Thanks for all the reviews, I hope you like this chapter. The new story arc begins...
London.
Sweeney had seen it from his Barber Shop window countless times.
If he closed his eyes he could picture it in his mind.
Gray, monotonous, looming over him as if it was closing in around him…
Turning away from the glass, slightly foggy from the morning's rain, Sweeney could look at it no longer.
He had been holed up in his room for a week after his daughter had been stolen from him for the second time by the same man.
He had slept, he had sulked…he had even sobbed a bit.
To have what he wanted and then have it ripped away from him was the worst feeling.
To have what he wanted, then have it ripped away, then get it back only to have it ripped away once more was even worse of a feeling.
Sweeney couldn't believe that he had let this happen to him again.
What was stopping him from just marching right over to Turpin's mansion and killing The Judge in his own home?
What was stopping him from getting his revenge the direct and much easier way, rather than waiting endlessly for the 'perfect' moment like Mrs. Lovett had told him to?
…it was Joanna.
Sweeney knew that if he ever wanted to have any kind of relationship with her after Judge Turpin was dead, she could never know what kind of a murderous demon he was.
And so Sweeney had to find some way to kill The Judge (and hopefully The Beadle) without anyone ever knowing it was him so he could remain the image of an upstanding member of society, a fit father for Joanna.
But was Sweeney even a fit father at all?
He was a killer, whether anyone knew it or not.
And if even if Joanna never found out all the things he had done, that wouldn't change the person he truly was.
Sweeney wondered if he could justify brining his sweet, innocent daughter into his world of murder and lies…
(The alternative, of course, was Anthony, if they ever managed to free Joanna from Turpin again and Sweeney didn't think he would be the best choice of a companion for his daughter either.)
Sweeney needed a plan.
A plan to rescue his daughter again…
A plan to kill Turpin and the Beadle and have his revenge without anyone ever finding out about it…
A plan for the rest of his and Joanna's life after he completed the former…
But Sweeney couldn't think here!
He couldn't even tolerate for one more moment being in the dismal city that had caused him nothing but pain.
And so Sweeney stepped around his black barber chair away from the window towards the door.
He exited the Barber Shop, hurrying down the stairs and walking into the Pie Shop.
Mrs. Lovett immediately looked up in astonishment as soon as Sweeney entered the room (as he knew she would), rushing over to him.
"Mr. Todd! You've come down!" she exclaimed, "How are you feeling, love, are you alright?"
"I'm feeling well enough considering the situation…" he muttered, following into the room as she led him towards the kitchen table and sat him down on the wooden bench against the wall.
"Have you been eating, Mr. Todd, you look right skinny, you do…" She continued to chatter, as if afraid to create a silence that would remind him of a certain absent daughter, "Can I get you anything, dear? Tell me what you need."
"I need a vacation." Sweeney stated.
Now dressed in the thin, standard blue and white British Royal Navy uniform, Anthony was helping his fellow sailors adjust the sails of the ship he had been stationed on.
It was out to sea and had been for the past few hours.
Their heading was an Australian prison port where they would pick up and escort freed men back to England.
It wasn't the most ideal location to sail towards, but Anthony didn't complain.
He enjoyed his work on the ship; it kept his hands busy and his mind clear.
Anthony was just grateful to get away from London.
He didn't think he could stand to stay in that city much longer; it was high time he got a change in scenery.
Once the sails were secure, Anthony rushed off to his next task. He wouldn't let himself be idle.
He wouldn't let his mind stray to thoughts of Joanna…
The halls were long, darkened and narrow. The walls were made of hard gray stone.
The door Toby stood next to was dark and tall, towering over him in the most ominous manner so that he almost regretted coming here.
Every so often Toby would hear a shriek that would startle him as he waited and so by the time the door opened for him he was shivering.
A man exited the room and turned to Toby.
"He said you can go on in now." He told Toby and then hurried down the hall to get out of the building as fast as he could.
Toby entered the room.
"Tobias Ragg?" an old, skinny bald man addressed him from behind a desk.
His face was in shadow as the office, like the rest of the establishment, was not lit.
"That's me, sir." Toby affirmed.
"You're just a little kid." The man dismissed, "I'm a very busy man, I don't have time to waste on children. What do you want?"
"Mr. Fogg, sir…" Toby began, approaching the desk, "I've come to tell you about this crazy old lady that's been stirring up trouble around Fleet Street. I want you to have her locked away."
"A beggar? Dressed in rags?" Fogg inquired, "Screeching about the Devil and other nonsense like that?"
"Yes, sir, that's the one!" Toby confirmed, "Can you take her away? She's been bothering my mum bad for a long time now."
"I've had other complaints of that beggar woman, boy." Fogg informed, "I've sent men after her, but they've never been able to catch her. She's a quick one, she is."
"Well I can help catch her." Toby stated.
