Tales Of Another Beating Heart

29. Revelation in the Early Hours

"Ooh Mr T!" Nellie cried, flailing her thin pale arms around. "That punch - 'as made me a bit m-mmmmmerrr... "

"Merry, my pet?"

She giggled, flopping herself drunkenly onto him, catching his cold cheek lazily with her wet tongue. He jumped as a consequence then smirked, allowing her to lean on him for a standing support.

She hummed as she placed her arm around his shoulders to hold herself upright, and he smiled as she started to topple slightly. She snorted, smiling like a naughty school girl as she squinted up at him.

"Oh my god! Ya face is so beautiful... Swee-NEY!"

"Sh! Sh! Don't shout, Nell. It's already past midnight. You might wake someone."

"Oh fuck off!" she cried gleefully, hitting his arm playfully as she tugged away from him to spin around with her arms outstretched.

She began to shout joyously in between fits of giggles, and she spun around manically.

"I'm the invis'ble MUFFIN FAIRY!"

"Sh! Quiet. We can talk but not loudly damn it! Now, come here." he whispered, holding out a steady hand towards her. She frowned at him, yet took it none the less.

"Now, if you're 'invisible' Nell, 'ow is it that I can see you? Hm?" he asked, propping her head up with his thumb in order to rest it on his collarbone. She opened her eyes a little wider, studying his glowing snow white face from the gas lit street. The glow made him seem like an angel, and when his dark brown eyes met hers, in challenge, she couldn't help smiling at how strange she felt at that moment; she felt like his only world under that suggestive glance he was giving her.

"Dunnooo. Per-HAPS it izz... it izz? It izz be-because... only badger-haired leprechauns can see meeeeeeeee!"

"Oh dear." Sweeney muttered, snaking a protective arm around her waist. "Y'really are sozzled aren't you?"

"Aren't we 'ooome yet?!" she said tiredly, looking up at him through drooping eyes.

"Almost." he replied huskily, fingers drumming her slight bump of a stomach. "Why? Are y'tired? Are y'cold?!"

"Mm, no." she murmured, eyelashes fluttering as her soft mouth brushed over his collar's skin, teasing him already. "I jus' wanna... go t'bed."

He chuckled, guiding her body away from a nasty looking wrong turn - it was an unlit alleyway, mainly full of rats and cats and other creatures of the night from what he could see. She clumsily fell back into the crook of his neck as he kindly, patiently led her away.

"So," he continued, still wearing an amused emotion. "you do want to go to sleep then?"

"Noo! I mean, I want you t'come in the bed wiv mee!"

"Oh? I see. And then we'll go to sleep, will we not?"

"No! Before that comes... "

She stopped jerkily, causing him to frown. She stood up on the ends of her little toes so that her mouth reached his earlobe.

"... seeeex!"

He opened his mouth slightly, trying very hard not to laugh.

She tittered, as if she was a child, cheeky and mischievous again. Her head then returned back into the crook of his neck, where she smiled when his genuinely amused chuckle vibrated the side of her delicate skull.

After incessant giggles (from Nellie), suggestive remarks and entertained eyebrow raising (from Sweeney), they had finally arrived back home.

They trundled up their now familiar gravel driveway, slowly obviously, seeing as one of them one extremely intoxicated and therefore uncoordinated.

"Yay! HOOOMMME!"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

She frowned and took her head away from him, squinting up at him again, the moonlight was far too strong for her liking.

"Why?!"

They came to a stop by the front porch, where the lanterns were lit and doing a tremendous job for seeing things. Sweeney ignored his scoffing wife as he fumbled for his key. Where was it? He couldn't find the damn thing now he was in need of it!

Left pocket... No.

Right pocket... No.

"Sweeeeeeeen's... " she moaned, flinging herself in front of him, hooking her slender arms around his neck, craving his attention. Her eyes drooped again when she inhaled his scent sharply, her lips skin trailing down his jaw line.

He ignored her.

Where was that bloody KEY?!

Right jacket pocket... No.

'Hm, fourth time lucky...'

Left jacket pocket—

Nellie groaned in frustration.

She tugged him down to her level and caressed his mouth with a hard, greedy kiss, her cheeky tongue slipping in. He took his hand from his pocket immediately, closing his eyes from the effect she was having on him. His hand joined the other, where it tangled and knotted in her wondrous fiery coloured curls.

