AN: So, I know I promised a special guest this chapter…but technically this is only an interlude, so I'm not breaking my promise lol! Anyway, I had this bit all planned and basically written out, but had nowhere to put it - so here it is! It should really go at the beginning, but I thought it would be better placed further into the story - when the situation had been well and truly illustrated.

So apologies for the short length and absolutely no mention of the characters! However, I am just putting the finishing touches to the actual next chapter, so it should be with you in just a few short days (I hope)!

Disclaimer: I do not own Eric Lensherr or the lyrics to "There is No Place Like London" from Sweeney Todd, however The Shadows are all mine!


The Shadows

There's a whole in the world like a great black pit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it
And its morals aren't worth what a pig could spit
And it goes by the name of…

At the top of the whole sit the privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo
Turning beauty to filth and greed…

There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And its filled with people who are filed with shit!
And the vermin of the world inhabit it…

The Shadows is the dark and depraved part of town; the place where any dodgy deal or deceitful act can take place unnoticed, populated with lost souls and those corrupted by despicable pleasures. By day the dealers and the muggers pound its pavements in search of fresh meat and by night the street walkers swarm under the watchful eyes of their pimps. The buildings are adorned with low-end shops clubs and bars that form the thriving centre of this village of sin.

Every player that makes up this warped community are simply crawling insects, hiding in the dark and skirting in the shadows, waiting to pounce. The police have no authority over these streets. Of course they keep up appearances, but any underhanded deed can be hidden within The Shadows, for a price; hence it's name. The Shadow's only answers to one authority; the biggest player at the top of the food-chain. Periodically this figure will change and pass on, as the scales of infamy are tipped in the direction of another dark soul. This figure controls every player in town and earns a cut from every business in this swelling pit. Their law is final, disobey and you suffer. There are no cosy cells for those who challenge their rule, just pain, torture and death. Rivals fight over the reign but inevitably one will fall to the other of higher respect. And the latest king of darkness goes by the name of Eric Lensherr.

For years these streets were home to the poor and privileged alike - for good money is even prepared to slum it with the dogs, for certain pleasures. Children of high-class families blew their trust-funds on the same dealers that sold to common street urchins. Well respected business men paid to be entertained by the same whores that the criminals and addicts dipped into. The elite were willing to associate with the filthy, disease ridden mutts that lived in The Shadows, simply because there was nowhere else for them to indulge their dark side. This is how Eric Lensherr made his name.

He saw a gap in the market - an opening for potential. He understood that the well-groomed privileged were worse than the scum that populated these streets. They may go home to perfect families and shining apartments, but they were the ones who came to The Shadows to indulge in the most depraved of acts. But why? Were they not happy with their alcoholism and affairs with their secretaries?

Of course not; once you've tasted the sweetness of hell, there is no quenching the crave for more. Whether they were old money or new money, they were ripe for exploitation. Why should these shining examples of society be forced to walk the same streets as low-lives and thugs? Why should they pay for cheap thrills from women who are either too infected or too addicted to do a decent job? After all, didn't they deserve the best?

So Eric Lensherr purchased a run-down club on the outskirts of The Shadows; a more upmarket area, yet still far enough away from all that is clean, holy and good to still attract a more immoral clientele. He turned the place around and opened the areas first exotic dance show. The Rose Garden's prices were higher than those of any establishment within The Shadows, immediately drawing the attention of anyone with excess money to spend. He only hired the best of the best. His men were the strongest, the most loyal and the most respected and his girls were the cleanest - free of any drug addictions or diseases - and most beautiful and talented in their profession. The police accepted The Rose Garden as a high-end strip club and the punters knew its renowned reputation as a brothel. It was the highest in its class and rivaled by none.

Eric Lensherr had personally managed to extend The shadows to a more respectable area; where no scantily-clad women stumbled the streets at night, in search of clients and no homeless drunks slumped in doorways for yet another night in the open. The streets of this new town were paved with gold not trash, yet it was no less depraved than the pond it spawned from. So with his connections and associates in the slums and business in the light, Lensherr managed to unite the Old Town and the New Town under the name of The Shadows. The glamorous and the decrepit under the same title and the same rule. But, despite the New Town's glimmering facade, in reality the two towns were both the same.

The same suffering and the same injustice. The same pain and the same scars. Lost souls exploited for the entertainment of others. Neither were better than each other; the prostitutes and the whores, the thieves and the muggers, the thugs and the bullies, the distributors and the dealers. Everyone of them left to drown in this all consuming pit of sin. All at the disposal of one broken man - who, unfortunately, remains unchallenged and unrivalled.

Hell holds nothing but comfort for those poor unfortunate souls, who dwell within The Shadows.


AN: So basically just background-y stuff on our setting. As most of you may have noticed, I haven't specified exactly which city/state this delightfully upbeat (yeah that's sarcasm lol) story is actually based in - although I take it that most of you assumed it was New York? The truth is that I don't honestly know either. New York makes the most sense to me, but being British and never having actually been to New York I'm not entirely sure (I know, I am no help).

But The Shadows is an area of a city that is entirely my own creation, so it is probably safe to assume that the setting is largely fictional - except for when otherwise stated, like in the first chapter. Although I do kind of imagine it as the Old Town in the film Sin City (well almost anyway lol).

Just to clear-up though, this story is set in an area where prostitution is NOT legalised - which will be shown a little clearer in later chapters.

(This is the last bit, I promise) Next chapter sees a return to the regular plot - I just had to add this in so I can start referring to The Shadows lol. I will try and update soon, but I am severely snowed under with A-Level exams and I really want to get the grades to go to the uni I want, so I make no definite promises…But in about a months time I will be fully at your disposal!

I thank everyone of you lovely readers for your support and advice (especially jat15 who prompted me to add ROMY to the blurb lol) and as always reviews are appreciated immensely!