"What can a little kid like you do to help?" Fogg asked skeptically, leaning towards Toby.
"I know where she lives." Toby declared, "I can take you right to her. I'm fast too. I can even grab her quick and hold her down while your men take her."
"And I suppose you'd want to be paid for this, boy…" Fogg guessed.
"Well, her being gone would be payment enough for me, sir…" Toby shrugged, "My mum and I could really use the money."
"I'm sure you could…" Fogg said, rolling his eyes.
"So will you do it?" Toby asked hopefully.
"Alright, kid, I'll see what I can do." Fogg agreed, "But I won't be paying you."
"That's fine with me." Toby conceded, "Just get rid of her!"
Nellie left the eggs and bacon on the pan to sizzle so she could journey back over to her kitchen table where Mr. Todd sat.
He was drinking the last of gin she had meant to save for Toby, but because Mr. Todd venturing downstairs to see Nellie was such a rare and joyous occasion, Toby would just have to deal without his daily dose of hard liquor.
"So where do you think you'd like to go off to on this vacation?" Nellie asked, sitting down across from Mr. Todd so that they could begin a very important discussion.
"I haven't a set location in mind." Mr. Todd replied, sipping his drink, "I've just got to leave this damn city…"
"For how long then, dear?" Nellie inquired.
"I don't know." He shrugged.
"So you don't know where you want to go, or for how long, but you want to go vacation." She stated, chuckling, "Oh Mr. T you really are a hopeless man, you are…!"
"You have no idea…" Mr. Todd muttered softly enough that Nellie couldn't hear him.
"What was that, love?" she said to which he shook his head and responded 'nothing', "Well nevermind then, because I'm thinking we ought to go down to the seaside…"
"I don't know about that…" Mr. Todd disagreed, "The mountains are better a better choice."
"Oh now you've got an idea of where you want to go!" Nellie exclaimed, "But why in the world would you want to go to the mountains?"
"Because it's quiet there. And secluded." Mr. Todd explained, "Everyone minds their own business there and leaves each other alone."
"Well that sounds quite lonely…" Nellie assessed, "The seaside is much more cheerful. It's got beaches and the sunsets are lovely there, or so I've heard…wouldn't you rather go somewhere lively and happy, Mr. Todd?"
"No." he stated.
"But why, love?" Nellie chirped, "It would be fun! Down by the sea you can see the sky, feel the sun warm on your face. I've seen the pictures in the magazines, Mr. T, it's so beautiful there…so much color. God knows that's just exactly what you need in your life right now, some sun, some color some cheer!"
"No." Mr. Todd disagreed, "What I need is quiet place to think."
"The seaside can be quiet." Nellie attempted, "All you can hear is the waves rolling in and out and the seagulls calling in the sky, it would be nice and calming, it would."
She closed her eyes imagining herself to be sitting on the beach, watching the sparkling tides with her very own Sweeney Todd.
The fact that he wanted to take a vacation and actually wanted her to come along made Nellie extremely hopeful.
Perhaps on this vacation to the seaside or the mountains or wherever they went off to, Mr. Todd would discover his love for her...
"I don't want nice, I don't want calming." Mr. Todd insisted, "I need this vacation so we can develop a plan."
"A plan?" Nellie repeated, raising an eyebrow, "What do you mean 'a plan'?"
"You know exactly what I mean, Mrs. Lovett." Mr. Todd stated sharply, "I've wasted too much time already, I should have taken out Turpin and gotten my daughter back months ago! It's time to finish this. We're going on this vacation and you and I are going to figure what we are going to do."
"I told you what you should do!" Nellie reminded, "Wait! Wait until the right moment and-"
"No more waiting!" Mr. Todd interrupted, dramatically standing up from his seat and pounding the table so his glass of gin shook, "I've waited long enough as it is! I want my revenge now! And so you are going to help me make a plan, one that actually works, no more of this 'right time' nonsense! Do you understand?"
"Well of course I understand, Mr. T, you don't need to get so angry!" Nellie replied, throwing her hands up in mock offense, "But if you want my help…we're going to the sea."
Lucy had slept all that night under her park bench, across from the mansion.
When she awoke in the afternoon she looked up and across the street, second nature, as if she was expecting to see something.
All Lucy saw were curtains, closed behind windows.
She knew this wasn't right.
Something was supposed to be there…
Someone…
But Lucy couldn't remember whatever it was she had wanted to see behind the glass of the dark windows.
Using the bench to lift herself from the ground, Lucy got up and prepared herself for a day of begging.
She had forgotten the last time she had a meal.
It was a very long time ago…Lucy thought it might have been a few glasses of champagne and whatever ordures were served at that lovely party…
Whose party was that again?
Lucy didn't recall.
All she knew is that it had happened at the large estate across the street which maybe was the reason she was asleep right outside of it.