They both moaned and hummed to each other, until Sweeney could no longer take the temptation any more. He tore away and threw an out of breath Nellie at the front door—

She hit it with a slam, and he attacked her mouth with ferocious, steamy kisses, with some sort of animalistic energy to do so. She gave up fighting his strong lips and just let him do as he wished. She liked him when he was like that... on a lone mission, for only one thing.

She tugged him closer as his kissing led around her jaw, and along her neckline, he had quite literally hypnotized her. It was like she'd never seen him like this before, but clearly she had.

It felt so new.

But perhaps that was because she was intoxicated?

By drink.

And by him.

Heat was pulsating through her, her blood was racing, her heart and brain were in overdrive.

And then his lips left her.

He took a hand away from her to dig in his coat's pocket, fishing out the key to hold it right before her eye line.

"Unlock the door." he whispered, smirking. "Then, maybe y'could give me another present?"

She giggled and nodded, shooing his hands off her.

She spun around and unlocked the door, pushing his impatient fingers from her waist. He frowned and pouted childishly, crossing over his arms, opening his mouth to say something—

"Ow! Too bloody heavy!" a faint voice called; clearly the volume had faded due to the fact that whoever it was, was too far away to be actually fully heard.

Nellie hadn't heard it, seeing as she'd continued on entering the household.

But Sweeney had and he'd turned, expecting to see something, or someone.

"Comin' upstairs?!" she called, already heading for the staircase.

"Uhm, yes. But you get ready, pet. I jus'... need to do somethin' first. Smells odd in there."

"I know, like... treacle or somethin'." she replied, frowning. "Don't be long dear. I'll be waitin'."

He smirked and nodded, taking the key from the door.

"I promise I won't be longer than twenty minutes."


Violet dragged the body along the sand, cursing and damning the dead Andy inside the wrapped blankets and bed sheets. She pinched some belts from Sweeney's clothes stash in the master bedroom in order to bind the blankets and sheets around the corpse, and strangely, it was rather good at staying put.

The man was still rather heavy to drag though, his head was the only thing she hadn't been able to wrap up. His nose stuck out annoyingly - it was difficult to cover up - so it kept bashing against the ground, against rocks and seaweed, or anything else that Violet happened to miss seeing along the way.

She started to gain velocity as she began to slip down a clumpy sand dune, the bound corpse gaining speed too. When she reached the top, she began to fall due to her lack of coordination and the weight of the dead human... sand skittered and scattered under her feet as she skidded down the dune, her balance not helping at all.

"Ow!" she shouted, feeling a shell, or something else sharp dig into her calf muscle. The body suddenly appeared in front of her, sliding down the hill of sand to aim for where she was at the base of the mound.

The body struck her side hard before she could register what was happening, and she cried out in pain.

"Too bloody heavy!"

She struggled to stand, but managed to push the body off her, coughing as sand blew into her face. She heard something like footsteps whenever she actually had gotten herself up, and she frantically started to tug the body away from the sand dune.

She pulled and pulled, hoping she could reach the water in time.

"Violet?! What are you... doing?!"

She gasped and dropped the man, covering her mouth with her hands.

Caught.

"Mr T-Todd? I - uh - I... bleedin' 'ell! I can explain!" she pleaded, eyes wide with fear as he advanced towards her, stern expression on his face.

"Can you?"

"Y-Yes! I-I found 'i-'im in me room... burnt to a... "

"Tell me later. Now, I can see your 'avin a bit of trouble shiftin' that lump. Do you need me to help, or what?!"

She raised her brows and let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah." she croaked tiredly. "If it's not too much trouble, Sir. Your 'elp would be much appreciated."

He sighed and nodded, rolling up his sleeves as he crouched down to grab hold of dead Andy's shoulders. He ignored how ugly and unrecognisable the man's face was, he'd seen enough horrific corpses in his time, so it didn't really shock him.

Violet smiled in gratitude at her cousin's husband and lifted the feet, hoisting the body up after the count of three from the ex-barber.

She walked backwards slowly, feeling the sand beneath her boots change to a soggy, damp texture. This indicated that they were getting closer to the sea... which was a god damned relief.

"We can't dump 'im in the shallows." Sweeney pointed out, Violet just noticing how ghost-like his skin was in the cyan moonlight. "One of us'll 'ave to swim out to the deeper drop in the sea. 'S more likely 'e'll be swept off then."

She nodded and paused when she felt the edge of a fresh wave lapping up the back of her ankles.

