The Water's Rising.

Chapter 5-Kaz

When Kaz collapsed, he didn't fall to the concrete floor of a warehouse, but into the cold, murky waters of one of Ketterdam's Harbours. There were soft, rotting hands on him, pulling him under. And hands around his throat, hands that belonged to someone very familiar. Jordie. His dark brown curls were messy, his blue eyes glittering as he stared into Kaz's brown ones with a malicious smile. The shape of their faces were the same, the same sharp cheekbones and square jaw, but that was as far as the similarities went. Jordie forced him under the surface and Kaz began to struggle. "Jordie, stop!" Somehow, he could still shout, despite the water that surrounded him, that rushed up his nose and washed into his mouth, gargling his words. "Leave me alone! I wish you were still with me! You shouldn't be dead! Please, I'm sorry!"

Kaz shoved himself to the surface, gasping.

"Are you, brother? Are you really? Or do you just want me gone?" His brother slapped him viciously across his cheek and pushed Kaz under again.

"JORDIE, PLEASE!"

Jordie reached under the water and slapped Kaz again, water resistance not seeming to work here. The slap stung as much as the last one. A sick grin twisted his lips. He looked like a cobra toying with its prey. "Kaz," he said softly. "Kaz, listen to me. This isn't real!" But for all the softness in his tone, there was hatred there as well. It burned in his eyes.

"Jordie, stop, please. Stop trying to trick me," Kaz begged.

"Aww!" he pouted. "You figured it out." The mocking tone in his voice disappeared, replaced by a snarling anger. "Why should I? You don't deserve any sympathy! You don't deserve any relief!"

And then a voice, far off and muffled. "No...it's Inej..." He could only hear snatches of the comforting words. "This is all in your head..." The voice said. A couple of moments of swirling, swishing quiet, filled only by Kaz's choked, panicked gargling, and then, "...That's all it is! A stupid, stupid nightmare!"

"Don't listen to her. She's lying. This is all so very real, Kaz." Jordie whispered, his voice reminding Kaz of a hissing snake.

The soft tones came again. They were familiar. The drowning boy was sure he'd heard them before. "For all my Saints, Kaz Brekker, I love you...I need you to wake up! Come on!"

Jordie started to fade but the bloated corpses were still holding him there, even as his lungs burned.

"KAZ!" The voice screamed. "KAZ!"

And then he realised who it was.

Inej.

With a last ditch effort to shake the hands off, he kicked out desperately, mouth opening so he could form her name.

And he sat up.

Not in the harbour.

In a warehouse.

And not with Jordie.

With Inej.

His saviour.

His saint.