There's no place like London. That's what Benjamin Barker thought when he saw those retched buildings after fifteen years of imprisonment in Australia for a crime he did not commit. These buildings once were a sign of sophistication and elegance that he used to love. He would go around these streets everyday with his wife and child, but now these buildings were full of painful and bitter memories. Unfortunately, Benjamin Barker will never return here, but Sweeney Todd will.
"Mr. Todd? Is everything all right," a young man by the name of Antony asked the man. Todd finally snapped out of his thoughts and back into reality. Unfortunately, he was still on his way to the London port, but things will be different this time if it's the last thing he'll do.
"You are young and life has been kind to you. You will learn," Todd said to Antony before returning back to his thoughts. He kept staring at the city, thinking of all the corruption, despair, and pain that inhabit it and those who are privileged fuel those miseries. Out of all the places he has been to around the world, this kind of suffering was at its worst in London. How he hated it so.
Once they arrived, they walked down the dark and lonely streets that were filled with poor and drunken men who were at their absolute worse and women either begging for love, money, or even both. Though these streets were filled with wretched people and shadows, in a way, it felt like home. This was where he had a living, a family, and a barbershop, but it was all taken away by one bastard of a man.
"Shall I be seeing you around, Mr. Todd?" Anthony said with enthusiasm. Despite how secluded his traveling partner was all this time, he still viewed him as a friend. He was glad that he found him at Australia, walking by the harbor for a ship that would take him.
Sweeney looked at him with a troubled face, but said, "Maybe. I should have a barbershop on Fleet Street, that is, if it's still there,"
"If you don't mind me asking, how come you came back here? Our whole trip here, you told me how much you hated this place. By the way you describe London, I would avoid this place as much as possible, so why return?"
He looked at him. He did not like telling a stranger his past, but he's not exactly a stranger. They have sailed all this way to London and they have talked before, but not very much. What would be the harm in telling him his past? He might not even see the lad again. "There was a barber and his wife. She was beautiful and he was naive. There was another man who sought the wife, a covetous man who wanted her for himself. He sent the barber away on a false charge. Without the barber, he would have a chance to beguile the wife,"
"Did the lady . . . succumb?" Anthony said, trying to piece together the story.
"Oh, that was many years ago. I doubt if anyone would know," Sweeney said, almost shedding a tear.
There was silence between them, but Anthony broke it, saying, "Till then, my friend, I shall see you some time in your barbershop on Fleet Street." He held out his hand to shake the broken man's hand, but Todd just walked away.
On the way to his barbershop, Sweeney Todd kept saying to himself over and over again, "There's a hole in the world like a great black pit and the vermin of the world inhabit it and its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit and it goes by the name of London. At the top of the hole sit a privilege few making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo turning beauty into filth and greed."
After a good walk, Sweeney Todd was able to find Fleet Street, but he was surprised to see what was underneath the shop. The sign said "Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies". He had to check it out. He opened the door and . . .
A woman gasped. "A customer! Wait! Please have a seat! Would you like a pie or maybe some ale? Sorry if I'm a little on edge. I haven't had a customer in weeks. I wouldn't blame them because these are the worst pies in London!" she said as quickly as she could. She gave him what looked like a meat pie, but it was all crusting, looked moldy, and was hard as a rock, but despite all that, he still took a bite, only to spit it out when she wasn't looking. He looked around the little shop. The place was in dire need of a cleaning. There was dust everywhere, bugs all over the place, including the tables and counter where she made the pies, and cobwebs were at every crevice, but at least the owner was nice. "Isn't that just disgusting? Even with some ale, it doesn't taste any better. Here, try some," she said while handing him a mug. He took a sip and even the ale tasted terribly. "My name is Mrs. Lovett by the way. Just like the sign says outside, but nobody bothers to look. They just see my meat pies and leave,"
Out of the blue, the door opens and a young lady pops in, out of breath. "Sorry I'm late. I overslept,"
"Usually, I wouldn't be on your case, but for once, you're late at a bad time. We finally have a customer," Mrs. Lovett said gesturing to Todd.
She looked at him with glee. "Oh, a customer! I haven't seen any in a long, long time. Are you satisfied with your food, sir?" she asked. Todd only stared at her. She had silky brunette hair and gorgeous brown eyes that shined with wonder. Her smile lightened the dusty and poorly lit room. Her fair skin glowed with the skimpy sunlight outside. Her maroon, slightly slim dress emphasized her curves. She reminded him of the woman he lost so long ago. She was beautiful. "Excuse me, sir! I asked you a question. The polite thing to do is answer! Are you satisfied?"
"Y-yes, I'm . . . satisfied," he said hesitantly. The lady grabbed herself a bottle of ale and a mug from the counter and sat at another table, pouring herself some and drinking it. Her face showed disgust, but she still poured herself more. She put her hand on her face to wipe away sleep.
"I had the worst dream that I was working for Judge Turpin again, but he was more sinister than ever. I couldn't go back to sleep until the wee hours of the morning," she said. She looked at Sweeney and his face changed drastically. His eyes were filled with rage and his frown kept shaking with tension. His hand was formed into a shaky fist.
He finally snapped. He walked towards the lady and pushed her against her seat. "You work for that fucking man?!" he yelled.
"Sir, she ran away from him when she was ten. She didn't want to work for him in the first place," Mrs. Lovett said, trying to pull him away from her apprentice.
"It's true, sir. I witnessed something a child should have never witnessed and ran away. I hate that Judge Turpin with all my soul and wish he could die," she said in fear for her life. He looked deeply into her eyes and couldn't find a sign of dishonesty. She was telling the truth and what a statement to confess. She hates Judge Turpin as much as he did, which put a smile on his face. He let her go and she immediately got up from her seat. "You must hate that bastard too," she said, catching her breath.
