Chapter Seven- Entry of the Gladiators
Nellie awoke earlier than she would've cared to wake, she was tormented by a dream. The dream consisted of her being strapped to a large spinning wheel by her arms and legs; after she had turned for quite some time a man with a white streak in his otherwise black hair would stand fifty feet away from the wheel and throw knives in her direction. All the while, haunting circus music would play from a pipe organ.
Nellie decided to that it'd be best for her to go buy a bell for Sweeney's door; Nellie got dressed in her usual dark coloured bodice and fumbled with her hair for a few minutes before giving up on the wreck. She felt about for her coin purse in various drawers, when she finally found it she dropped it in her bosom and walked out the shop's door.
She arrived at the nearby market and found her way to a blanket with different trinkets sprawled about on it. The woman acting as sentinel to the items gave a sincere smile, "See anything you like, dearie?" Nellie looked around before spotting a welcoming silver bell. "That beautiful bell would be lovely." Nellie bartered with the woman before settling on a price; afterwards, Nellie walked off with her prize in hand.
After searching around a bit Nellie stumbled upon an item that she recognized. She purchased it without haggling and took off to her shop. Upon her return, Nellie wrapped her gift in simple grey tissue paper and placed it in the drawer which used to occupy the barber's blanket and rattle.
Mrs. Lovett looked on in horror as Benjamin Barker was loaded onto a ship; he was completely void of any emotions for the first time in the short while they'd known each other. Nellie shed a tear as she watched two men drag him by his wrists; he was wearing a scarf made for him by his beloved wife, Lucy and the gloves Mrs. Lovett had returned to him months before.
As the two cruel men searched Benjamin before his boarding, they ripped off his scarf and gloves. Benjamin only stood there with a bleak presence about him. They threw the items onto the dock and pushed Benjamin into the boat. Mrs. Lovett gave a cry of protest, but no one heard. She watched as the boat got smaller and smaller before it was only a speck in the sea as she was but a speck in the crowd watching. She searched everyday for the two items the men had so carelessly strewn about the dock, but never prevailed.
A tired Nellie Lovett closed up her shop for the day; she washed her hands and sat by the newly lit fire resting her bones. She woke to the sound of her own shop bell being rung. Nellie rushed to the door only to find a worn out Sweeney Todd drinking from a bottle of gin while sitting in his booth.
"Where's my bell?" Sweeney asked without turning around. "Cool yourself down." Nellie walked to her room and picked up the bell she had rested on top of her set of drawers, she gave it a ring while walking back to the room Sweeney inhabited.
She placed the silver bell in front of him and waited for his reaction. Sweeney took the bell in his hands and placed it his inside pocket. He stood and walked out of the door. Nellie sighed and plopped down in the booth that would've been across from him. "I remember when you used to sit here before all of this happened." Nellie talked to the empty space, "You would smile and we would chat about all sorts of nonsense." Her head drooped and she didn't bother to pick it up.
Sweeney Todd stood at his door and installed his new bell, he liked it no more than his last bell. Sweeney wanted to yell at Nellie for taking away the bell Lucy and him had put in together, Sweeney wanted to be able to slit the throat of the woman who did things so carelessly. So why couldn't he? He finished hanging the bell and sat on the floor underneath his window.
"You should be easy to kill like the rest of them. You're nothing more than a person."He thought aloud. Sweeney retrieved the only constant in his life from his pocket. The razor made him feel strangely at peace, He could be calmed down by the simple piece of sharpened metal.
The new bell rang and Sweeney Todd's eyes shot up from his pet. "What do you want?" Nellie waltzed in with her hands behind her back. "I have a gift for you." Sweeney played with his razor. "I don't want it." Nellie smiled. "I know." She placed the item on his chair and left the room without any other words.
Sweeney sat for hours after all of the lights were out on Fleet Street, he sat looking at the blade and his hands. His hands were always shaded with a slight red like Nellie's; he tended to forget about things like this except for on nights like this. Among the things Sweeney looked at that night were the rattle sitting on the chest by the door and the package on his chair.
Sweeney stood as the sun spilled into his shop, it was dark orange outside. He walked to the package sitting on his chair and cut the paper with this razor. Inside sat something made of black and white striped cloth. He tore away more of the paper with his tainted hands and revealed a scarf; he raised the item to get a better look at it and dropped it to the chair as the item's importance became apparent.
Sweeney held the item with one hand as he rushed to the Emporium beneath his Parlor. He pushed the door open and dropped the scarf on the floor in front of a busy Mrs. Nellie Lovett. She stopped in her tracks and looked to the floor. "Do you need to talk?" she asked. Sweeney nodded and stormed into Nellie's bedroom without picking up the item on the floor.
Nellie dealt with many customers before coming to her room with scarf in hand. "I bought it from a street vendor." Nellie dropped the item into Sweeney's hands and sat next to him. "It's yours, I know it is." Sweeney crushed the item between his fingers and looked up at her. "How did you know?" Nellie looked at him with saddened eyes. "I can't forget. I can never forget that moment." She nodded. "I've certainly tried." Sweeney played with the scarf and smelled it. "It smells like the blanket." He found Nellie's eyes with his own and frowned. "I don't remember the smell." He looked back to the scarf. "I don't remember anything."
Nellie and Sweeney sat on Nellie's bed as she explained to him everything she could remember. At this moment she could talk to Sweeney Todd as if he was the empty spot at the table she had loved to converse with. She slipped and called him Benjamin many times and he didn't correct her. Sweeney was mesmerized by the great amount of his past that flooded his brain.
Sweeney slept on Nellie's couch that night and didn't have a single demon to haunt his sleep. He slept sweetly with the thoughts of his past fresh in his mind. Sweeney was certainly not a changed man, but he could pretend like he was. He could pretend at least for this one night.
Benjamin Barker is a one thousand eight hundred forty six sided man. He is too much fun to write about. The most difficult part about writing this story is not writing Mrs. Nellie Todd or Mrs. Nellie Barker all the time. Although I'd rather have Benjamin murderous and blood crazed, I'd also like Nellie to be happy. I sort of imagine that Nellie's house is decked out with black lace and doilies; she just strikes me as the type of person who would do that their house.
I'm slowly formulating a Mrs. Lovett costume for cosplaying events that will take place in my own house as I'm cooking meat pies. I have a black laced parasol and the crazy hair is coming along nicely.
