The Crow: Care for a Shave?
Summery:
The Crow/Sweeney Todd Cross over. ToddXOC.
People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right; or in this case, fix a mistake that shouldn't have happened.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Sweeney Todd, or The crow. If I did, I wouldn't be typing this on a shitty ass computer. I also don't own the songs that are going to be 'sung', since it is a musical. I'll put the title and who's it by before I start typing the lyrics. But I do own my OC's and this idea.
Chapter Ten: I long to be like you, sis
When the door opened Dawn let out a sigh of relief seeing as it was only Abigail, but regardless she tried to act less suspicious and more ill. The younger sister looked at her oddly, seeing that Dawn looked like she saw a ghost.
"Wow, you really don't look that well. Anyway, I made you Cream of Broccoli," Abigail said placing the tray on the table in front of the couch.
"Oh, thanks," Dawn said and took a seat in front of the meal, which consisted of a steaming bowl of creamy goodness, a little bun of bread, crackers, some slices of cheese, and two painkillers. "You went above and beyond just making me a plate of soup…" Dawn joked and took a spoonful in.
Abigail shrugged nonchalantly, "there's hardly any one inside the bar, so I just decided to do a little extra."
Dawn noted that her younger sister's tone of voice seemed a bit down, and even though Abigail had a faint smile on, it was plain as day that something was bothering her. Plopping the spoon back into the soup, Dawn crossed her legs and raised an eyebrow, "alright, what's wrong?"
"What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."
"Oh, c'mon. You have that face on – the same one you used when you first got your rag and didn't want to tell anyone."
At that a deep blush formed on her cheeks, "no-no I don't!"
"Look, sweetie, we can be here all evening having our monthly 'yes you do, no I don't' fight, but we all know who the winner is – today, future days, and past days."
Abigail rolled her eyes, "I just don't want to talk about it."
"Sure you don't."
"I don't!"
"I didn't say you did."
"But you implied it!"
"I didn't imply anything! I said you don't, and you said you don't which contradicts to the fact that you really don't to really you did, which makes me right that you actually did."
Somewhere near the beginning, Abigail lost her. She shook her head after zoning out and barked a 'fine'.
Dawn smiled triumphantly and patted the arm wrest next to her, which Abigail then sat on, "alright, what is it?"
Abigail let out a small sigh and then she explained a bit of what she's going through. She told her that lately (which would be an understatement if Dawn knew any better) Gabriel has been putting a lot of pressure on her; putting a lot of responsibility on her as well as still treating her as a child. However, she left out the part of how Gabriel has given the burden of his own sorrows to make Abigail feel guilty, which he often did especially when he was drunk.
After Abigail meekly explained herself, Dawn rubbed her shoulder affectionately, "don't take it too personally; he did it to me when I graduated and you were still in high school."
Not want to provoke this moment into a touchy emotional one that resulted in her crying, Abigail nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess. I'll think about it."
However, Dawn saw right through her, but knew better that to pressure her to let out her true feelings, that and there was probably a very confused and pissed ex-serial killer in the trunk in closet. "Alright then, I'll talk to you later."
After a quick good-bye and a thank you, Abigail left for the door, closing and locking it with her key.
As soon as the door shut, the lid of the trunk flung open causing Dawn to yelp and nearly spill her soup.
"What was that for?" Sweeney said, his eyes showing annoyance.
"My sister came in! I didn't want her to see you; 'else she would think that I'm just playing sick and that I'm here with you for a shag."
Sweeney grimaced, "Trust me, that'll be the last thing I'd be here for."
If Dawn was offended – which she was – she didn't show much of it, "Well knowing me, she knows otherwise. Besides she already knows from last night that I think you're—"Dawn stopped herself from say anything, "never mind."
"What were you going to say?"
"I said never mind! Here, try some soup!"
Sweeney walked over to her and sat on the arm rest, "I will not leave you alone until you tell me. You thought me… what?"
Dawn gave him an annoyed look, then thought of a word that wouldn't imply that she was attracted to him. "I was going to say, she already knows from last night that I think you…are do-able."
"'Do-able?'" Sweeney mimicked looking confused.
"Yes; here try the soup!" quickly to stop the conversation to go any further she shoved a spoonful of the cream of broccoli into his mouth before he could get a word out.
Dawn pulled the spoon out of his mouth, and finally Sweeney swallowed it trying hard not to cough. "Mmm, that is good," he complimented licking his bottom lip, "bit salty, though."
