Chapter 1: Fire

Fire. Hot, burning fire. I thought he loved me. He lied to me. And I was going to die. That was certain. Fire killed people. They got burned. But I guess I deserved it. I did lie to him. I was playing with fire, and when you play with fire, you get burned. And I am burned.

As the fire hit me, I screamed. It hurt. It hurt really badly. He threw me in with impressive force, I was surprised I kept my footing. I basically ran backwards in the oven. I couldn't see the opening anymore, so I guess he closed it on me.

Then suddenly, the fire was gone. I was still burning, and it still hurt, but it was gone. I made it to the back of the oven, where the fire stopped. I was alive. I was going to get out of here. I was safe. Mostly. I would have to wait and see if he left, and wait for the fire to go out.

While I was thinking, I heard a small scream.

Oh, no! I thought, he found Toby!

The scream was abruptly cut off.

I turned around to face the back of the oven. Some of the screws were loose, so I pulled them as hard as I could. I got them off the wall, and peeled the thin steel down.

The fresh air was wonderful. But I couldn't think about that for too long, because the smell of blood soon filled the air. I climbed out of the oven, and ran around to the other side.

There, lying on the ground in the pool of his own blood, was poor Toby. I could tell by the way his eyes were open that he was dead. I kneeled down beside his small, dead body, and the tears spilled over. I had no choice but to burn the body. So, after saying a small prayer, I threw him into what should have been my grave.

As I was standing there, I heard a small cough from behind me. I turned around to find the source of the noise.

The beggar woman, Lucy, was coughing. She was trying to sit up. She was still alive! I ran over to her.

"Lucy?! Lucy, can you hear me?" I sat down and put her head in my lap.

"Yesss." She sighed, and her eyes opened to look at my face.

"Why?" She asked, "why did he do that to me? Ben. . ." she coughed again.

Ben. I thought. There is no more Ben.

"Nellie," she asked, "my neck. . ." she winced.

I examined her neck, and the gash wasn't that deep or long. I quickly ran upstairs and got a needle and thread.

"This my hurt a little," I told her, "but you must stay still."

She nodded weakly.

The sowing went along nicely. Lucy only winced a couple of times. Once she was all sown up, I helped her up two flights of stairs and into my bedroom. I placed her on my bed, and left her to rest.

Afterwards, I went up to his shop, to see what he left behind.

Nothing. Not even the pictures were there. I started to cry at the thought of him gone, and then I saw my blackened hand. I was suddenly filled with a different emotion. Hate. I collapsed onto the floor and screamed.

"SWEENEY TODD!"