Inspired by; Dancing With Your Ghost by Sasha Alex Sloan and Brother by Kodaline
(Yes the lyrics are mashed up together, yes I altered just a few things. Sorry if u were expecting copy and paste lyrics.)
(Btw ima change the pov a bit so instead of I it'll say the characters actual name. Same pov as listed tho)
*a few days later*
Kaz's POV
It had been a hard day. Two enemy gang fights, three separate groups trying to jump him, and the newest (and youngest) Dreg got drunk and tried to pick a fight with an even more drunk older member.
Breaking that up had been the final thread.
Kaz put the end of his cane on the old member's chest, grabbing the younger one by the scruff of his collar.
The whole Slat went quiet. All the gathered Dregs watched in anticipation.
"I don't care what you do with your free time," Kaz hissed.
"But next time you feel the need to start a fight, you can find yourself in front of my office. You wanna fight somebody? You can fight me. You don't fight your own, that tattoo on your arm is like blood. You don't fight your own blood. If you wanna fight then step to the table and play the house. You'll see just what cards and anything else I keep up my sleeve." Brekker finished the declaration with a growl.
The younger one looked at Dirtyhands with testing eyes, the older one's gaze simply held respect.
"The Dregs are more than just a gang. All of you are brothers and sisters. Call me what you want, but I am not your fucking parent. Go whining to someone else, but don't you dare pick a fight here."
At the mention of brother something stirred in the back of Kaz's mind like dust in an old bottle.
Brekker let the younger one go, he promptly stalked off. The older member simply nodded, the Barrel Boss knew he'd already earned his respect.
Kaz looked to the bar, and found Pim. He nodded, signaling he knew what the boss needed him to do. He would go talk some sense into the younger member, and explain why fighting Dirtyhands was such a big deal.
The Slat was still quiet.
Kaz's voice reached the beams, the rock on rock tone they had all become accustom to.
"Anybody else feel like a fight?"
He was met with more silence.
"Good. Now get back to work. I'm sure you all have jobs to get done." Everybody busied themselves quickly.
Kaz looked to the corner of the room, he felt his presence again, even if the boy wasn't even alive.
Jordie's glassy eyes stared back at him, the rest of him was the same as the day they'd left Ketterdam. Roughed up clothes from finishing the farm chores one last time, his pants just a little too short because of his mid-summer growth spurt. His hair was tousled, longer than Kaz's present day close cut. The only thing not quite alive about Jordan Rietveld was his eyes. They haunted Kas, every shadow, every corner of every room, every where he looked Jordie waited.
Kaz turned away. But he didn't go up to his office just yet.
Instead, he made his way to the Van Eck residence.
Using back alleys and shortcuts, Kaz limped himself to the mansion. Not long after his first reacquaintance with a piano, Wylan offered that Kaz could come play whenever he needed.
Brekker intended to take up that offer today.
Kaz knocked on the door when he saw it was locked, as well as all the other windows. The deadly boy hadn't had the energy to pick the new locks yet. He knew they were top quality and would take too long to pick, so he might as well come in through the front door for at least a few days.
The homely old maid answered the door. Ms.Collymore was her name. She wasn't married, yet she was up in age. As far as records shown, she had no spouse or any interest of one. She didn't have any children either. She was a witty old woman with the calming nature of a farm wife. Kaz never wanted to get too close to her, she reminded him too much of home.
She gave Brekker a half-knowing glare. Like a mother looking at a child when they've been caught. It wasn't smug, but it wasn't rude either.
"I didn't expect to see you here Mr.Brekker. Unfortunately, I hate to tell you that Mr.Fahey and Mr.Hendricks aren't here at the moment."
Kaz cleared his throat like a nervous child, well, he tried to. "That's quite alright. I'll just wait here till they get back."
She nodded, again knowingly, and stepped aside.
She didn't reach to hang his coat, nor did she bother him at all. She simply made her way to the kitchen, and that's when Kaz could smell the cookie she was baking.
