A Sane Reason For Insanity

Johanna remained curled in the demon chair, knees drawn to her chest. She'd heard the screams from below and frankly, they scared her, made her feel as helpless as she had sitting like a bird in a cage at her window.

She silently prayed that Anthony, her sailor with angel's wings, would arrive soon. Without his word, she feared that the bloodied barber would come and finish his initial thought of giving her a 'shave'. She'd seen what he had done to her worthless guardian, and she knew that shaving was the last thing on his twisted mind.

Speaking of him, what had made such a skilled man turn so primitive? She tried to pass the time and calm her fears by pondering the thought, her right ear trained towards the door for any sign of an intruder.

She'd watched from the trunk as he had brutally murdered the Judge, screaming 'Benjamin Barker' while stabbing the man in the neck with his blade. Who was Benjamin Barker? I friend, perhaps? Someone the Judge had ordered to dance the devil's jig?

Come to think of it, he'd spoken her name as well. Her mind had been so gripped with fear that she hadn't caught the entire conversation, but she had clearly heard her name and the reference to her resemblance to her mother. Johanna's eyes narrowed. Today had been the first time that her mother had ever been mention. The Judge had never mentioned the woman who had given her life, and she had honestly never thought about it. How could you miss something that you couldn't remember?

But how did the barber know her mother? The way his voice had sounded when he'd mentioned her, Johanna could obviously hear the calming of his tone. She concluded, as she sat prone as a baby lamb, that the barber had known her mother on a deeper level.

The sound of light feet racing up the steps broke Johanna's thoughts as she spun around, nearly knocking the boy's hat off of her head. On impulse, she dove behind the chair, praying that if it were the barber he wouldn't be able to see her.

"Johanna?"

Anthony's voice was like music to her ears as she peeked from behind the chair to ensure that it was, indeed, him. She smiled when she saw him and rose on shaky feet.

The young sailor looked around the room in shock. Blood covered the floor, the window, everything.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" he cried, rushing to her and holding gently on to her shoulders. She sighed shakily and met his gaze.

"No, I'm fine, but the Judge…the barber, he…"

"Killed him." Anthony finished, looking around the room in horror.

"Come, we must go!" he suddenly said, grapping her hand and pulling her towards the door. She could almost feel the fear through his fingers.

She followed her savior without a complaint as the two youths raced down the stairs, taking off in to the dark London streets.

"Where are we going?" she whispered, leaning on his shoulder as the two rested from the exhilarating run, leaning against an old brick building moments later on a far away street.

"The next ship leaves tomorrow evening, we just need to hide until then. I figured we'd be safe at Todd's, but…"

"Todd's?" she said quietly, the name foreign to her ears.

"That's the barber's name, Sweeney Todd." He replied. She nodded softly.

"Then were are we to go?"

Anthony paused for a moment, his thoughts running wild. Suddenly, he remembered the inn he had been staying at. Surely they hadn't already given his room away?

"Quickly, follow me." He whispered, grasping Johanna's hand once again as he walked down the street, keeping a watchful eye out for any harm.

Just as he had hoped, his room was still vacant and with a disgruntled growl the innkeeper plopped the set of keys into his hand. Anthony thanked the man as he led Johanna into their safe hold.

"Why would the barber do such a thing?" she finally asked as she sat at the foot of the bed. Anthony, who had opted to sleep on the floor, looked up at her with tired eyes.

"I'm not sure entirely, but I have a hunch." He said softly.

"What would that be?" she questioned, sitting up a little straighter.

Anthony opened his mouth as though to speak, and then shut it promptly.

"I doubt it's correct, just a silly idea, really. But, I have a feeling that by tomorrow we will know exactly what happened, and why."

Just as Anthony had predicted, the drakes of London were alive with the horror story of Sweeney Todd. As he and Johanna immerged on to the streets in the dreary afternoon, whispers of the gruesome discovery passed from ear to ear.

Turns out, Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett had been in cahoots with one another. Todd gave the men a little closer shave than they truly desired, then sent them below to the bakery, where Lovett would turn their bloodied remains into meat pies. Much to the town's disgust, they realized they had actually eaten said pies.

"'E was found holdin' on to an old hag blood drippin' from his sliced neck. The Judge was down there, too. Can't find Mrs. Lovett, though."

Both Anthony and Johanna leaned forward in interest as the old man sitting on one of the numerous benches retold them the story he'd heard from his brother, one of the men who'd helped clean up the devastating mess.

"But why would he do it?" Johanna asked, fascinated with the demon barber, as he was now called. God only knows how many people he slain.

"Well, from what I 'eard, he wasn't really Sweeney Todd. See, there's a story, goes back bout two decades ago now. Sad one at that…" he replied, glancing away for a moment.

"Please, do tell it." Johanna begged. Inside, she prayed that there was a sane reason for the barber's insane actions.

"Bout fifteen years ago, there was a barber in the same exact buildin' as Todd. Name was Benjamin Barker. I remember him meself. Good man, skilled with a razor. Well, ya see, he was married to this beautiful lass, I think 'er name was Lucy? Well, the only thing I remember about Lucy is those shiny golden locks of 'ers.

Anyway, they had a little girl and seemed to be about the happiest family you'd ever seen. You'd see 'em walking around the market, happy as a couple o' larks. Unfortunately, the Judge had a down right fancy for Lucy. One day, hoping he could win her affections, 'e ordered his men to arrest poor Benjamin Barker and send him away.

Unlike he planned; Lucy wanted nothin' to do with that Judge. People say all she did was hide away in 'er husbands barber shop and cry, taking care of the young Johanna, that be their daughter, like it was all she had left to live fer. Then, one day, the Judge sent a message to her, sayin she should meet him at 'is home to discuss matters. Hopin' to free her beloved husband, she went, and let's just say that he didn't exactly discuss what she was hopin' fer. People say she killed herself with arsenic, just couldn't take it anymore. Poor lass."

"And the baby?" Johanna asked breathlessly. No, this can't be! Her mind screamed.

"Judge adopted her. Poor little lass, I 'eard the other day he wouldn't let the girl outside. Kept her like a bird in a cage, he did."

Johanna's world stopped turning as the old man finished his sad tale. Everything fell into place as she sat there, wide-eyed and innocent. The barber, Sweeney Todd, Benjamin Barker, was her father. He killed the judge for killing her mother. The Judge had stolen her from her parents and had expressed the need to marry her because she reminded him of her mother, of the woman he loved but could never have.

"Johanna?" Anthony whispered in to her ear, concerned eyes scanning her paling face.

Slowly, she turned to him, tears in her eyes. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around her as she cried, cried for the father she had met and didn't recognize and the mother she never knew.

"Let us leave this place of nightmares." She whispered in to his chest.

"Indeed."