Nightmare on Fleet Street (Part 4)
Chapter 14
“James.. What ‘ave you been doin’?” Mrs. Lovett’s voice remained oddly calm, but her rolling pin came back up at was pointed threateningly at the apothecary.
James lifted his hands in surrender. “No need to be particularly rash, Eleanor.”
“Rash?” She growled. “Ya think I’m actin’ rashly?!”
There was a sound that could have come from pig being stuck, drawing all eyes to the parlor’s door. The beadle was pressed up against the wall, Sweeney pining him there with a razor to his throat.
Even after making the door his destination, Sweeney wasn’t completely sure he would find what he was looking for. Finding the beadle attempting to sneak out of it seemed to be some kind of sign that he was heading the right direction. He had been unable to contain himself, and ignoring his injuries had lunged at the man, razor in hand.
The man had squealed, which only served to fuel the barber’s delight. He held his razor to the man’s thick throat, tickling it with its sharp edge.
Sweeney laughed softly at the man’s frightened expression.
Mrs. Lovett stared, positive for a moment that her mind was paying tricks on her. But then Toby was suddenly in her arms, which also made Sweeney’s presence real.
“Oh luv, I was so worried!” She practically crushed the boy against her bosom.
“Mum!” He protested, running towards her for reassurance had been his first instinct, and one he was happy to indulge. Yet the sudden sight of the bloodied rolling pin, though undoubtedly having been used on the horde of monsters, cruelly reminded him of the work she did. Toby was suddenly, and very irrationally, afraid of being in her embrace.
She ignored him for a moment longer, still refusing to let go. “I was so worried..”
Coming to the realization there was a group of people in the room, Sweeney decided to deal with the beadle later. Grabbing the man’s face, he pulled him forward before smashing the back of his head into the wall. The plump man fell down with a soft thud, and the barber turned around with a satisfied smirk.
A very unsatisfied looking baker was standing in front of him.
“Jus’ came ‘ere for your revenge, didn’t you?!” Mrs. Lovett screeched.
Sweeney stared, not understanding why she was suddenly yelling at him. And a little shocked that she was yelling to begin with.
“You bloody bastard!” Her trusty rolling pin was on a fast track for the side of his head.
He caught her wrist quickly, having no intention of joining the beadle on the floor (and unbeknownst to him, the judge).
“I would have been after you, if it wasn’t for that stupid boy!”
“’Ow dare ya call Toby stupid!”
“How dare you assume I would let you die!” He snapped back.
Mrs. Lovett blinked in shock, unsure of how to respond. “Really?” Was all she managed.
Suddenly realizing he had something along the lines of kindness, Sweeney frowned, letting go of her immediately. “Yes.” He growled, disliking his new position.
Her eyes brimmed with relieved and joyous tears. The barber looked panicked at the happy look on her face.
“Oh, Mr. T!” Mrs. Lovett sobbed, wrapping her arms around him best she could before burying her head in his chest.
He stiffly patted her back, feeling paralyzed by the pain she was sending through his battered body.
Johanna giggled, Toby frowned and Mayhew gaped. The judge and beadle remained motionless, still unconscious on the floor.
James knew a barber had started a business above Eleanor’s pie shop. He also heard a great deal of rumors surrounding the two. The apothecary had found himself peering through his windows and down the street because of them, even knowing his behavior was ridiculous and that he shouldn’t have bothered. The baker wouldn’t be a part of a scandalous affair and then become incredibly famous all in one. It was ridiculous, and he didn’t want to believe she was with someone else. Even in an unorthodox relationship.
No, especially in an unorthodox relationship.
Seeing her yell, cry and embrace a man had stunned him.
They had seemed quite familiar with one another, and his brain immediately said ‘barber’. The man also seemed to be in possession of razors, or at least one, which was still clutched in his hand. In the hand which was still awkwardly patting Eleanor’s back.
His Eleanor..
But, she wasn’t anymore. So James stared, and restrained himself from trying to kill the obviously wounded man.
How he and the boy were even still alive was a miracle.
White spots began to invade Sweeney’s vision, and he felt something trickle down the side of his lip. No doubt he was bleeding again…
“Mrs. Lovett…” The barber murmured, senses suddenly overcome with the scent and taste of copper. “You’re squeezing the life out of me.”
“Oh.” She gasped, stepping back and sniffing away the remainder of her tears. “Sorry luv, I just.. wot ‘appened?”
“Weren’t you listening?” He grumbled wiping away the blood from his mouth, hopefully before she noticed.
“Well…”
“We don’t need to hear a story in order to figure out you’ve been dragged through hell.” James cut in, not wanting to see Eleanor so focused on the other man.
Sweeney’s eyes went to the apothecary, briefly studying the man before minutely nodding his head.
“I’ll just sit for a moment.” He muttered, practically crawling past Mrs. Lovett and to a chair. Sweeney set himself down with a sigh, and then hissed in pain as his muscles relaxed. His dropping eyes found the form of the judge on the floor.
Mrs. Lovett was pushing him back into his chair before he realized he had exited it.
“Is that-?!”
“Yes.” The baker answered, grimacing at the blood and filth on her finger tips from simply touching Sweeney. She glanced down to affirm the appearance of grime on her dress that came about from her hug.
“It’s an excellent story.” Johanna piped up. “Mrs. Lovett should tell it to you.” Having been intent on being invisible until things played out, the girl had no idea how unnoticed she really had gone.
Sweeney stiffened at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened.
“Yes,” Mrs. Lovett sighed. “Tha’s her.”
The barber’s mouth hung open a moment as he regained regular breathing. His jaw clicked shut and his eyes narrowed. “Where the hell is Anthony?” He growled out.
“Anthony?” Johanna gasped. “You know-? You’re-?” The girl leapt from her chair. “Oh Mrs. Lovett, why didn’t you say?” She looked ecstatic.