Glade that she was capable of changing the subject, Dawn smiled and took her own spoonful into her mouth, "I like it salty."
Losing his train of thought, Sweeney got off topic, and tackled something else, "anyway; why didn't you kick her out of the room instead of having a little heart-to-heart?"
"She's my sister, and I don't know what your norms are from back where you came from, but family comes before serial killers."
Sweeney nodded after a moment of thinking, "funny, you two look nothing a like; and if you two are related, then you as well are my great-great-great granddaughter."
Dawn laughed a bit and shook her head, "no, no. Me and Abigail—"
"You mean Abigail and I."
"What ever—Anyways; we're not related. Gabriel adopted us from an orphanage before it gotten demolished."
"So you don't know who your parents are?"
"Obviously not," Dawn rolled her eyes and took a large bite out of the bread. "Even though I am legally allowed to know who my parents are, Gabriel refuses to tell us. Ah well, I don't really care."
Sweeney gave her an odd stare, "You don't want to know who your parents are?"
"And find out that it's just another 30-something year old girl who got pregnant when she was a teen? I wouldn't be surprised if she's a prostitute and has other children, both aborted and orphaned… or sold off."
At that moment a large crow perched itself on the roof next to the large panel window, and started to prod with his beak onto the glass. Dawn took a glance at it, but dismissed it and turned back to her food. Sweeney however was staring back at it fixedly as the crow did to him on various occasions.
Hours passed since then, Dawn and Sweeney were still cooped up inside the apartment. Their conversations usually ended up Sweeney being mystified or confused about what ever Dawn is talking about. She tried to explain Charles Darwin's theory of the evolution of man to Mr. Todd, but he seemed even more doubtful of the fact that we came from apes and monkeys, than Adam and Eve (even though Dawn stressed her point that Darwin didn't say we came from monkeys, but a common ancestor).
After a long discussion of religion, they some how came to modern fashion, and Miss Hastings tried delicately to explain that the way she dresses is what a lot of women her age and younger dress like, and she's never seen a woman walking around in a "ridiculously large dress that makes your arse stick out in an awkward way". However, Sweeney still insisted that if women do dress like his hostess, than even Mrs. Lovett would be considered a more proper woman than any other in this era.
It must've been around 10 o'clock in the pm, Sweeney and Dawn had been playing a game that they were both familiar with – chess (Dawn sorely loosing). Abigail and Gabriel (for once) were cleaning up the bar closing up early that night, since it was a Sunday. Abigail was finishing off washing a glass cup when Gabriel sighed and finished "sweeping the floor".
"Hey, Abby?" Gabriel asked, using his pet name for her, which usually resulted in a huge favour.
Abigail restrained rolling her eyes and letting out an exhausted sigh, "yeah?"
"Could you do me a small favour? We have no more milk and bread; the store's still open…"
Gabriel didn't have to finish, Abigail dropped the sponge and whipped her hands, "yeah I'll get it."
"Great, thanks, hun," as she approached him, Gabriel handed her some money. She went to her jacket, slid her arms through the sleeves and left.
The corner store wasn't literal in this case; being it a few blocks away it took a while for Abigail to get to it. Turning into St. Maria Ave. (made it up) there was the store just a head of her. It was the only thing that light shone from, and it looked welcoming against the blackness of the buildings around it. Quickly walking in, getting the necessary things as well as some cold medicine for Dawn, Abigail left with a little chat with the cashier whom she was familiar with.
Humming to herself to keep her mind off of her voyage back to the tavern, Abigail kept on thinking to herself, long and hard about whether or not she should've told Dawn the entire story. Listing the pros and cons over and over again, but her nerves told her that she wasn't ready, and or Dawn might not entirely understand. It may be something that only a youngest child would know. She didn't know much about normal families, except of what she has seen on TV. She noticed that the youngest was always the most spoiled, but in her situation it was completely opposite. Was it because she was adopted, and he felt no need to treat her as his own? What ever the case may be, it sure plagued her mind that she didn't even notice that she entered the arch of the old bridge that she isn't fond of around this time of day.
Just as she stepped in the shadows, Abigail got an unwanted vibe. She clutched on the plastic bags and hugged her arms, speeding up the pace she was going. The late teen knew that it wouldn't make a difference if she made it out from under the bridge alive, a rapist or mugger wouldn't care either or, since it was the slums and no one would be brave enough to save her. There was something about this bridge, though, that she didn't like. Not even as a child; she didn't know if it was haunted, but seeing as she's apparently lives in a haunted residence, a used-to-be home of a serial killer, it wouldn't bother her much if the bridge was haunted, since she could survive in her apartment.
