NEWS

Kaz Brekker was starting to get bothered with the silence.

Laura had not come to his door, knocking to try and talk to him anymore for almost a whole week at that point. He knew she wasn't the type of girl to desist so quickly on annoying him in particular, so he was starting to get bothered and a bit more worried than he would like to admit.

Now that the embarrassment had died down and his logical part knew that avoiding her was almost the same as avoiding his work, and that was silly, he had understood that he needed to be an adult and deal with it with words, or at least talk around the subject so they could work normally again. He knew she was the best Spider he had encountered in the five years he had been working under the Dregs, he couldn't leave that behind.

Still, he didn't have the chance to find an excuse to go around, asking for Laura. Someone came to him with all the information he needed.

Per Haskell himself stormed into the room he had been sleeping and working on for the last moths; the one Per Haskell had made sure had stairs to get to, since the shameful limp up the stairs was Per's poke at Kaz's mistake for falling off the roof. He had been punishing Kaz in a way or another, not knowing that the walk up and down had been making his muscles stronger and helping in a way or another.

"The fucking bitch left and now there's another gang trying their best to get on our territory, Brekker," he announced, stumbling into the room in anger and without a greeting. "You have to do something about it! If not you, someone competent, at least."

"Send the Spider," he said, not even looking up from his papers.

"Who do you think I was talking about?" Haskell asked, confused. "Ghezen, the argument must had been ugly if she didn't even tell you that she was retiring," he teased.

That caught his attention.

Kaz looked up, eyes confused, but alert.

"She's out?" he asked.

"It's been four, five days now, boy. How long have you been locked up here? Live a little!" he complained, throwing himself on Kaz's bed. The boy tried not to flinch, reminding himself to change the sheets after the man had gone. "The girl said she wanted to be a normal girl or whatever. Now, it was like she knew what was going to happen, because the moment she disappeared the fucking drugs got into our territory. Do you know anyone that sells that weird variation of jurda?"

"No, I don't," he dismissed. "I'll deal with it. Now, where was the last place Laura was seen?"

Per Haskell's face lit up.

"Laura!" he said, snapping his fingers. "I knew it was something like that. I always call her 'pretty girl' that I forgot her actual name. Though I prefer the name I have for her."

Kaz had not asked and he was not interested in what his creepy boss called Laura by. A man old enough to be her father being that interested had to be at least a little bit uncomfortable to her, but she never said anything bad to anyone.

"Where was she?" he insisted.

"Why do you need to know, boy?" he asked back, eyes narrowing.

The lies came easy as Kaz rolled his eyes without letting Per Haskell see it.

"Laura was known for having information in drug-rings. She knows very well the difference between those who would sell variations of jurda in our territory and who had an actual functioning-brain," he explained the lie. "A last question before she goes away."

"Last time I heard of her, she was buying groceries near the end of the city, east of here," Haskell answered. "It right after she left here."

"Near the farms?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Yes, boy. Why? Do you think I'm lying?" he asked, angry.

Kaz shook his head.

"I'll deal with this right away," he said. "Put someone to track the people selling and I'll find Laura to answer my questions."

Kaz left Per Haskell alone in the room.

Anika, a girl a whole year younger than Kaz, had been the chosen one to try and shadow the two stupid men selling drugs on their territory while Kaz rode a carriage to the east of the city dressed as simply as someone like him could.

He seemed like an easterner; he was sure.

Light linen shirt and a good, thick dark trousers with normal dark shoes. No one would dare ask questions as he stumbled across the badly-lit dirt roads, he would be just another farmer living his life.

For a moment, he allowed himself to be lied to by his own brain, thinking he was going back to Leij... back home, back to Jordie.

The name brought him back to the truth. He would never go back to Jordie and his childish brain had to understand that, otherwise he wouldn't survive in the cruel, true world that he came to know.

"Sir, this is the family-farm you gave me the name to," the driver said.

Kaz jumped out, throwing some money to the driver, who took it and drove away without looking at him. He had given him more money than the drive was worth, all for his silence. No matter how much Laura had taken him by surprise by giving up on her job, but he wouldn't dare lead harm to her way.

The farmhouse was big. Bigger than he had anticipated.

He saw the barn on the edge of the property and, in the very back, the shadow of another building.