“It didn’t come to mind.” The baker confessed, still trying to keep Sweeney relaxed. “Ya’re terribly hurt luv, best jus’ stay down.”
“Terribly?” He grumbled. “I came all the way here, I’m fine.”
Toby frowned, trying to understand what was going on. Mr. Todd was far from fine, but that was not what weighed on the boy’s mind. The man had just gone through two very strange stages, one after seeing the judge (he shuddered at the memory of Sweeney in the bake house) and another at hearing the young woman’s voice. And he seemed quite irritated with Anthony, whom Toby had only briefly seen running up the shop stairs once. Mrs. Lovett had told him he was a friend of Mr. Todd’s, which was odd in itself, but how was he connected to the girl?
Deciding the adults had had enough time to themselves, Toby stepped up to where Sweeney was seated. “Is tha’ the man, sir?” He asked, eyes sneaking a glance at Mrs. Lovett before going back to the barber.
Sweeney’s dark eyes bored into Toby’s for a moment before he snarled out a ‘yes’.
“Anthony what?” Johanna came to the wrong conclusion and became immediately worried.
“Not ‘im dear, the judge.” Mrs. Lovett sighed.
“What does the judge-” Mayhew started, but was immediately cut off by Sweeney.
“’E’s the reason things are the way they are right now.”
“No luv,” Mrs. Lovett shook her hea. “’E is.” She pointed towards James. Before the apothecary or the barber could come up with a response she continued. “An’ we are.”
“We?” The barber snapped. “What did we do?”
“The pies.” The baker reminded him, giving him a meaningful look.
“Wa-?” He stopped. “Oh.”
“Yea.” She bit her lip. “Gave me a bit of a start too.”
“What?” James cut in, confused by the sudden turn.
“It’s sick!” Toby cried out, stepping away from Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney. “’Ow can ya talk about it like it’s normal?”
Eleanor put a hand to her mouth, eyes going wide. “Toby-”
“We went through the bake house to get away.” Sweeney prompted, slightly amused by Mrs. Lovett’s reaction.
“What did you do..?” Johanna whispered. She had rather liked Mrs. Lovett, and the woman had seemed ignorant of the judge’s involvement in the city’s current condition. How could she have caused any of it?
“Sick!” Toby spat out again. His mum didn’t really seem to be bother by it. He had assumed the work disgusted her, that she was forced into it. The way she spoke to Mr. Todd about it, it really did seem like a collaborative effort. “Killin’ those people an’-”
“Toby, tha’ is enough!” Mrs. Lovett snapped. She was slightly appalled that her ‘son’ had found out this way. Especially with nothing to comfort him afterward. No doubt Sweeney had just put it out there and gone on. And him suddenly shouting out her and Mr. T’s secret to he world most certainly was not a good thing. She supposed Johanna shouldn’t be learning this, Sweeney probably wouldn’t want that. Not to mention how Mayhew would react to it…
“No it’s not!” The boy started to cry, backing up for the door. “’E may ‘ave killed ‘em but what you did was worse! Choppin’ them up an’ puttin’ them in pies!”
Too preoccupied with Toby and her new tears Mrs. Lovett didn’t notice Sweeney stand from his chair.
The barber was across the room and had Toby by the throat before anyone else realized he had left the chair. His injuries didn’t seem to hinder him from lifting the child off the floor.
“If it wasn’t for Mrs. Lovett and I you would still be with Pirelli boy. Would you prefer that? Is that what you want?” He snarled.
“Mr. T! Put ‘em down!”
“No! We’ve taken care of him and I’ve had to save his hide several times already. If he can’t appreciate what we’ve given him I'm getting rid of him!”
Feeling numb after what the boy had shouted into the room, James hardly saw the world. Nothing seemed real, and he couldn’t feel his body.
Eleanor.. assisting a murderer. Baking corpses into pies..
“Oh God.. that’s..” He snapped out of his reverie to see the boy getting the life crushed out of him.
James darter across the room and landed a solid punch on the barber’s side. The barber collapsed onto the floor as if suddenly boneless. Toby stumbled away, grasping his throat and giving the apothecary a surprised look.
“He shouldn’t have.. shit.” James quickly knelt and delicately lifted the torn shirt from Sweeney’s side. The massive bruise there was most definitely not caused by his punch.
Mrs. Lovett brushed away the few tears the started to fall at the sorry sight of Sweeney’s unconscious form.
--
Chapter 15
Wherever he was, he wasn’t where he last remembered. Though all he recounted was strangling the life out of Toby. How many time had he done that today? He pushed the amused thought away, trying to recall where he was. Sweeney then remembered a great deal of pain, which was also an annoying trend that day. Toby had also been the cause of his last blackout. He didn’t feel like moving, and after everything that had happened he began to doubt he could if he wanted to.
After everything he went through a part of him told him to stop, and accept this injuries. That, or he was dead.
Actually, he couldn’t be dead, he was moving.
Why was he moving?
Sweeney then became aware of two pairs of hands holding onto him. They were moving him. Where to and why? He could have remained on the floor until he got better. Well, as better as someone with severe injuries could on their own.
Conversation finally reached his groggy brain, and the barber decided to keep feigning unconsciousness and listen.
“I can’t believe you did that James!”
“He was trying to kill that boy!”
“Ya didn’ ‘ave ta punch ‘im.” Mrs. Lovett grumbled.
“I don’t think calmly telling him to stop would work, Eleanor.”
Why did he do that? Sweeney wondered. Hearing Mrs. Lovett’s first name was strange enough, but to hear it come from the man’s mouth in such a familiar way… He couldn’t quite place his feelings on the matter.
The baker sighed. “’Ow much farther to your bloody lab?”