Kaz hung his coat, using the crow head cane to balance and start the walk to the old office. The smell hit his nose like a waft of hot summer air through a window. Brekker's eyes watered as he was plunged into more memories of Jordie. Kaz looked to the mirror in the foyer of the mansion.
"Go away Jord." He said exhausted under his breath.
"No can do Kazzie, come on. Da just made cookies! Race you there!" His face twisted in a smile but his eyes remained the same.
Kaz just sighed.
He got himself to the office and shut the door, hoping to keep Jordie's ghost at bay.
When the barrel boss turned, he was met with glassy eyes again.
But Kaz didn't even flinch, he simply sighed again and walked around the ghost of his older brother.
"Jord, go away."
"Nope." The ghost of his brother popped the p just like he did when they were children.
"Fine." Kaz sat down on the piano bench. He set his cane beside him.
"I'm not going to leave you Kazzie. Never!" The phantom said in a cheery voice.
"You already did Jord. You already left me." Kaz felt a pressure in his chest, something like a sob building in his lungs. He hated that. He hates crying at all.
"I know."
"You should be sorry."
"I can't be sorry Kazzie, I'm a figment of your mind. So I'm gonna tell you it's all your fault."
Now it was Kaz's turn. "I know Jord."
"I just miss you." Kaz said with a silent tear tracing down his face. Everything hurt. Every part of him hurt. But it wasn't physically pain. The weight of every thing crashed down on him suddenly. He couldn't breath, he was shaking so bad he could even sit still.
But he could do something. He could try to let it go. So Kaz slid off his gloves.
He started off humming. He thought of the words to a song he'd wrote only in his mind. Instead of letting the dam trickle, he finally let the dam burst through.
"Yelling at the sky,
Screaming at the world,
Holding on too tight
Head up in the clouds
Heaven only knows where you are now.
How do I love
How do I love again?
How do I trust
How do I trust again?"
The words came out on shaky tones, but Kaz didn't care. He took a deep breath, his fingers paused over the keys. Then he let the entire dam break.
"I stay up all night
Tell myself I'm alright
Maybe you're just harder to see then most
I put the record on
Wait till I hear our song
Every night I'm dancing with your ghost
If I was dying on my knees
You were the one to rescue me
And if you were drowned at sea
I'd give you my lungs so you could breath
Oh brother, every night I'm dancin with your ghost"
The words surrounded him like water, the notes of the piano were like currents pulling him down. But for once, Kaz didn't struggle.
He let himself drown in himself.
Jordie's ghost was still there, but now Jordie seemed to float away with every note.
"And we'll be carryin each other
Till we say goodbye on our dying day
Well those days passed
And so have you
Never got the chance
To say a last goodbye
I gotta move on
But it hurts to try
Now I'm supposed to keep on
Goin through life, time not quite flying by
Instead I stay up all night
Tell myself I'm alright
Oh you're just harder to see than most
I put the record on
Wait till I hear our song
Every night I'm dancing with your ghost
Oh brother, I'm dancing with your ghost"
Kaz Rietveld floated above the bottom of the sea floor, staring into the murky waters. He closed his eyes, maybe the moon was above him or maybe the sun. He didn't care, no sun reached this far down.
Kaz Rietveld was drowning in himself. He had no grasp of the present, he forgot he was even in the Van Eck mansion again. He just kept singing and playing and yet the dam still wasn't dry. He had bottled it all up for years and now it was freely flowing. From his belting voice ringing around him being the only reason he was breathing, the piano's melody being the calm water he let himself drift in, and the memories pouring from him and wrapping to his ankles to drag him further down.
"Oh I've got you brother, cause Every night I'm dancing with your ghost."
He finished the final notes, not caring for the silent tears streaming down his face.
Kaz Rietveld had just flooded his armor out of his body. It laid in torn pieces around his feet, he felt tears dripping off his chin and tracing down his neck.
He heard a tiny creak behind him and whipped around.
"Kaz?" Half-whispered a honey-sweet voice.
That's why Jesper and Wylan were gone. Kaz nearly couldn't speak, his throat raw from tears and singing longer than he has in years.
"Inej?"
A/N: IF requested I will continue this one but not rlly unless requested.