A loud bark almost made him jump. He had been so focused in trying to find any sign of Laura that he had not seen the dog tied away from him by a chain, saliva jumping from its sharp teeth as he bit the air, eager to take a bite at Kaz. That girl would be the death of him; she made him distracted enough to almost get killed.

Kaz glared at him, quite offended he had not seen such a pretty dog in the moment he got down from the carriage.

The front door opened and a man with a long shotgun walked out, a lamp on the hand of the young boy walking beside him, both with narrowed eyes trying to see through the dark when their eyes had been used to the light.

"Who's out there?" the older man yelled.

"I'm Kaz Brekker, sir," he screamed back. "I'm here for Laura."

"And why?" the man asked.

Kaz blinked. Why did the man wanted to know?

"I used to work with her. I'm here with more money to give her. My boss forgot to give her the other half."

It wasn't a complete lie. Kaz had learned that it was very much better to stick to half-truths than total lies. He had money that Per Haskell had 'forgotten' to give Laura and he did work with her before, but that wasn't the whole reason to his visit.

"Laura!" the kid screamed.

"Kaz?" a familiar voice asked, Laura walking out of the house.

"You know this gentleman, Laura?" the man asked.

"Yes, Mister Hoult. He... worked with me," she said, eyes narrowing through the dark. "Kaz, what's wrong?"

"I have your money," he announced, taking a step forward.

The dog barked once more, attacking the air. Kaz just watched the dog, quite impressed with his tries, though it knew it wouldn't be able to escape.

"LIBY!" the young boy yelled; voice much deeper.

The dog sat, quiet, but eyes still glued to Kaz, alert.

"I'm sorry for her, she's a bit protective," said the boy. "Let the boy come in, Da. They can talk inside."

The man, Mister Hoult, glared at Kaz for a moment, which made the boy wonder if he knew of what had happened between Laura and him.

Laura had been away for no more than four days and five nights, which made Kaz wonder how the hell she seemed to have gained the man's heart and protection to quickly, because the young boy and the man were both watching him move with scepticism.

"Kaz, hi," she said.

"Hi," he said back. "Here," he said, getting from his back pocket a thick dark envelope.

She peeked into it and her eyes widened.

"I'm sure you brought more than you intended," she said.

"No. I counted it twice. It's what you deserve for your services," he answered, glancing at the men watching the interaction.

Laura led him inside the house, tightening her coat around her even though they were inside of a quite warm house.

"What was that about?" asked a soft female voice.

"A co-worker from Laura, Ma," answered the boy, walking into the house.

"Oh, should I put another place on the table?" asked the woman.

All eyes turned to Kaz.

"No, ma'am, just passing through," he answered. "And I wanted to talk to Laura. I heard she was leaving just today."

The woman appeared in front of the two.

Kaz could see the resemblance between the woman and the young boy much like he could see the traces of the man on the boy.

While the woman had curls and dark, thick hair, the boy had brown curled hair. The man had straight brown hair. The boy had the woman's nose, but the man's lips.

"Come on, darling," she said to her husband, leading him further into the house. "Philip, leave the two to talk and come help me set the table!"

"Yes, Ma!" the boy said, running into the house.

Alone now, they both turned to each other, waiting for the other to start talking as soon as they had the chance, but the silence made Kaz's smirk. He should've known Laura wouldn't be the first to break down and start talking.

"I didn't know you left," he said.

"I thought you were ignoring the fact when you didn't show up to say goodbye," she admitted.

Kaz shook his head.

"I wouldn't," he said.

That was a lie. They both knew he would.

Kaz wasn't one for goodbyes.

"Why did you come here?" she asked, sighing tiredly.

"To make sure that you didn't leave your job because of me, because we can forget what happened and keep living our lives. To leave your job because of something like this is childish and completely immature," he said, before he could see it sounded like he was scolding her. "I didn't think you'd be one to –"

"I can't just forget it, Kaz!" she hissed.

"Oh, please, I'm sure I wasn't that good," he said back, rolling his eyes.

"I couldn't say. I have nothing to compare it to," she answered.

"Good. Neither do I. Now, why are you freaking out? Let's pretend it never happened!" he said, annoyed.

"I can't," she insisted.

"Don't be stubborn!" he said. "Come back!"

"I'm not being stubborn!"

"You sound pretty stubborn to me," he said.

