Okay, this is my first Sweeney Todd fan-fiction, and most likely will not be my last one.
I've zoomed past all the bases and went ahead to rated M. (MY GOODNESS!) I've never written for that level before.
Summary: When hell is just a second life that is equivalent to or worst that the previous one, and you aren't quite sure who you are anymore, then what is there to do? Just Keep Living it, REALLY living it.
Pairing: Sweeney/Lovett with splashes of Benjamin/Lucy
Second Life
A push. He felt someone pushing him. "Wake Up." He heard a gruff voice say. The pushes became more incessant. "WAKE UP NOW!!" The voice commanded. Sweeney Todd's eyes shot open. He looked up and saw a regular looking man clad in a red and black suit standing before him.
"For the love of all that is still good, it's people like you who make me hate my job." The man said. Sweeney looked all around him. It looked like an ordinary town, full of ordinary buildings and things, not much different from his own Fleet Street. Except, the one huge difference was that the sky was so much darker in color than usual.
"Where am I? Where's my Lucy?" He asked the man. The man scoffed.
"Why, you are in hell, of course. Did you think after killing all those people in your mad craze for vengeance would of landed you in Heaven with your Lucy? Benjamin Barker made it there, but not you." He said, with an annoyed air.
"What do you mean?" Sweeney Todd asked. The man rolled his eyes, which was really starting to get on Sweeney's nerves.
"Look, you said it yourself, Benjamin Barker was dead, and as far as I'm concerned you are not him, because he's in Heaven, with HIS wife, Lucy Barker." The man said. "And if you don't believe me, you can see for yourself." He then pulled out a mirror from his pocket and made Sweeney face it, and suddenly, the image changed before his eyes.
He could see himself, or what use to be him what he looked like about fifteen years ago, he was walking through a beautiful garden, with Lucy, looking as lovely as she did about fifteen years ago, clinging by his side. They had smiles on their faces, and they couldn't look happier. But the strangest thing was the feeling Sweeney suddenly had.
He was content. He didn't care anymore about vengeance, he-no; Benjamin Barker was reunited with Lucy. And now, it seemed, that it didn't matter anymore, he didn't care.
The man in the suit put the mirror away. "See, you are Sweeney Todd, not Benjamin Barker, he is a completely different soul than you. You harbored so much hatred and devotion to vengeance that your soul spliced into two-a rare case, but it happened nonetheless, you are, and will always just be, Sweeney Todd."
Sweeney Todd held a blank face. If he was Sweeney Todd, then who was that? Who was Sweeney Todd without the vengeance and hatred? Could ever just be a normal man again who could feel normal emotions, like Benjamin Barker? He had yet to find out. Then another question raised-if this was hell. Why was it like this?
"Okay then sir, but why am I not being tortured or being twisted or cut and decapitated or doomed to be a slave for Satan?" He asked.
The man laughed. "Hell is just a second life that is just as shitty as your first one. The only difference is that it never ends, unless you get permission from him. Those old stories and threats of hell were just to make sure that some of the people on earth would live their live right and actually try not to end up here. Besides, it's starting to get cramped here. There's plenty of room up in heaven, so those people get to live in Paradise. Lucky bastards. Oh, and the people who are absolutely terrible are sent in different districts of this place. There are jails and Asylums and things like that, so don't think we do not have any law." He explained.
"By the way, his name is Lucifer, Satan is just a nickname. He is just the guy who makes sure that people get what they deserve around here."
Sweeney nodded. Strange. Hell is just an eternal course of life reflecting your previous one. Which reminded him, if the people he knew were dead, like her, was here too.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the other man began to speak.
"You know that a beautiful baker is here. Chopping up all those bodies and stuffing them into pies, is the reason. Pity. She probably would of made it to the Paradise if it weren't for that. Not that the staff and I mind. She is a pretty and sweet little thing, and not a bad baker either. I'm kind of glad she was sent here, even though that may sound selfish. None of the other bakers make pies quite like she does."
"She's here…" was all that Sweeney said. He couldn't help but think that she loathed him; after all he was the reason why she died AND went to hell. Then he remembered her final words, the ones they shared.
"Just keep living it, really living it —!"
And then he did it. He threw into the fire, and watched her scream and cremate to death, with his vengeance glazed-over eyes. He looked down to Lucy, and remembered her, but after he did, a slit to his throat came, and his death was set, but his last living thought went to Mrs. Lovett.
