Nightmares are a plague. They paint shadows on the walls, whisper the most dreadful noises in your ears. Their icy cold fingers grasp for your skin and crawl into your mind like a snake. They will consume your mind and spread through your veins.
Oh, how they lurk in that room. His room.
In the deepest shadows of night, Mr. Todd refuses to sleep. It was like a monster to him, to be condemned to nightmares. So he stays up all night, in the lukewarm gleam of the moon, thinking only of the Judge, the Judge, the Judge.
But nightmares are inevitable.
One night, at the climax of Mr. Todd's plots, his sight blurred and his senses dulled, as the thoughts weaving in his head slipped from his grasp like ice. Sleep came to claim him, which was uncannily similar to death.
But then icy jolts ran down his veins as his blurring sight slowly morphed into a screaming, pained face. The lullaby of night was interrupted by familiar screams of mercy and fear while cold hands clutched his arms, imprisoning him in the darkest memory of his life.
"Benjamin!" a sobbing voice cried. "Benjamin! No, let him go! He didn't do anything! BENJAMIN!"
"Lucy!" Mr. Todd whispered. Was it really his Lucy? "No! NO! LUCY! LUCY!"
He saw his Lucy, his beautiful Lucy screaming, clutching tiny Johanna as tears streamed down her rosy face. Fear clenched his stomach as he struggled against those wretched policemen's grasps.
Suddenly, the Judge, that despicable Judge Turpin, molded from the shadows and gripped Lucy's shoulders, tearing her away from Mr. Todd. Lucy's wails and pleads for mercy echoed in Mr. Todd's ears as the Judge wrenched her away and drowned her in the shadow.
"LUCY!" Mr. Todd—no, Benjamin—yelled. He struggled against his captor's grasps, straining to tear away from them, but they keep an iron grip on him. They threw him into a monstrous fire that tore at his skin and howled in his ears.
"LUCY!" he cried, his voice thick with tears. "Lucy! Where are you?" All around him was the fiery blood red fire that stabbed his skin. The deadly flames faceted Lucy's tear-stained face like a haunting mirror. Mr. Todd cried out and reached a hand out towards her, only to be scorched and burned—
"Mr. Todd!" a shrill voice cried. Mr. Todd was suddenly jerked from the nightmare's clutches. He breathed heavily, straining to see in the inky darkness. He didn't realize that he was shivering, sweat dotting his pale face. His battering heart slowed to a calm, yet rather jerky, pulse. It took him a while to realize he had collapsed on the dank floor.
It was just a nightmare. The comforting thought soothed his mind for only a moment. But the nightmare already came true fifteen years ago.
"Mr. Todd?" the voice whispered again.
"Lucy?" he breathed. Silence.
"Just me, Mr. Todd," Mrs. Lovett replied softly, her voice trembling slightly. "Just me…only me. You all right, Mr. T? You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you…sick?"
Mr. Todd slowly lifted himself from the ground, cursing at himself for letting someone spot him so vulnerable. The air still felt immensely arctic, and the nightmare left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.
"Leave me," he hissed gravely at Mrs. Lovett. She hesitated.
"Mr. T, 'ow…'ow about you come downstairs t' my place, eh?" she suggested tentatively. "Y'know, warm yourself up, 'ave a decent night's sleep in a bed…let me 'elp you, Mr. Todd—"
"LEAVE ME!" he hollered. "I needn't any help."
Mrs. Lovett recoiled in fear before slowly backing away. He clenched his white fists, anger searing in his heart. He must kill the Judge, the cursed, malevolent Judge Turpin. Mr. Todd's yearn to kill surged tonight, his fingers itching to slit the Judge's throat.
His graceful fingers plucked the faithful blade from the dresser. It shimmered a silvery sheen that glowed like a candle. It called to him, whispering wonders of vengeance and salvation like a consoling song.
"We'll do wonders, won't we my friend?" he sang softly. Unbeknownst to him, Mrs. Lovett was still in the room, crooning ever so softly.
"I'm your friend too, Mr. Todd…let me help you, Mr. Todd…"
(gasps) My first Sweeney Todd fic! Hopefully I did the musical justice with this fic. If not, please tell me…
Yes, I kinda changed Mrs. Lovett's lyrics of My Friends in the last line. I don't own Sweeney. Or Johnny Depp.