"Kaz!" she exclaimed to scold him.

"What? You won't tell me what's going on. It's annoying and only a stubborn person would make me come all the way here, because I'm used to your pettiness and stubbornness and I knew you wouldn't answer a letter if I didn't come here deliver it to your bloody hands. Look, I just want to understand and –"

"You want to feel less guilty," she translated, scoffing in disgust.

"As if I felt guilty. The guilt is all yours, you're the one –"

"It's both of our faults," she disagreed, not wanting to be singled out.

"Stop cutting me off!" he exclaimed.

"I'M PREGNANT!" she blurted out, as loud as her shaky voice could manage.

The sounds in the kitchen stopped at once and Misses Hoult was the first to come to the front door, eyes wide as she looked between the two young people in her house.

Laura had wide eyes and trembling hands. Kaz had a pale, blank face with an open shocked mouth as he stopped breathing.

Laura couldn't stop looking into his eyes, searching for a reaction that was not stillness. She was nervous and she was fearful of his reaction. But all Kaz had managed to do was stare right back at her, completely still as if he believed that it would make him invisible and the situation would stop, rewind and change.

"Laura, dear?" Misses Hoult said.

"I'm sorry, Misses Hoult. You weren't supposed to found out. I'm leaving tomorrow and you won't have to worry about –" started Laura.

Misses Hoult's eyes grew twice as wide as Laura's.

"Have you gone man, girl. Of course we won't let you leave on your own now. No, dear, you'll stay here until you're fit to go back to your life and your baby is safe and healthy," she said. Misses Hoult didn't even need to talk to her husband about it, she knew he would agree. "And you'll have to stop living on our back house – you'll live with us. You'll be fine. We have a spare room and –"

"Pregnant?" Kaz managed to say.

The room went back to being still as the two women turned to him.

"Yes," confirmed Laura, waiting another second.

"Is it mine?" he asked.

Laura glared at him.

"Whom else do you think it would be from?" she asked, offended. "Bloody hell, Kaz, you're such a –"

"Nobody can find out about this."

Misses Hoult moved before Kaz could blink. She had grabbed Laura by the shoulders and led her into the parlour, making sure she was sitting and screaming for Philip to bring a cup of water, then she walked back to the front door, stomach dropping when she saw the entrance empty... until she heard the retching outside.

Opening the door slowly, she saw Kaz leaning against the house's wall, throwing up nothing, just coughing up, shaking like a leaf.

"Kaz," she called out.

"I messed up," he mumbled to himself, not being completely aware of who was watching him.

"Kaz, you can't just say those things to Laura. She needs to be cared for. If you don't want this child, turn around and go away, don't come back ever again to this house!" she said.

Kaz turned to her, eyes quite unfocused. Enough to make Misses Hoult wonder if he was even seeing her.

"I just killed Laura," he said.

Misses Hoult stopped, frozen in place as she finally understood what was going on with the boy's head. No, he hadn't been scared for himself. He had been scared for Laura from the moment she had shared the news with him.

It was no surprise that women died in childbirth, Misses Hoult herself lost her mother to the miracle of life and almost died in her son's birth too. In a farm, even the mares sometimes couldn't deal with the stress pregnancy would put on one's body. She wouldn't be shocked at all if the boy in front of her had lost his own mother in childbirth – maybe his, maybe a sibling; she wondered if the sibling survived...

"No, you did not," she said.

"They'll come after her. They'll kill her and the child – oh, I messed up!" he mumbled.

"Kaz, she'll be fine. I'll be here with her for every step of the way, but I need you to know that if you want to be part of that child's life, even if just a little, you need to get your shit together, because I can promise that the girl in there is terrified enough for both of you right now!" Misses Hoult said, scolding him at once. "Take a deep breath and do what you have to do to keep your sanity. Just make sure that when you come inside the house, you are ready to be a father... and a decent one at that."

Misses Hoult thought he would leave and never look back at the farm.

It took Kaz two hours and a half to cross the threshold.

But he came in, ready.

Dinner was already over and Philip was already in bed, but Mister and Misses Hoult were sitting in the parlour with Laura, trying their best to convince that a child could be a blessing and that she was going to be alright, but all she could do was sob.

She stopped as soon as she saw the pale figure of Kaz in the parlour corner.

"How do you want to deal with it?" he asked.