Had she gotten to drunk and been thrown out?
That wasn't like her…
Lucy wasn't even much of a drinker, or a party-goer come to think of it…
She barely even left her small apartment above that Pie Shop.
So why was she at that party?
What had happened that night?
And then suddenly it all came rushing back to Lucy, hitting her memory so hard that she staggered backwards into the bench where she had to sit down.
The right hand had led her into the party…
…there were no faces, only masks…
…Demons!
She drank the nectar of the Gods, glass after glass, she knew not what it was…
…and then she had been grabbed and thrown down…
God had donned his Devil's mask and taken her in his arms.
That night he had stolen her soul.
Lucy ran.
She had to escape the grounds of the Black God's fortress before she was once again captured.
"There she is!"
Lucy heard the deceptive voice of a changeling call; high like a child's, but words monstrous as any grown demon.
Before she could flee, Lucy was tackled to the cobblestone by Toby and then surrounded by three men.
"I've got her, I've got her!" Toby shouted, wrestling with Lucy, "Get her, I've got her down!"
Lucy kicked and clawed but there was a strange strength about the boy that kept her at his mercy.
He must have been the son of the Devil himself!
"Seize her!" Fogg commanded and his two employees obeyed, pulling Lucy up from Toby's grasp into their tight fists, "Let's go!"
"Where are you taking me? Let me go!" Lucy begged as the two asylum guards dragged her away, "Where are you taking me?"
"They're taking you where you belong!" Toby jeered, jogging to keep up with the pace of Fogg and his men, "They're locking you away for all that you've done!"
"To Hell, to Hell! You're taking me to Hell!" Lucy cried, struggling to break free, "You demons!"
This had happened to her before, just a few weeks before she had been forced into a jail.
"You're the demon, you lying witch!" Toby yelled.
"That's enough, boy!" Fogg snapped, "Go home now, you're job is done here!"
Toby took one last look at the beggar woman who had caused Fleet Street so many problems, stuck out his tongue at her and then ran away.
"Let go of me!" Lucy screeched, "You must not take me to Hell! Please! Not again!"
"Now you need to calm down, it'll be alright…" Fogg comforted in a sickeningly soothing voice, "Don't you worry, my child, we're not taking you to Hell. I'm just sending you on a much needed vacation…"
When Toby got back to Fleet Street he could see Mr. Todd going up and down the stairs to the Barber Shop, carrying different items down into the Pie Shop.
Once Toby got inside in the shop, he saw Mrs. Lovett dragging a giant suitcase with clanging metal fasteners into the kitchen.
In the doorway, Mr. Todd pushed Toby out of his way and walked into the room.
He bent down and placed a folded black cloth into the open container.
"What are you packing all your razors for, dear?" Mrs. Lovett asked, picking the cloth out of the case and shoving it back into Mr. Todd's hands, "You're not going to need them!"
"I'm not leaving them alone again." Mr. Todd insisted, gently putting them back inside, "They're coming with me."
"They're just razors, love, they ain't your children!" Mrs. Lovett laughed.
"I'm going to get the rest of my stuff." Mr. Todd stated, ignoring Mrs. Lovett's comment and heading back out the door he had come in, pushing Toby out of the way once again.
Just as Mrs. Lovett was about to leave the kitchen, Toby spoke up, confused.
"What's going on here, mum?" he asked, "Is Mr. Todd leaving?"
Toby really hoped he was.
"Oh no, dearie!" Mrs. Lovett answered, dashing Toby's dreams, "He's just packing for the vacation."
"Oh." Toby replied, "How long is he gone for?"
"We haven't decided yet." Mrs. Lovett explained, "A couple weeks, I suppose…We'll get there and see how we like it and make up ours minds then."
"We?" Toby repeated.
"Yes, 'we', of course 'we'!" Mrs. Lovett affirmed as if it was to be expected, "Why would Mr. T go off on a vacation and not bring us along? We're all going to the seaside together, love, isn't that great!"
Toby gulped.
Spending an indefinite amount of time in some cramped room in some rundown beach inn with Mr. Todd wasn't Toby's idea of 'great'.
It might have been Mrs. Lovett's but it was definitely not his.
"Aww, mum, do I have to go?" Toby complained.
"Now Toby dear why wouldn't you want to go?" Mrs. Lovett inquired, looking at Toby as if he was crazy, "I already packed your things! Come on, love, it'll be fun!"
"Yeah…I guess…" Toby agreed half-heartedly, not wanting to go in the least but also not wanting to disappoint his adoptive mother.
"Sure it will, love!" Mrs. Lovett assured, squeezing Toby in a hug, "You're going to love the sea, I'm sure of it. We all will. It's going to be wonderful, you'll see…"
There you have it, everyone's going off on a vacation (some will be better than others...or maybe they'll all just end up terrible). Please review!