“He is remarkably heavy for someone so thin.”
“I didn’ mean it like tha’!” She snapped.
“Why are you so mad at me? I have more of a right to be angry than you.”
“’Ow dare ya bring that into this.”
Sweeney was intrigued now.
“How dare I?” James ground out. “You, who seems so content to be a murderer’s assistant!”
“Oh, I know that isn’t wot’s botherin’ ya.” A very nasty quality had entered Mrs. Lovett’s voice.
“Do tell me what is.” He replied, sarcasm oozing from his words.
The group stopped suddenly and Sweeney uneasily felt himself tilt towards the ground at he sound of a door opening. He was quickly pulled back up and he had to hold back a relieved breath.
“You're mad tha’ wot you did disgusted me, but wot ‘e does isn’.” Apparently carrying the barber was taking its toll, and her breath started to come out in puffs.
“What I did wasn’t sick! What you do is!”
“Your acts were far from perfect! And ‘ow is creating a man eating plague not sick?”
“They weren’t supposed to eat people!”
Sweeney felt himself being very unceremoniously put upon a cold wooden table.
James continued his annoyed rant. “I am putting it up to what you did with those men’s bodies and them being consumed by other people down to that!”
“Why the bloody hell would tha’ make ‘em eat each other?”
“My guess would be an obedience drug and eating human flesh simply don’t mix!”
“Well, whose fault is that?”
“You can’t blame me for everything Eleanor!”
“I’m not putting everything on your shoulders, jus’ wot belongs there James! Tha‘ includes both of their poisonings and this mess!”
Who? Sweeney resisted the urge to crack open one of his eyes. The conversation was far too interesting to risk them stopping and noticing him being awake.
“I accepted Albert’s murder, you know I do. In fact, I recall you not particularly caring on the matter.”
“You can’t possibly-”
“I can! Part of Lucy’s insanity is your fault! And you know what? I can blame this plague on you too! If you hadn’t been so scared you would have married me and none of this would have ever happened!”
--
“Are you.. alright?” Johanna asked softly.
Toby continued scowling at the floor. The girl decided to let the boy brood a while longer, and turned her attention to where the beadle and judge were on the floor. They had been quickly dragged to the side of room by Mrs. Lovett who had plastered a smile on her face and told Johanna and Toby to keep an eye on the men. She had been completely unsure of how to react around Mrs. Lovett since the barber’s sudden appearance, and the revelation of her sick secrets; Toby seemed to be having a difficult time too.
“Did he…deserve it?”
Johanna looked over at Toby quickly. “Who?”
Toby pointed at the judge.
“Yes.” She said quickly.
“Wot did ‘e do?” The boy asked flatly.
“He’s very cruel-”
“No. To Mr. Todd.”
“Oh. I have no idea.”
“’E hates ‘im.”
Johanna stared at the judge for a moment longer before deciding she didn’t hate him. She certainly didn’t like him, but did that constitute hate? The man would haunt her life forever, but she couldn’t bring herself to hate him.
“Maybe he sentenced someone from his family to hang.” The girl offered, a little wary of discussing the topic with such a young boy.
“I never thought about Mr. Todd having a family before.”
“Everyone has a family.”
“No. I don’t.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t Mrs. Lovett and Mr. Todd-”
“They took care of me, but they aren’t my family. I don’t have one.” He said firmly.
“I was taken away from my family when I was very little; by the judge.” She stared down into her lap, where her hands were folded. “I always dreamed of escaping here and finding my own family. When I got Mrs. Lovett.. It really seemed like a blessing. It was a bit of an accident too.”
“An accident?”
“I asked for.. something and got her.”
Toby frowned at her, not completely understanding. “Me old master jus’ left me at ‘er shop. She took me in.”
“So then why isn’t she your mother?”
“She bakes people into pies!”
“Yes…that is a bit strange.”
“A bit!? It’s crazy! Ya know, I used to worry abou’ ‘er. Y’see..” a very bitter tone entered the boy’s voice. “She’s in love with Mr. Todd, an’ ‘e jus’ uses her. I thought ‘e was jus’ taking advantage of her, making her do it. But now…”
“She must just love him a lot. Love can be.. very crazy.” She smiled softly at the thought of Anthony.
Toby shook his head, returning his gaze to the floor. “Their love ain’t crazy. It’s sick.”
--
Chapter 16
Love was an ideal for Johanna. It was a beautiful thing in her mind, and the hopes one young sailor gave her seemed to prove love was amazing. Hearing a young boy tell her that love could be sick and disgusting confused her. So Johanna thought on all she knew about Mrs. Lovett and her apparent murderous love interest.
Mr. Todd seemed a strange type of man, beyond killing too, and she wondered, if as Toby speculated, he didn’t love Mrs. Lovett back. He had to know she loved him, right?
Johanna hadn’t realized it, but she hadn’t spoken to Mrs. Lovett about her ‘tenant’ (as she put it) for too long, and she had only known Mr. Todd for a total of five minutes, which was spent yelling and accusing.
She briefly hoped the man’s condition wasn’t so far gone that he wouldn’t recover. He had been in terrible shape.
“Toby..” The girl asked slowly. “Could you. .tell me about them?”
“About mu-Mrs. Lovett an’ Mr. T?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m just curious. Mr. Todd was supposed to be helping Anthony, a boy I know, to help me escape. Hearing this is.. a little strange.”
The boy snorted, as if to say ‘you’re telling me’. She stared at him a moment longer before he slowly nodded his head. “Alright.”
--
Sweeney didn’t know if the silence came from his mind suddenly blanking, or Mrs. Lovett actually not responding. She hadn’t said anything, but it didn’t matter much to Sweeney as he was way too confused to really hear her anyway.