"Yes. He ruined my life and destroyed my family. He fucking deserves a lifetime of pain, not admiration from his fearful followers!" he said furiously.
"I never thought I would ever meet a person with the same amount of hate as me. My name's Annabel Lee. What's yours?"
"Todd. Sweeney Todd," he said as calmly as he could. Mrs. Lovett's eyes widened a bit widens at the sound of his name. He's not the same man she remembered.
"Well, Sweeney Todd, nice to meet you. Please, would you like . . . another pie?" Annabel said hesitantly. Even she knows how bad the pies were and was always hesitant to give a customer a pie. He shook his head. "We have some gin in the back room. Mrs. Lovett, do you mind if I bring him back there to get some?"
"S-sure, that is if he doesn't mind," she said, but before she could finish, Annabel directed him to the back room.
When they arrive, Annabel grabbed some gin out of a cabinet and handed it to him. He poured some into three cups and handed two cups to the ladies. Mrs. Lovett declined, but Annabel took both cups and drank them down quickly. "So, Todd, what brings you to this pie shop? I'm sure people have told you to avoid this place as much as possible,"
"I'm here to see the barbershop upstairs. Is anyone still there?" he said out of curiosity.
Mrs. Lovett and Annabel look at each other and then looked at him with troubled faces. "Haven't you heard? That place is said to be haunted. Something bad happened up there. Even if we tried to sell it, no one would take it," Annabel said.
"There was a barber and his wife. He was beautiful, but a man sent him away for life. His name was Benjamin Barker,"
"And what was his crime?" Todd asked.
"Foolishness," Annabel said. She heard this story many times before from Mrs. Lovett.
"He had a pretty wife, but a judge wanted her like mad. After sending the barber away, he would send her flowers, but she wasn't moved. She would still cry for hours. Poor thing, but this wasn't the end of her suffering,"
"What happened to her?" he asked with pain in his voice.
She turned towards Annabel who looked like she was going to cry at any minute. Mrs. Lovett gestured her to continue the story, but she shook her head. "I don't want to say it," she said with a shaky voice.
"You know it's bad luck to not finish a ghost story,"
"But this isn't a ghost story. It actually happened and I was there to witness it,"
"Please Annabel. I would like to know," he said as sweetly as he could.
Annabel took a deep breath. "One night, I heard the judge tell his lackey that he wanted to apologize for his heinous crime and sent him to get her to his house that night. While that was going on, he planned a masquerade ball for the enjoyment of all. Everyone was wearing masks to hide their faces including the judge's own mistakes. I was serving drinks when I saw her walk in all alone, looking for Judge Turpin. She was nervous and took some of my drinks and poured them down her throat. She lied on a couch, all drunk and weak, and the judge saw her, poor thing. I saw him go on top of her while everyone else laughed at her. For a child, it was a horrible thing to see, even though I didn't know the full meaning. I put down my tray and ran away, even though Beadle was chasing me. I found my way through the streets and escaped." She finally started sobbing and Mrs. Lovett comforted her. "Poor thing," she whispered.
Todd only stood, overwhelmed by what he just heard. All this happened to his sweet Lucy. His wife! How could they have done such terrible things to her? And that fucking Judge Turpin will never be forgiven. He deserves to die. "Did anyone show her mercy?"
"So it is you, Benjamin Barker," Mrs. Lovett said, fully knowing her assumption was correct. Annabel looked at her with confusion, but looked at Sweeney Todd's face that had pain written all over it from the story she told. This was the man who lost his wife and child so long ago.
"Where's my wife?" he asked.
"She poisoned herself with arsenic. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. Judge Turpin has your daughter now. He took her under his care as his ward," Mrs. Lovett said with regret.
"To think that I would come back home after fifteen years to see my wife and child, but that bastard has stolen everything from me!"
"I'm sorry Mr. Barker-," Annabel said.
"No, that man is dead. It's Sweeney Todd now and he will have his revenge!"
They all headed upstairs and Mrs. Lovett opened the door to find a room even dustier than the shop downstairs. In fact, the room needed a total makeover to return it back to its former glory. There was a crib in the room under a blanket, but there was rust from being neglected for fifteen years. Sweeney Todd picked up the blanket and revealed a doll inside that would have belonged to his daughter if Judge Turpin did not interfere with their lives. Annabel saw his distraught face and wanted to give him a hug, but kept her distance after his attack towards her downstairs. She walked around and noticed a broken mirror leaning against the wall. The cracks in it seemed to come from a person breaking it on purpose, whether it was a fist or another object. She looked at herself and did not like what she saw: a broken girl. She quickly turned away, grabbed her silver flask from her pocket, and swallowed down a good amount of gin.
Mrs. Lovett crouched down to the floor and knocked on the wood to find a loose board. She picked it up and revealed a large cloth containing something within it. She unraveled it to show a beautifully carved box. Todd knew what it was and crouched toward the box too. She handed it over to him and said, "When he came for the girl, I hid these so nobody would find them." He opened the box and inside were seven beautifully made silver razors. They were all in awe with the beauty they held. Todd grabbed one of them and held it up to the light.
"These are my friends. How I've longed to see them again. They were locked away like me after all these years, but I've come home and we'll do wonders," Todd said in amazement. Annabel saw Mrs. Lovett's jealous face. It looked like she didn't like the fact that he valued his razors more than her, but she didn't say anything. "Soon, we will drip rubies," he said under his breath.
"Rubies, Mr. T?" Mrs. Lovett asked, but he didn't hear her.
"Leave me. Both of you. I need to be alone," he said to the women. They headed out and Mrs. Lovett closed the door behind her, hoping he'll see how much he meant to her. With them gone, he stood from the ground and with his arm outstretched and a razor in his hand, he said, "At last, my arm is complete again!"