HEY!!! Sweeney Todd has been my favorite book/musical/urban legend for years, so when the movie came out I knew that I had to write a fic. This story is basically the entire plot line of the movie version written from Toby's point of view.
I own the Sweeney Todd book, 1958 movie, and all soundtracks. I don't own Johnny Depp...
But if I did... ;D
OH!! JUST as a note... MRS. LOVETT'S NAME WAS MARGERY!! That is how it is documented and that is what her name is in the ORIGINAL novel. Where y'all came up with Nellie is BEYOND me!! Anyway...yeah. Just letting you know.
Please read, review, and enjoy!The blade glinted softly, and he took another two cautious steps forward, ensuring that his prey did not realize his presence. He narrowed his eyes, intent upon what he knew he had to do, and was about to do. Another step, another, another...cautious and careful. He felt his stomach muscles contract, and he realized he had been holding his breath. He let it out in a silent gasp, and extended his foot in order to be another inch closer to his victim. There was a small click of metal on brick, and he cringed as the one who he had been sneaking upon stiffened. He looked down and cringed, for he realized that the buckle of his shoe had come undone, and that was what had given him away. He returned his eyes yet again to the man, and readied himself yet again to take another step forward but stopped dead when the victim made a strained sound. His eyes widened as he realized that his prey was saying his name.
"Toby..."
"NO!"
Tobias Ragg sat straight up in his cot, painting heavily and shivering from sweat. He had had that dream again, the one where he was about to kill an unsuspecting man. He placed his head in his hands and closed his eyes, trying to wash the dirty dream from his mind. He felt unclean, gross...disgusting. In the dream, Toby was a murderer. That was the thought that kept repeating over and over in his mind, like a snapped record. "In your dreams, you're a murderer, Toby. Only in your dreams..." He repeated this line to himself several times as he shifted his position on the concrete floor, until he was once again cuddled up with his thin wool blanket and pillow made out of an old pair of pants. The dream never failed to terrify him, and he had no idea why. He shut his eyes and attempted to drift into sleep once again, this time, most hopefully, without dreams of demon razors.
"TOOOO-BYYYYY!"
Tobias abruptly snapped his eyes open, but promptly clamped them shut again, squinting with all his might.
"DON'T PRETEND TO BE ASLEEP TOOOO-BYYYYY!"
He felt a rough hand grab his hair and yank him to his feet, while another set of hands grabbed his arms and yanked them around his back, causing Toby to wince in pain. He glared at his captor, who, though still holding Toby's hair, was standing at arms distance away.
"Little Toby having bad dreams again?" The tall boy laughed, revealing his absence off a front tooth. He bent down so his face was of equal height to Tobias's and sneered. "Do you want your mommy?"
Toby writhed and twisted, attempting to escape his unforgiving captors. "Let...me...GO!" Tobias kicked at the sneering kidnapper-of-sorts, who easily dodged the younger boy feeble attempts at violence. "LET ME GO ALEXANDER!" Toby made another attempt attacking Alexander, and miraculously swiped the side of the older boy's face. The slap seemed the push all of the hateful delight out of Alexander, and he growled as he leaned his face so it was but not an inch from Tobias's.
"Don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Again." He growled, pausing between each word for dramatic effect. His foul breath sickened Tobias, and he convulsed. Alexander stood up straight, which was a full two heads taller than Tobias's meek height of 4 foot 8, rather small for a 13 year old, and glared down at the younger boy.
"Beat 'im."
There was sharp pain to the side of Toby's head, and a sickening crack as his head hit the concrete floor. Tobias struggled to stay conscious, but felt his cause was lost after the painful snap of a rib. He closed his eyes, and wished for all this pain to go away. He wanted to be somewhere safe, somewhere that had a mum and dad waiting for him at home. Toby knew he couldn't hold on much longer, and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. He shuddered as a cold hand grabbed his neck. 'This is the end...' he thought to himself, and the hand and beatings got more severe by the second.
"ALEXANDER MARSHALL!"
Instantly the cold hand released its icy grasp, and the beatings ceased. Toby didn't need to open his eyes to know who came to his rescue. It was the matron, Mrs. Wildes. Slowly he rolled over to his side, in where he could see that Alexander and his lackey were being shoved out of the door, and that the matron was giving each a hard rap on the bottom multiple times. Once both had been punished and shooed out of the room, Tobias heard footsteps coming near him, which he assumed were the matrons.
"Ragg. Are you alright?"
When she received no response, she knelt down and slowly eased him up to a sitting position. "Can you stand?" Toby slowly nodded, and she helped him to his feet. "There's a man here, and he's looking for a boy." Toby looked up at the matron with wide eyes. "I'll...be adopted...?" The matron shook her head, and lead Tobias out to the main concrete hallway of the workhouse. "No. You're not fit to be adopted." She look Tobias in the eyes, and then looked away. "He only needs a hired hand. " She stopped walking and gave him a once over. "Yes, you seem to fit the description he described." Tobias looked down at his feet, and continued walking to wards the hallway to meet his new master.
"Here we are Toby." He ceased his monotonous walking and looked up to the man who would now be his father-of-sorts. If someone was trying to stand out in a crowd, this man's outfit certainly would have done the trick. He was tall, and wore his hair slicked and curly around his head. His outfit was of a tight. stretchy material, and was a royal blue in shade, embellished with gold embroidery. To add to his ridiculous outfit, he had a purple and gold cape, and a ridiculous top hat on his head. it was all Tobias could do not to laugh at the man.
The matron spoke first. "Tobias, this is Senor Adolfo Pirelli, and he is a barber in need of a boy. You will work for him from now on." Toby nodded, and addressed his new employer. "I will do my bes' sir." Tobias gave a slight bow and stood up again.
His employer spoke for the first time, in an accent that was so over the top, it was almost comical. "Jess, we will mos' deffeneentlee 'ave an... eenterestinck time together." Pirelli offered a smile and a hand to wards Toby. "Come boy. Let us go together." Toby nodded and stepped forward, feeling that this man was to nice to be true. It didn't feel right, how kind that was was acting. And that's EXACTLY what he thought it was, acting. Nevertheless, it was a place away from this hell house, so he stepped out the door with Pirelli, hoping a praying to God that a nice life had come to him at last.
So obviously, as we all know, Pirelli is not a nice man. This will become apparent in the next chapter. Please review. THANKIES!!!! I tried to make everyone as in character as possible, and tried to make it seem like Toby puts up with a lot of crap without complaint.