Lucy being.. insane.. Albert, murdered. Mrs. Lovett getting married.. (again). It all seemed such a strange thing to be talking about, especially since the barber had never seen the man before, or even heard of him.
“’Ow could ya expect me to say ‘yes’ to a marriage proposal after ya poisoned my tenant’s wife?”
After he poisoned Lucy? Sweeney’ eyes slowly came open. They were standing on either side of the table he had been placed on, and where looking so intently at one another they didn’t notice his consciousness.
“I brought that bottle over, she poisoned herself and you just watched her do it!” Mayhew hissed back at her.
“Brought it over? You placed it on her nightstand for God’s sake!”
“All I see is a pit you’re digging yourself into Eleanor, you aren’t even claiming to have moved the bottle once you knew it was there.”
“I knew you brought it over, I thought it was medicine, not poison!”
“Oh yes,” the sarcasm was back in his voice. “Just like you didn’t know what I was giving Albert?”
“I can’t believe you’re bringing this up now.” Mrs. Lovett snarled.
“I’m sorry if I’m not in a hurry to wait another eleven years for some closure to this mess.”
“Mess?”
Instead of dwelling on the fact he had never seen Mrs. Lovett looked so incredibly angry before, Sweeney decided to take some action. He had had quite enough of listening to the two bicker, and they were straying from the topic he wanted to hear about most. His wife.
James’s mouth was just opening to retort when Sweeney’s hands shot up and grabbed the front of Mrs. Lovett’s dress, dragging her down so that her face was an inch from his.
“What happened to Lucy?” He snarled into her frightened face.
--
Toby was sketchy and unsure of what to say or where to start, so Johanna prompted him to start from the beginning. A frown of concentration appeared on his face as he thought. The tale he pieced together was an interesting one for Johanna to hear. Mr. Todd was a quiet man, kept to himself, while Mrs. Lovett bustled around her shop and chatted non-stop. Toby smiled fondly as he spoke of her, then seemed to remember she was supposed to disgust him and frowned.
Something close to a sneer appeared on Toby’s face as he groused out ‘she melted every time he was in a room’.
Johanna tried to picture an image of Mrs. Lovett mooning after Mr. Todd. From what she saw and knew of the woman, it was a very difficult thing to conjure.
She took care of Mr. Todd, Toby, the shop, and; the boy muttered darkly, she took care of the murders.
The girl frowned, trying to understand the baker. This was surely the definite proof of her insanity, but as the boy’s story continued she oddly found herself believing less and less in that theory.
“It was jus’ another day ‘fore everyone went crazy.” Toby concluded. “Mr. Todd started actin’ a bt different though.”
“What do you mean?”
“More… human.”
“He wasn’t human before?”
“’E wasn’ nothing’, ‘e was jus’ there. Mum always said he did well for us, but I never thought he did anything.”
Johanna smiled, waiting for Toby to realize he referred to Mrs. Lovett as ‘mum’ once again. She didn’t know if the boy noticed, as all he did was continue scowling.
--
“Mr. T-” Mrs. Lovett gasped.
“Don’t play games with me woman, what happened?”
“Let her go!” James snapped, finally bringing himself out of shock. How long had the barber been awake?
“What happened to Lucy?” Sweeney snarled, pulling Mrs. Lovett even closer.
Unable to maintain her balance, she landed on top of him. He immediately lost his grip as spots danced before his eyes, and he gasped desperately for air which only caused him further pain. Mrs. Lovett pushed herself up and stumbled away from the table.
“What is wrong with you?” The apothecary shouted, glaring at the man on the table.
“What is wrong with me?” Sweeney snapped. “What did you do to Lucy, what did you do to these people?!”
“What do you care what happened to some nit fifteen years ago?”
“My wife you ignorant son of a-” He reached up for Mayhew’s throat, intent on throttling him.
The man had jumped away from the table though, and had returned his attention to Mrs. Lovett.
“You said he was dead!”
“He was!” She snapped back.
“I’m right here!” The barber growled, extremely annoyed at not having the strength to sit up. “What did you do to her?” He demanded once more.
“Mr. T, we didn’-”
“Don’t sugar coat it for him, Eleanor. The man should know what a lost cause his wife was before she poisoned herself. She was draining money from your pocket more quickly than Albert was.”
“You poisoned her.” Sweeney admonished. “You did.”
“I may have brought something over, but she did it herself!
“My wife would never do such a thing!”
“She did, just as surely as she gave her body and child to Turpin!”
Sweeney and James both wiped their heads to the side, shocked at Mrs. Lovett’s outburst. The woman looked livid, and was staring directly at the barber. Sweeney blinked, finding himself once more in a state of shock for that day. Nellie’s eyes bored into his, something akin to a murderous fire burning in them.
“Yes, I lied to you! Lucy is more than just alive.”
“Alive-?”
She cut him off quickly. “She wasn’t tricked! She wasn’t fooled! That woman ran desperate to his house. She did so many things for that man.” The baker snapped, taking a step towards the table. “Begged him to marry her to gain back some status, to get some money! So Turpin took Johanna and left me with that whorish wreck!”
The barber stared, finding nothing to say. Feeling unable to speak as everything she said came crashing down on him. It didn’t seem possible, but he had no proof against it. He had no idea what his wife would do in such a desperate situation, but to think she would succumb to that…
“You lying bitch.” Sweeney snarled. “You think I would believe my wife would do that to our marriage-”
“Being sent to that place was just as sure as being sent to your death.” The baker took another adventurous step forward, almost looming over the barber.
James floundered. He had seen her lose her temper before, he had heard a great number of un-Godly things come from her mouth, but this was entirely different. The apothecary had never seen her beat someone down so harshly with only just words. He had never seen it happen to anyone before, and the man on the table seemed very incapable of taking it.
The two were staring vehemently at one another, and James wondered if Eleanor would be so quick to defend Sweeney right then.
Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8
“James.. What ‘ave you been doin’?” Mrs. Lovett’s voice remained oddly calm, but her rolling pin came back up at was pointed threateningly at the apothecary.
James lifted his hands in surrender. “No need to be particularly rash, Eleanor.”
“Rash?” She growled. “Ya think I’m actin’ rashly?!”
There was a sound that could have come from pig being stuck, drawing all eyes to the parlor’s door. The beadle was pressed up against the wall, Sweeney pining him there with a razor to his throat.
Even after making the door his destination, Sweeney wasn’t completely sure he would find what he was looking for. Finding the beadle attempting to sneak out of it seemed to be some kind of sign that he was heading the right direction. He had been unable to contain himself, and ignoring his injuries had lunged at the man, razor in hand.
The man had squealed, which only served to fuel the barber’s delight. He held his razor to the man’s thick throat, tickling it with its sharp edge.
Sweeney laughed softly at the man’s frightened expression.
Mrs. Lovett stared, positive for a moment that her mind was paying tricks on her. But then Toby was suddenly in her arms, which also made Sweeney’s presence real.
“Oh luv, I was so worried!” She practically crushed the boy against her bosom.
“Mum!” He protested, running towards her for reassurance had been his first instinct, and one he was happy to indulge. Yet the sudden sight of the bloodied rolling pin, though undoubtedly having been used on the horde of monsters, cruelly reminded him of the work she did. Toby was suddenly, and very irrationally, afraid of being in her embrace.
She ignored him for a moment longer, still refusing to let go. “I was so worried..”
Coming to the realization there was a group of people in the room, Sweeney decided to deal with the beadle later. Grabbing the man’s face, he pulled him forward before smashing the back of his head into the wall. The plump man fell down with a soft thud, and the barber turned around with a satisfied smirk.
A very unsatisfied looking baker was standing in front of him.
“Jus’ came ‘ere for your revenge, didn’t you?!” Mrs. Lovett screeched.
Sweeney stared, not understanding why she was suddenly yelling at him. And a little shocked that she was yelling to begin with.
“You bloody bastard!” Her trusty rolling pin was on a fast track for the side of his head.
He caught her wrist quickly, having no intention of joining the beadle on the floor (and unbeknownst to him, the judge).
“I would have been after you, if it wasn’t for that stupid boy!”
“’Ow dare ya call Toby stupid!”
“How dare you assume I would let you die!” He snapped back.
Mrs. Lovett blinked in shock, unsure of how to respond. “Really?” Was all she managed.
Suddenly realizing he had something along the lines of kindness, Sweeney frowned, letting go of her immediately. “Yes.” He growled, disliking his new position.
Her eyes brimmed with relieved and joyous tears. The barber looked panicked at the happy look on her face.
“Oh, Mr. T!” Mrs. Lovett sobbed, wrapping her arms around him best she could before burying her head in his chest.
He stiffly patted her back, feeling paralyzed by the pain she was sending through his battered body.
Johanna giggled, Toby frowned and Mayhew gaped. The judge and beadle remained motionless, still unconscious on the floor.
James knew a barber had started a business above Eleanor’s pie shop. He also heard a great deal of rumors surrounding the two. The apothecary had found himself peering through his windows and down the street because of them, even knowing his behavior was ridiculous and that he shouldn’t have bothered. The baker wouldn’t be a part of a scandalous affair and then become incredibly famous all in one. It was ridiculous, and he didn’t want to believe she was with someone else. Even in an unorthodox relationship.
No, especially in an unorthodox relationship.
Seeing her yell, cry and embrace a man had stunned him.
They had seemed quite familiar with one another, and his brain immediately said ‘barber’. The man also seemed to be in possession of razors, or at least one, which was still clutched in his hand. In the hand which was still awkwardly patting Eleanor’s back.
His Eleanor..
But, she wasn’t anymore. So James stared, and restrained himself from trying to kill the obviously wounded man.
How he and the boy were even still alive was a miracle.
White spots began to invade Sweeney’s vision, and he felt something trickle down the side of his lip. No doubt he was bleeding again…
“Mrs. Lovett…” The barber murmured, senses suddenly overcome with the scent and taste of copper. “You’re squeezing the life out of me.”
“Oh.” She gasped, stepping back and sniffing away the remainder of her tears. “Sorry luv, I just.. wot ‘appened?”
“Weren’t you listening?” He grumbled wiping away the blood from his mouth, hopefully before she noticed.
“Well…”
“We don’t need to hear a story in order to figure out you’ve been dragged through hell.” James cut in, not wanting to see Eleanor so focused on the other man.
Sweeney’s eyes went to the apothecary, briefly studying the man before minutely nodding his head.
“I’ll just sit for a moment.” He muttered, practically crawling past Mrs. Lovett and to a chair. Sweeney set himself down with a sigh, and then hissed in pain as his muscles relaxed. His dropping eyes found the form of the judge on the floor.
Mrs. Lovett was pushing him back into his chair before he realized he had exited it.
“Is that-?!”
“Yes.” The baker answered, grimacing at the blood and filth on her finger tips from simply touching Sweeney. She glanced down to affirm the appearance of grime on her dress that came about from her hug.
“It’s an excellent story.” Johanna piped up. “Mrs. Lovett should tell it to you.” Having been intent on being invisible until things played out, the girl had no idea how unnoticed she really had gone.
Sweeney stiffened at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened.
“Yes,” Mrs. Lovett sighed. “Tha’s her.”
The barber’s mouth hung open a moment as he regained regular breathing. His jaw clicked shut and his eyes narrowed. “Where the hell is Anthony?” He growled out.
“Anthony?” Johanna gasped. “You know-? You’re-?” The girl leapt from her chair. “Oh Mrs. Lovett, why didn’t you say?” She looked ecstatic.
