RUN!
Even as I told myself to do that, my legs refused to coopertate. They never moved fast enough. No step was long enough. No matter where I would dwell next, that demon barber would haunt me...
I'm a Murderer now!
Murder!
MURDER!
I've killed!!
I'm bound for hell!!
Sweat was poring off my face, mingling with the tears I'd shed. Why were they shed? Why were they wasted on that demon? And the woman I'd sworn to protect. I had sung it to her. She had sung back!
She had loved me hadn't she?
HADN'T SHE?!
I was crying again. Why? Why was I crying? I should have known it was too good to be true! I was foolish. Ms. Lovette! She was in on it! I saw the evidence. The corpses that fell strait from the chair. The bones. The pies.
Oh no not that.
I tried to suppress that until later. When I was well out of London.
"There's a hole in the world,
It's a great black pit
And it's filled with people who are filled with shit
And the vermin in the world inhabit it.
But not for long.
THEY ALL DESERVE TO DIE!"
I heard him sing it in his sleep. The way he yelled out the end in that desperate voice. It used to make me jump out of my bed. Back when I was a pet. Now I was a stray dog.
Pushing my legs faster, panting wildly, I felt those pies in my stomach. Humans.
Humans!
HUMANS!
You're a cannibal!!
CANNIBAL!!
BE DAMMED!!
"No. Please. No," I sobbed. There was no one around. A common London mist was settling. I felt more alone than ever.
Where would I go?
I couldn't take it. I collapsed on the pebbly ground of London. Ugh. I could feel the nausea coming.
Crawling to the side of the road, I heaved.
Partially digested pieces of the hellish pies came out, making me regurgitate again until only bile came out. Green bile.
I fell into a clump of bushes and let unconsciousness wash me clean of memories. Feelings. A soul.
I could still hear her singing to me in my sleep.
"Nothin's gonna harm you..."
I cried, the tears leaving salty residue on my face when I woke up.
My fingers involuntarily closed around the shut blade. I still hadn't dropped it.
Now where would the next town be? I didn't know where I was. Not a clue.
That was good. Another start.
Vaugley, I remembered the blood. Dripping down my fingers. Cascading.
'There's a hole in the world
Like a great black pit
And it's filled with people who are filled with shit
And all the vermin in the world inhabit it.
But not for long.
They all deserve to DIE'
The last phrase word through my teeth. It felt so right there.
Thank you Toby...
You're welcome... Mr. Todd. I'm pleased to oblige. Just tell me which rodent to rid of next. Soon the vermin shall be gone from that great black pit.
I knew you had it in you, Toby.
I smiled. He was pleased with me. In the little corner of my mind where he stayed, he was pleased.
I wanted to keep him that way...
