."

"Sorry. Dirtyhands doesn't leave any survivors." Kaz states blankly as he drops the candle on the gull. His screams filled the room as his clothing catches and the flames spread across his body. Kaz smirks as he watches the fire grow. It seems to be feeding off of the screams. It grows as they start to die. Kaz leans against the wall and sighs softly. The flames start to die as soon as the fuel runs out. Kaz turns his back on the scene of the crime and retreats to the streets.