“It didn’t come to mind.” The baker confessed, still trying to keep Sweeney relaxed. “Ya’re terribly hurt luv, best jus’ stay down.”
“Terribly?” He grumbled. “I came all the way here, I’m fine.”
Toby frowned, trying to understand what was going on. Mr. Todd was far from fine, but that was not what weighed on the boy’s mind. The man had just gone through two very strange stages, one after seeing the judge (he shuddered at the memory of Sweeney in the bake house) and another at hearing the young woman’s voice. And he seemed quite irritated with Anthony, whom Toby had only briefly seen running up the shop stairs once. Mrs. Lovett had told him he was a friend of Mr. Todd’s, which was odd in itself, but how was he connected to the girl?
Deciding the adults had had enough time to themselves, Toby stepped up to where Sweeney was seated. “Is tha’ the man, sir?” He asked, eyes sneaking a glance at Mrs. Lovett before going back to the barber.
Sweeney’s dark eyes bored into Toby’s for a moment before he snarled out a ‘yes’.
“Anthony what?” Johanna came to the wrong conclusion and became immediately worried.
“Not ‘im dear, the judge.” Mrs. Lovett sighed.
“What does the judge-” Mayhew started, but was immediately cut off by Sweeney.
“’E’s the reason things are the way they are right now.”
“No luv,” Mrs. Lovett shook her hea. “’E is.” She pointed towards James. Before the apothecary or the barber could come up with a response she continued. “An’ we are.”
“We?” The barber snapped. “What did we do?”
“The pies.” The baker reminded him, giving him a meaningful look.
“Wa-?” He stopped. “Oh.”
“Yea.” She bit her lip. “Gave me a bit of a start too.”
“What?” James cut in, confused by the sudden turn.
“It’s sick!” Toby cried out, stepping away from Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney. “’Ow can ya talk about it like it’s normal?”
Eleanor put a hand to her mouth, eyes going wide. “Toby-”
“We went through the bake house to get away.” Sweeney prompted, slightly amused by Mrs. Lovett’s reaction.
“What did you do..?” Johanna whispered. She had rather liked Mrs. Lovett, and the woman had seemed ignorant of the judge’s involvement in the city’s current condition. How could she have caused any of it?
“Sick!” Toby spat out again. His mum didn’t really seem to be bother by it. He had assumed the work disgusted her, that she was forced into it. The way she spoke to Mr. Todd about it, it really did seem like a collaborative effort. “Killin’ those people an’-”
“Toby, tha’ is enough!” Mrs. Lovett snapped. She was slightly appalled that her ‘son’ had found out this way. Especially with nothing to comfort him afterward. No doubt Sweeney had just put it out there and gone on. And him suddenly shouting out her and Mr. T’s secret to he world most certainly was not a good thing. She supposed Johanna shouldn’t be learning this, Sweeney probably wouldn’t want that. Not to mention how Mayhew would react to it…
“No it’s not!” The boy started to cry, backing up for the door. “’E may ‘ave killed ‘em but what you did was worse! Choppin’ them up an’ puttin’ them in pies!”
Too preoccupied with Toby and her new tears Mrs. Lovett didn’t notice Sweeney stand from his chair.
The barber was across the room and had Toby by the throat before anyone else realized he had left the chair. His injuries didn’t seem to hinder him from lifting the child off the floor.
“If it wasn’t for Mrs. Lovett and I you would still be with Pirelli boy. Would you prefer that? Is that what you want?” He snarled.
“Mr. T! Put ‘em down!”
“No! We’ve taken care of him and I’ve had to save his hide several times already. If he can’t appreciate what we’ve given him I'm getting rid of him!”
Feeling numb after what the boy had shouted into the room, James hardly saw the world. Nothing seemed real, and he couldn’t feel his body.
Eleanor.. assisting a murderer. Baking corpses into pies..
“Oh God.. that’s..” He snapped out of his reverie to see the boy getting the life crushed out of him.
James darter across the room and landed a solid punch on the barber’s side. The barber collapsed onto the floor as if suddenly boneless. Toby stumbled away, grasping his throat and giving the apothecary a surprised look.
“He shouldn’t have.. shit.” James quickly knelt and delicately lifted the torn shirt from Sweeney’s side. The massive bruise there was most definitely not caused by his punch.
Mrs. Lovett brushed away the few tears the started to fall at the sorry sight of Sweeney’s unconscious form.
--
Chapter 15
Wherever he was, he wasn’t where he last remembered. Though all he recounted was strangling the life out of Toby. How many time had he done that today? He pushed the amused thought away, trying to recall where he was. Sweeney then remembered a great deal of pain, which was also an annoying trend that day. Toby had also been the cause of his last blackout. He didn’t feel like moving, and after everything that had happened he began to doubt he could if he wanted to.
After everything he went through a part of him told him to stop, and accept this injuries. That, or he was dead.
Actually, he couldn’t be dead, he was moving.
Why was he moving?
Sweeney then became aware of two pairs of hands holding onto him. They were moving him. Where to and why? He could have remained on the floor until he got better. Well, as better as someone with severe injuries could on their own.
Conversation finally reached his groggy brain, and the barber decided to keep feigning unconsciousness and listen.
“I can’t believe you did that James!”
“He was trying to kill that boy!”
“Ya didn’ ‘ave ta punch ‘im.” Mrs. Lovett grumbled.
“I don’t think calmly telling him to stop would work, Eleanor.”
Why did he do that? Sweeney wondered. Hearing Mrs. Lovett’s first name was strange enough, but to hear it come from the man’s mouth in such a familiar way… He couldn’t quite place his feelings on the matter.
The baker sighed. “’Ow much farther to your bloody lab?”
“He is remarkably heavy for someone so thin.”