Maybe it was just her paranoia but Abigail heard footsteps following just behind her. Relax, Abigail, your mind is playing tricks on you. As an attempt of keeping her mind off of things, she mentally thought of different meals she could make for her sick sister, but often they were interrupted by those footsteps she heard.
Finally building up the courage, the adolescent turned around and asked who was there, but only received an echo from her voice. Letting out a sigh, she decided to push it out of her mind as soon as she was out of the shadows from underneath the bridge. It was a funny thing actually, it felt like a long voyage when only 5 or 10 minutes ago when she walked under it to get to the store it didn't feel that long.
As soon as she turned back, noticing that she only had 5 more feet until she was out from under the bridge's shadow, the footsteps she heard moments ago quickened. Before she could turn around a leathery hand clasped over her mouth and dragged her back into the depths of the shadows.
Just outside of the tunnel under the bridge, the familiar crow flew in circles, then landed itself on a lone trashcan located at the mouth of the tunnel. He cawed at the struggling inside, but no one paid it any head, as the two men in there were too busy restraining the younger blonde woman. The bird cawed again, but once more neither the girl, or the two men took notice of it, but someone did a few blocks away.
"Check mate," Sweeney said mockingly as he kicked Dawn's king over with his queen.
Dawn looked utterly perplexed, "what the bloody hell! I swore I had you!"
"Y'know," he began as he started to pick up all the pieces that fell from the floor, "for an era that invented such advanced technology, such as that horseless carriage—"
"For the last time, it's called a car!"
"—you people of the 21st century are pretty dim when it comes to this ancient game."
"Hey, hey! Don' start stereotyping all of us just because of me! Have you really talked to anyone while you were alive in this century?"
"No, of course not. On my little adventure back to my humble abode I encountered many other people that weren't particularly polite."
"… We live in London, England, not Canada."
"Canadians are nice?"
"I s'pose; never been there, but I heard the lot of them are pot heads."
"What are—" Sweeney was cut off when he blinked; a scene before him flashed before his eyes. The picture was a bit distorted, but all he saw was darkness, and he heard struggling noses. The vision seemed to zoom into the shadow and a loud caw echoed in his ears. Sweeney flinched, and then he saw figures in the darkness, but what stuck out the most was the face of a pale skinned, yellow haired girl.
Sweeney forcefully opened his eyes, and was met with Dawn's worried look.
"Are you—" Sweeney cut her off and quickly uttered four words, "Abigail is in trouble."
Without so much of a "Let's go," Dawn didn't ask any questions. She grabbed her coat and swung open the door, Sweeney following in tow. As soon as they touched the cobblestone floor Dawn asked, "how do you know she's in trouble?"
"I'm not sure; I just shut my eyes…and I saw it," Sweeney was leading the way. He had no idea where he was going, but it all seemed instinct to him.
"What do you mean you 'saw it'?" Dawn was trying feverishly to catch up, but Sweeney was running at a pace that could out run a horse; she was yards away from him.
"I don't know!" Sweeney shouted back, as he noticed he was running towards the tunnel under the bridge.
"Do all you people from the 19th century run so fast?" Dawn gasped. It was only when Sweeney slowed down to a halt in front of the tunnel when Dawn finally caught up.
"She's in there," he said softly, as if he might talk over noises that must be heard, but everything was silent.
Dawn dared not to enter the tunnel, in fear what she might see, though she hoped dearly that Abigail just broke her ankle, but something about the aura of this situation told her otherwise. Taking her place, Sweeney carefully entered the tunnel, barely seeing though the darkness, except for the light at the end of the tunnel. There a silhouette of a crow perched on a metal cylinder at the end; it cocked its head to a specific area in the darkness, so Sweeney followed its gaze.
Dawn stood outside of the tunnel, hugging her arms tightly as the wind started to pick up a cold temperature. "Miss Hastings, I think…I really think you should come in here," Sweeney said, his words echoing.
Dawn's heart gave a little tug, she started to worry. She shoved the irrational thoughts out of her head, convincing herself that Abigail probably fainted from seeing something…maybe.
As she stepped inside, seeing Sweeney's silhouette against the moon light of the other side of the tunnel; he was leaning over something, his arm stretch out stroking it gently. Walking towards him, she noted something wet shinning off the floor; her hands began to tremble, her pace slowly picking up speed. Then she saw the shine of wide glazed eyes; her own eyes began to water. The moon light reflected mostly against locks of yellow hair; Dawn's knees buckled to the ground, the trembles from her hands reached her entire body, and the tears finally escaped from her lids.