"I'll go out. 'S not like it's rough out there." she said quietly, smiling. He nodded and counted to three again - the body was carelessly dropped onto the sopping sand, where waves already overlapped its feet.

"Y'sure?" he asked, wincing as the cool air from the sea blew into his pale face.

"Positive. Don't want y'ruinin' your new suit, do we?"

He shrugged and smirked.

She sighed and crouched down, grabbing a tight hold of Andy's shoulders -

"Ay! Wait a minute!" Sweeney exclaimed, realisation sinking in. "They're my belts!"

Before he could protest further she started to pull the corpse into the shallows, splashing water as she went.

"Violet?!"

She paused and looked at Sweeney, but he was just stood by the shore and looked alarmed. She'd been ratted again...

Thorn was racing down the sand dune, running at a fast pace to tackle down Sweeney. The sand fortunately slowed the boy down and he skidded over the sand, allowing Sweeney to shuffle out of the way before Thorn clumsily attacked him.

"What the hell is going on?!" Thorn shouted, eyeing the bobbing body in Violet's hands. "Violet? What the hell are you doing? What is that?" – he turned to Sweeney —"Who is this? What... "

"That's Sweeney Todd! And... it's Mr Haraway' corpse! Okay? It's Mr Haraway's!" she snapped back aggressively, walking into the shallows further, dragging the body behind her. "So it doesn't matter, does it?!"

Thorn set his jaw and frowned at Sweeney.

Sweeney gawped at Violet in disbelief.

"Did you just say Mr Haraway?" he gasped, glaring at the body.

Thorn scowled and shoved Sweeney hard, narrowing his eyes. "Talk to me. She's busy."

Sweeney frowned in confusion, eyeing the boy's balled fists. "Mr Haraway?" he whispered, looking at the boy emptily. "Was - did he - did he have a sister?"

Thorn nodded, glaring at him.

"Yes. Why? Why is this factor so important to you? His sister was a bitch that no one liked. Apart from her own god damn family of course. They treated us pickpockets like... dirt."

"You are a pickpocket, boy?"

"I used to be. With Violet, when we were younger. We both hated the Haraways' guts. Shame that his sister hasn't gone with him."

Sweeney smirked, turning away from the boy to watch the scientist's progress. She'd reached the deeper water now, and was now undoing the belts that had bound the body in a frantic manner, whilst treading over the water.

"Boy, what is your name?" Sweeney asked, eyeing the thrashing pool Violet was making.

"My name is Thorn, Mr Todd."

"Thorn? You 'ave no last name?"

"No Sir. I do not."

"Very well then, Thorn. I have some delightfully good news for you."

"Yes Sir?"

"Amy Haraway is dead. Death by razor. Poor thing."

He smiled, laughing.

"And how would you know that, Mr Todd?" Thorn wondered, sceptically.

"Because I killed her."

"Done it!" Violet shouted, waving her arms up happily. "The bloody bugger's gone f'good now!"

Sweeney smirked and nodded, motioning for her to come out of the water.

Thorn laughed, slapping Sweeney's back in a 'pal' sort of way.

"Well done, Mr Todd!" he said, grinning wildly. "I believe we could be friends, after all, we hate the same people, do we not?"

"No, we couldn't possibly be friends Thorn."

"Why?"

"Because you can't possibly hate yourself, can you?"

Thorn stopped smiling and swallowed. The silence was solid and frozen between them, too awkward for the boy's liking. Before the boy spoke up, Violet merged from the water, completely soaked yet smiling nonetheless.

"Gone!" she cried quietly, giggling. "Gone! Gone! Gone!"

"We'd better go." Sweeney said, his reasoning voice catching the teenagers' attention. "Before the law find us conversing mysteriously down here in the early hours, I'm sure we'd be reported if someone saw us."

Thorn nodded. "Yes, we must flee. But first, I still wish to ask you something Violet. I didn't quite get the chance to ask you - "

"Well," Sweeney butted in sharply, obviously very uninterested in the youngsters and their social life. "Nellie will be expectin' me back. See you later Violet. Don't let anyone else see you."

Violet nodded and smiled, turning to her young companion. "I won't. Until later then?"

He nodded and started to abruptly walk away, never once casting a glance back. He still pondered on the fact that Amy and Andy were siblings. It seemed obvious the more he thought about it.

He pushed all worries and thoughts on them away when the house came into view. It was so comforting and reminded him of the image of Nellie lying on the bed, in wait, for him.

He smiled.

Yes. She always waits.

For him.