“I didn’ mean it like tha’!” She snapped.
“Why are you so mad at me? I have more of a right to be angry than you.”
“’Ow dare ya bring that into this.”
Sweeney was intrigued now.
“How dare I?” James ground out. “You, who seems so content to be a murderer’s assistant!”
“Oh, I know that isn’t wot’s botherin’ ya.” A very nasty quality had entered Mrs. Lovett’s voice.
“Do tell me what is.” He replied, sarcasm oozing from his words.
The group stopped suddenly and Sweeney uneasily felt himself tilt towards the ground at he sound of a door opening. He was quickly pulled back up and he had to hold back a relieved breath.
“You're mad tha’ wot you did disgusted me, but wot ‘e does isn’.” Apparently carrying the barber was taking its toll, and her breath started to come out in puffs.
“What I did wasn’t sick! What you do is!”
“Your acts were far from perfect! And ‘ow is creating a man eating plague not sick?”
“They weren’t supposed to eat people!”
Sweeney felt himself being very unceremoniously put upon a cold wooden table.
James continued his annoyed rant. “I am putting it up to what you did with those men’s bodies and them being consumed by other people down to that!”
“Why the bloody hell would tha’ make ‘em eat each other?”
“My guess would be an obedience drug and eating human flesh simply don’t mix!”
“Well, whose fault is that?”
“You can’t blame me for everything Eleanor!”
“I’m not putting everything on your shoulders, jus’ wot belongs there James! Tha‘ includes both of their poisonings and this mess!”
Who? Sweeney resisted the urge to crack open one of his eyes. The conversation was far too interesting to risk them stopping and noticing him being awake.
“I accepted Albert’s murder, you know I do. In fact, I recall you not particularly caring on the matter.”
“You can’t possibly-”
“I can! Part of Lucy’s insanity is your fault! And you know what? I can blame this plague on you too! If you hadn’t been so scared you would have married me and none of this would have ever happened!”
--
“Are you.. alright?” Johanna asked softly.
Toby continued scowling at the floor. The girl decided to let the boy brood a while longer, and turned her attention to where the beadle and judge were on the floor. They had been quickly dragged to the side of room by Mrs. Lovett who had plastered a smile on her face and told Johanna and Toby to keep an eye on the men. She had been completely unsure of how to react around Mrs. Lovett since the barber’s sudden appearance, and the revelation of her sick secrets; Toby seemed to be having a difficult time too.
“Did he…deserve it?”
Johanna looked over at Toby quickly. “Who?”
Toby pointed at the judge.
“Yes.” She said quickly.
“Wot did ‘e do?” The boy asked flatly.
“He’s very cruel-”
“No. To Mr. Todd.”
“Oh. I have no idea.”
“’E hates ‘im.”
Johanna stared at the judge for a moment longer before deciding she didn’t hate him. She certainly didn’t like him, but did that constitute hate? The man would haunt her life forever, but she couldn’t bring herself to hate him.
“Maybe he sentenced someone from his family to hang.” The girl offered, a little wary of discussing the topic with such a young boy.
“I never thought about Mr. Todd having a family before.”
“Everyone has a family.”
“No. I don’t.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t Mrs. Lovett and Mr. Todd-”
“They took care of me, but they aren’t my family. I don’t have one.” He said firmly.
“I was taken away from my family when I was very little; by the judge.” She stared down into her lap, where her hands were folded. “I always dreamed of escaping here and finding my own family. When I got Mrs. Lovett.. It really seemed like a blessing. It was a bit of an accident too.”
“An accident?”
“I asked for.. something and got her.”
Toby frowned at her, not completely understanding. “Me old master jus’ left me at ‘er shop. She took me in.”
“So then why isn’t she your mother?”
“She bakes people into pies!”
“Yes…that is a bit strange.”
“A bit!? It’s crazy! Ya know, I used to worry abou’ ‘er. Y’see..” a very bitter tone entered the boy’s voice. “She’s in love with Mr. Todd, an’ ‘e jus’ uses her. I thought ‘e was jus’ taking advantage of her, making her do it. But now…”
“She must just love him a lot. Love can be.. very crazy.” She smiled softly at the thought of Anthony.
Toby shook his head, returning his gaze to the floor. “Their love ain’t crazy. It’s sick.”
--
Chapter 16
Love was an ideal for Johanna. It was a beautiful thing in her mind, and the hopes one young sailor gave her seemed to prove love was amazing. Hearing a young boy tell her that love could be sick and disgusting confused her. So Johanna thought on all she knew about Mrs. Lovett and her apparent murderous love interest.
Mr. Todd seemed a strange type of man, beyond killing too, and she wondered, if as Toby speculated, he didn’t love Mrs. Lovett back. He had to know she loved him, right?
Johanna hadn’t realized it, but she hadn’t spoken to Mrs. Lovett about her ‘tenant’ (as she put it) for too long, and she had only known Mr. Todd for a total of five minutes, which was spent yelling and accusing.
She briefly hoped the man’s condition wasn’t so far gone that he wouldn’t recover. He had been in terrible shape.
“Toby..” The girl asked slowly. “Could you. .tell me about them?”
“About mu-Mrs. Lovett an’ Mr. T?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m just curious. Mr. Todd was supposed to be helping Anthony, a boy I know, to help me escape. Hearing this is.. a little strange.”
The boy snorted, as if to say ‘you’re telling me’. She stared at him a moment longer before he slowly nodded his head. “Alright.”
--
Sweeney didn’t know if the silence came from his mind suddenly blanking, or Mrs. Lovett actually not responding. She hadn’t said anything, but it didn’t matter much to Sweeney as he was way too confused to really hear her anyway.
Lucy being.. insane.. Albert, murdered. Mrs. Lovett getting married.. (again). It all seemed such a strange thing to be talking about, especially since the barber had never seen the man before, or even heard of him.
