A/N: I do not own Sweeney Todd or the characters from it. I do own Amelia Jenkins, however. This is a completely revised edition of Another Monster Under The Bed. I hated how it turned out last time, so I am hoping to change things up a little. Enjoy!
Amelia Jenkins may have watched Benjamin Barker and his family for many nights, but that doesn't mean that she was a stalker or a lunatic. She merely wanted to witness what true happiness was, and the only way to know of it was to see others experience it. She had never known what happiness was growing up, only pain and misery.
When she was a child, her father, a short, severe man, murdered her mother, an elegant and soft-spoken woman. The grief of the unforgivable act drove the man insane. The only way to cease the pain was to cause harm to others, mainly his only child. In his frustration and grief, he abused and raped Amelia, who looked so much like the woman he had brutally murdered.
At the age of sixteen, and after many attempts to fight for her life, Amelia finally ended her suffering by killing her deranged father in his sleep. She felt no grief over the act. Only freedom. She escaped to Fleet Street and opened up a liquor shop at the corner of said street.
The day Benjamin Barker was taken away was the day Amelia had turned twenty-one. Earlier that morning, Mrs. Lovett, the only customer Amelia really had, had come by and bought a few bottles of gin for her own shop. Once she had left, Amelia locked up shop and roamed the abandoned Fleet Street. Well, she thought it was abandoned until she saw them.
Benjamin Barker walked down the street with his beautiful wife and child. Benjamin had said something, causing Lucy to laugh, which sounded like the ringing of bells. As they got closer, Amelia realized that they were planning out their lives together. Amelia stayed a few feet behind them, still close enough to hear them, and followed. Then the unthinkable happened.
Two large, burly men tackled Benjamin Barker and forcibly dragged him away. Without checking on the wife, Amelia darted away. She had to tell Mrs. Lovett! She knew she should have checked on the wife before she left, but she was too frightened to do so. As soon as she arrived at Lovett's Pie Shoppe, Mrs. Lovett met her with wide eyes.
"What's wrong? What's happened, dear?" She asked, her eyes shining with worry.
Amelia took a few gulping breaths and managed to choke out, "The barber's gone. They've taken him. I didn't see their faces. Looked official, though."
Mrs. Lovett widened her eyes once again and wrung her hands in thought. "The misses will be back soon, then. You try to stay as calm and as quiet as you can, dear. It probably won't help her much if she hears you going on about her husband."
Amelia nodded and Mrs. Lovett poured her a bottle of gin. With a sigh, Amelia downed the glass and grimaced. Why did she sell this stuff, she thought to herself.
Not long later, Lucy Barker ran inside screaming about her husband. Mrs. Lovett managed to calm her down quickly and sent her up to her room.
Amelia stood up and hurriedly left the pie shop. She knew that there was something she needed to do about this, although she didn't know what exactly it was. Whatever it would be, she would do it. For him.