What had he done? He could not of lived with this woman, this shell of a woman, the shell of Lucy. She, like Benjamin Barker, had died many years ago.
And then nothing came, he arrived here, Sweeney Todd, the one and only. Benjamin Barker was in Heaven. Maybe...he could just keep living it, no he had to just keep living it, really living it, but not with Lucy; Nellie, Nellie Lovett.
"If you are done staring randomly and phasing out, I'll give you a tour of this place." The man said.
Sweeney nodded, and followed behind him as he showed him certain buildings, such as where to buy groceries and supplies, clothing, and other sorts of things. Finally, the man stopped at a building, and gestured him inside it. From the outside it looked like a shop, a bakery shop. A feeling trickled down his spine; he felt like he knew where this was going.
"Upstairs from this place is where you'll be stationed. Oh, and here is a little piece of irony for you, You'll be a barber, that's your trade, men in hell still need shaves, after all. This is where that baker works; this is her shop. She is off sent on business with to the big man, Lucifer, he's briefing her on the rules, he'll send for you in due time, keeping you in check." Upstairs, across from your shop is your room, where you will reside. A bathroom is branched off from that room." He began to walk upstairs a winding staircase, as Sweeney followed him. The man opened the door, which surprisingly read "Sweeney Todd, Barber" already on it.
"I'm going to leave you now, but if you have any questions, call my name out six times, if you don't have any questions, don't say it at all." Then the man handed Sweeney Todd a card, which read " Barice, Second Life Counselor" on it. After that, Barice turned away and disappeared.
"Odd man." Sweeney said to himself, as he opened the door to his new shop.
It looked like any Barber Shop, although it was a lot neater and a lot less dirty that his own on Fleet Street.
Then, he explored his room that was going to serve him for the eternity of his life. It was simple; it had a normal-sized bed, with an ordinary red quilt and white sheets and pillows, a wooden table, with two wooden chairs with red cushions. The curtains on the window were white, and the carpet was a Victorian design composed of black, red and white. The wallpaper was about the same colors too. He also had a big wooden dresser and a clock. Next to the dresser was a wooden chest.
The bathroom was also very simple. There was a bathtub, a sink, mirror, and a toilet. It was white and simple, no other explanation for that room other then that.
He decided to take a bath. It was odd to look in the mirror and see the no scar from his death, which made sense, because if Mrs. Lovett was the baker that Barice was talking about, she would have been burnt very badly, but she wasn't, because it was unfathomable for a person to be considered lovely if their burnt to a crisp.
Then a question pervaded his mind; did he consider Mrs. Lovett lovely? Was he so blinded by his lust for vengeance that he never actually looked at her and considered?
It was strange how she suddenly flooded his mind. He finished his bath, then changed into a white button-up shirt with long sleeves, and a pair of lightly pinstriped trousers.
He decided to take the chance of going down stairs. Slowly he walked down them, as if he was waiting for something to jump out of the walls and tackle him. Finally, he casually made it all the way down. He explored the little shop, which was an assortment decorated in pink and red, which happened to be Mrs. Lovett's favorite colors.
He saw all the ingredients for a pie right in front of him, neatly assorted. Although it seemed as she had decided to concoct a apple pie, most unusual but not foreign, because he experienced a day she in which she seemed to be in a good mood to make one. That pie was something he didn't have to close his eyes to eat, or fear to accidentally get a tooth or finger.
Four apples, bright red and shiny and organized in a row, next to a knife, reminded him and his stomach that he was beginning to feel hungry. He decided to check the breadbox for something edible, and something that wouldn't be missed.
He turned to the wood breadbox and opened, surprised to find a good amount of spice cake inside. He used a knife beside it to cut off a piece, as he heard a bell ring as someone opened the door. He turned to see that is was no one other than, Nellie Lovett.
Her face held no readable emotion. It was blank. The two stared at each other for a moment.
"Oh, you have finally come." She finally uttered. "It's funny that minutes during life feel like days here." There was no optimistic or cheerfulness in her voice that usually had when she spoke to him, not that he could of expected, seeing that he was the cause of her being here.