“’Ow could ya expect me to say ‘yes’ to a marriage proposal after ya poisoned my tenant’s wife?”
After he poisoned Lucy? Sweeney’ eyes slowly came open. They were standing on either side of the table he had been placed on, and where looking so intently at one another they didn’t notice his consciousness.
“I brought that bottle over, she poisoned herself and you just watched her do it!” Mayhew hissed back at her.
“Brought it over? You placed it on her nightstand for God’s sake!”
“All I see is a pit you’re digging yourself into Eleanor, you aren’t even claiming to have moved the bottle once you knew it was there.”
“I knew you brought it over, I thought it was medicine, not poison!”
“Oh yes,” the sarcasm was back in his voice. “Just like you didn’t know what I was giving Albert?”
“I can’t believe you’re bringing this up now.” Mrs. Lovett snarled.
“I’m sorry if I’m not in a hurry to wait another eleven years for some closure to this mess.”
“Mess?”
Instead of dwelling on the fact he had never seen Mrs. Lovett looked so incredibly angry before, Sweeney decided to take some action. He had had quite enough of listening to the two bicker, and they were straying from the topic he wanted to hear about most. His wife.
James’s mouth was just opening to retort when Sweeney’s hands shot up and grabbed the front of Mrs. Lovett’s dress, dragging her down so that her face was an inch from his.
“What happened to Lucy?” He snarled into her frightened face.
--
Toby was sketchy and unsure of what to say or where to start, so Johanna prompted him to start from the beginning. A frown of concentration appeared on his face as he thought. The tale he pieced together was an interesting one for Johanna to hear. Mr. Todd was a quiet man, kept to himself, while Mrs. Lovett bustled around her shop and chatted non-stop. Toby smiled fondly as he spoke of her, then seemed to remember she was supposed to disgust him and frowned.
Something close to a sneer appeared on Toby’s face as he groused out ‘she melted every time he was in a room’.
Johanna tried to picture an image of Mrs. Lovett mooning after Mr. Todd. From what she saw and knew of the woman, it was a very difficult thing to conjure.
She took care of Mr. Todd, Toby, the shop, and; the boy muttered darkly, she took care of the murders.
The girl frowned, trying to understand the baker. This was surely the definite proof of her insanity, but as the boy’s story continued she oddly found herself believing less and less in that theory.
“It was jus’ another day ‘fore everyone went crazy.” Toby concluded. “Mr. Todd started actin’ a bt different though.”
“What do you mean?”
“More… human.”
“He wasn’t human before?”
“’E wasn’ nothing’, ‘e was jus’ there. Mum always said he did well for us, but I never thought he did anything.”
Johanna smiled, waiting for Toby to realize he referred to Mrs. Lovett as ‘mum’ once again. She didn’t know if the boy noticed, as all he did was continue scowling.
--
“Mr. T-” Mrs. Lovett gasped.
“Don’t play games with me woman, what happened?”
“Let her go!” James snapped, finally bringing himself out of shock. How long had the barber been awake?
“What happened to Lucy?” Sweeney snarled, pulling Mrs. Lovett even closer.
Unable to maintain her balance, she landed on top of him. He immediately lost his grip as spots danced before his eyes, and he gasped desperately for air which only caused him further pain. Mrs. Lovett pushed herself up and stumbled away from the table.
“What is wrong with you?” The apothecary shouted, glaring at the man on the table.
“What is wrong with me?” Sweeney snapped. “What did you do to Lucy, what did you do to these people?!”
“What do you care what happened to some nit fifteen years ago?”
“My wife you ignorant son of a-” He reached up for Mayhew’s throat, intent on throttling him.
The man had jumped away from the table though, and had returned his attention to Mrs. Lovett.
“You said he was dead!”
“He was!” She snapped back.
“I’m right here!” The barber growled, extremely annoyed at not having the strength to sit up. “What did you do to her?” He demanded once more.
“Mr. T, we didn’-”
“Don’t sugar coat it for him, Eleanor. The man should know what a lost cause his wife was before she poisoned herself. She was draining money from your pocket more quickly than Albert was.”
“You poisoned her.” Sweeney admonished. “You did.”
“I may have brought something over, but she did it herself!
“My wife would never do such a thing!”
“She did, just as surely as she gave her body and child to Turpin!”
Sweeney and James both wiped their heads to the side, shocked at Mrs. Lovett’s outburst. The woman looked livid, and was staring directly at the barber. Sweeney blinked, finding himself once more in a state of shock for that day. Nellie’s eyes bored into his, something akin to a murderous fire burning in them.
“Yes, I lied to you! Lucy is more than just alive.”
“Alive-?”
She cut him off quickly. “She wasn’t tricked! She wasn’t fooled! That woman ran desperate to his house. She did so many things for that man.” The baker snapped, taking a step towards the table. “Begged him to marry her to gain back some status, to get some money! So Turpin took Johanna and left me with that whorish wreck!”
The barber stared, finding nothing to say. Feeling unable to speak as everything she said came crashing down on him. It didn’t seem possible, but he had no proof against it. He had no idea what his wife would do in such a desperate situation, but to think she would succumb to that…
“You lying bitch.” Sweeney snarled. “You think I would believe my wife would do that to our marriage-”
“Being sent to that place was just as sure as being sent to your death.” The baker took another adventurous step forward, almost looming over the barber.
James floundered. He had seen her lose her temper before, he had heard a great number of un-Godly things come from her mouth, but this was entirely different. The apothecary had never seen her beat someone down so harshly with only just words. He had never seen it happen to anyone before, and the man on the table seemed very incapable of taking it.
The two were staring vehemently at one another, and James wondered if Eleanor would be so quick to defend Sweeney right then.
Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8