"No, no, no…" Dawn crawled over to her sister, her heart beating rapidly, her body shaking visibly. Sweeney stood, eyebrows furrowed in sorrow as he watched this trembling woman crawl towards her foster sister. He didn't understand it, as he stands staring into the dead eyes of Abigail, he felt no remorse for her, but for Dawn. Abigail was, after all, his descendant, his blood, but all his sorrow and remorse went to the black haired promiscuous woman that he once thought was a dishonorable woman.
Dawn hiccupped, still shaking in pure anxiety. She buried her face in her sister's hair not caring if her knees were in the puddle of blood, or her arm covering the large gash the stretched across her neck. "Oh my God…" Dawn breathed, "this is a dream, this is a nightmare… It's not real, it's not real…" She kept on muttering the same thing over and over again, and all Sweeney could do was bend down and rub his hostess' shoulder in comfort.
With a great gasp, Dawn lifted her tear streaked face. With quivering fingers, the older sister brushed her younger sibling's hair out from her face and behind her ear, staring tearfully at her lifeless eyes; they were wide, with small pupils and water rimmed her bottom eyelid. From behind, Sweeney could sense the uncomfortable-ness of the stare so he reached out and shut the lids gently. Dawn shut her own eyes tightly feeling fresh new tears coming to birth, turning her head she absentmindedly buried her face in Sweeney's arm that was wrapped around her shoulders.
5 minutes only passed, but it felt a lot longer. Dawn pulled her face away to stare at her now deceased baby sister stroking her cold cheek with her thumb.
(This song is called Like You by Evanescence)
"Stay low.
Soft, dark, and dreamless…
Dawn's voice was small and soft, Sweeney could barely hear it. Her mouth and throat were dry which was the cause for the slight airy sound that her tone suddenly gave.
"Far beneath my nightmares and loneliness.
I hate me,
For breathing without you.
I don't want to feel anymore for you.
Feeling more supportive, Sweeney shifted in his spot so that he was laying against his thigh and wrapped her arms fully around Dawn's shoulders, and kissed her head sweetly as she continued her song.
"Grieving for you,
I'm not grieving for you.
Nothing real love can't undo,
And though I may have lost my way,
All paths lead straight to you.
Dawn clutched onto Sweeney's arm as if it was a life support as she continued: "I long to be like you, lie cold in the ground like you…" She trailed off and hesitated before the next verse.
"Halo, I long to be like you,
Blinding wall between us.
Melt away and leave us alone again.
The humming, haunted somewhere out there.
I believe our love can see us through in death.
Lie cold in the ground like you.
There's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you,
I'm coming for you…
She shifted her weight so she could be more closer to Abigail, leaning her lips close to her sister's ear as if she may hear Dawn's voice through death.
"You're not alone,
No matter what they told you, you're not alone.
I'll be right beside you forevermore!
Her voice picked up at a high note on the latter sentence, letting Abigail's limp head fall onto her shoulder so she could rest her chin upon her head; her cry facing the heavens.
"I long to be like you, sis,
Lie cold in the ground like you did.
There's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you…
Her words trailed off, as she pressed her cheek against the top of the blonde's head, rocking the body back and forth.
"And as we lay in silent bliss, I long to be like you,
I know you remember me.
Lie cold in the ground like you.
There's room inside for two and I'm not grieving for you,
I'm coming for you…"
A/N: Oh…Abigail… We hardly knew thee.
Anyway, sorry if that one was a bit rushed, but I figured, hey, it's already the tenth chapter and so far all we gotten to was Sweeney meeting Dawn! So I needed to rush into the plot twist. Sorry for the long wait, semester two just started, and well…I'm getting distracted by homework, as well as typing the first chapter of my POTC series that I might submit after this one! Thanks for all the support and reviews (which I'm getting hooked on). xoxox, Love you!
Andaere: I tried the best I could to explain Abigail's issues in this chapter, when she was talking to Dawn. It isn't because of an Ex boyfriend, it's because of Gabriel. That's why I had her have a mental rant about him before she sung the song. So if you read the lyrics of the song, thinking "okay, well then Gabriel might be putting a lot of pressure on her, from what I can understand from this verse: 'you should have known better than to lean on me!" It's something you have to read in-between the lines for, as well as keeping in mind when someone sings a song in my series, it's because of something that triggered it just before. Think of it as verbal emotions…