"Oh, hello Mrs. Lovett, you don't mind that I take a slice of your spice cake, do you?" He asked, trying to be casual about the situation. She shook her head. He took a few bites of the cake, it was good, but that was to be expected because the same woman who made it was able to make cannibalistic pies be delicious to the mass public.
"That boy Toby really did me in, didn't he? It's ironic to die the way you killed people." He continued to strike conversation with her, but she just held herself away from saying anything. He finished the piece of cake.
"Well that was delicious, but I expect no less from you, Mrs. Lovett." He tried again.
He got nothing in return, not even a look or change in emotion. It was really starting to annoy him. He was use to Mrs. Lovett's swooning and adoring gazes, not the ice queen act she had going.
"What do you want from me, Mrs. Lovett?! Do you want me to say that I'm sorry I threw you in an oven and killed you?!" He shouted. Again, no response came from her. He was now very irritated with her. He slammed her against the wall and grinned maliciously, she gasped from surprise.
"This is what you want, isn't it? I've tried to be nice to you, but that wasn't going to cut it, was it? You want me to be cruel to you, don't you?" He nearly whispered into her ear.
He studied her face for a fearing emotion, but instead was a small bit disturbed by a smile gracing her lips.
"I used to fear and love you for your power over me when we were alive, but now you can't kill me, Mr. Todd. You are powerless." She responded smugly. Sweeney dropped his arms, but still remained close against her. His face was in close proximity of her left ear, and he replaced his arms by her head, touching the wall.
"You know that isn't true, my pet. I have all the power in the world over you." He whispered, as she gained goose bumps from the feel of his breath against her skin.
She loved and hated the feeling at the same time, she avoided his gaze by turning her head, and so this couldn't amuse him.
"Look at me, Nellie." He commanded. She didn't flinch. "Look me in the eyes, Nellie."
She didn't move, she was frozen in that pose against the wall, but she knew that her heart was beating faster and faster and her breathing was becoming heavier. She hated herself for it.
Sweeney began to notice this, as he glanced down at her heaving chest, which he mentally kicked himself, because he started to become distracted. Finally, he lost his temper and made her face him; he looked at her terrified face and had mixed emotions about it. He drew in his face even more closely, until there were only a few centimeters apart from them. Her face blushed, and she cursed herself even more for it.
"This…my pet, is the power I have over you." He mockingly whispered, then drew back from her. "Look at you, I have you all hot and bothered without really doing anything to you." He smugly laughed at her, making her feel very low.
She wanted him to shove her against the wall and harshly kiss her, but she also didn't want to be insulted for feeling that way. Mrs. Lovett felt disgusted with herself that she still lusted after her killer. She decided to prevent this temporarily was to put a divider between them.
She took a few steps away from him and straightened herself up.
"Dinner will be on a tray by your door at six o'clock. When you're done, just put the tray and dishes outside of your door and they'll be picked up. Now if you'll excuse me…"
She turned to go into her room, but Sweeney grabbed her arm.
He slammed her against the wall again, and this time he slammed his lips against hers as well. Mrs. Lovett's eyes shot open in surprise, while he seemed to be trying to wrestle her tongue. She didn't know if he was trying to trick her into getting a rise out of her again, or that he really wanted to make out with her.
Oh hell. She took the bait. She kissed him back fiercely, and it was good. After about what felt like a good two minutes, the two broke, gasping for air. Another smug smile came across Sweeney's lips. " I felt if we would have gone any further, Mrs. Lovett, you would have had me in your bed in about five minutes."
That was it, she felt disgusted with herself again. Did she have no dignity?
"If you are just going to use me to boost your own ego, Mr. Todd, then do not speak to or touch me again!" She shouted at him, and then locked herself into her room.
Sweeney Todd stood there, feeling not as good as he thought he would of. Maybe it was her who got under his skin?
Thanks for reading!! If you'd like to give constructive criticism or praise, then go ahead and review, but if you are just going send me something like this:
"OMG!! this story suks!! (and then some more bad spelling and grammar, bashing and just plain foolishness)"
Then take heed to my word and don't waste my time by reviewing. Alerts are also loved.
There will be some flashes of Lucy and Benjamin in upcoming chapters. (Please, no Lucy bashing eiether, because I felt that it was hard for someone to stop loving their significant other, even if there is someone who would happily take thier place.)
Thanks Again!! More chapters coming soon!
