A/N: Thanks once more for all of the inspiring reviews! Onto the chapter :)

Chapter Six

"Silence."

It was the first word that escaped Sweeney Todd as he stared, exhausted, at Turpin's mangled body in the crimson study. Todd felt a powerful wave of relaxation wash over him and he let out a long, contented sigh. Tilting his head back, the bloody killer closed his eyes, savoring this new sensation. Silence.

It had been almost a year, Sweeney mused, a year since Mrs. Lovett told him of Lucy and Johanna, of Turpin. It seemed that, ever since that hushed moment in her parlor when she spoke of rape and suicide, his being had been plagued with noise. When he stood in his shop, gazing upon the bustling London, Todd heard his razors whisper to him, persuading him, cooing him, pushing him. When the streets were empty and chilled, and Sweeney took these late hours to walk alone and get a bit of fresh air- his friends, his shining, glorious friends would still insist for that silky feeling of slicing into flesh. Like the dull humming of your mind when you're at a loss of words, his polished razors would pulsate, making him feel almost vulnerable under their power.

Or, more frequently, when Sweeney felt as if he would finally get a wink of sleep on the thin, lumpy mattress placed in his attic, he would hear screams from Lucy, moans and wails from his cherished, rotting wife.

"How could you?" she would yell, her voice ringing clearly as if she were there at his bed side, "You should of fought your way out of that prison, you would of been able to if you truly loved me!"

"I tried," he would mumble, shaken, grasping the sheets of his bed, "I tried countless times before I finally got out, darling, it wasn't easy! All I wanted was to come home to you and my daughter, nothing more, nothing more."

"Benjamin would have saved me. He would have come home to me. He would have been there to see Johanna grow."

Lucy's voice had rang even louder in his ears, the words hurting him greatly. "I am Benjamin," he would plead, "Lucy, I love you--"

"Benjamin is dead. My Benjamin is dead, and you killed him!"

His eyes would shoot open, expecting his Lucy to be standing in front of him, her bright hazel eyes shining with tears. He was greeted with nothing, only the shadow of his barber's chair in the soft candle light. And Sweeney would find himself struggling to admit that he wished someone was there with him, to comfort him. Even Mrs. Lovett.

But now, as Sweeney chuckled freely before the Judge's dead body, he felt whole again. The weight on his shoulders was lifted and he felt a new energy swirl within him. He opened his eyes slowly and shifted his gaze to the window. Walking calmly to it, he was greeted by dozens of eyes staring up at him. The silence was broken.

"There he is! Look!"

"Up there, in the window now!"

"It's that barber fellow, good heavens!"

Just now taking notice of the sizable crowd pointing and shouting at him, Sweeney glanced down at Turpin's body once more before smiling slightly at the crowd. With that, he turned on his heel and left the room with a few brisk strides, whistling lowly. Still grasping the razor in his hand, Todd quickly descended the winding stairs and took a sharp turn around the corner, searching for the back of the house. There was an entrance, he remembered, to the back streets from behind most of the buildings on this street. Todd placed his friend gingerly into it's holster and continued looking.

Not a moment later did he hear someone swing the front door open, voices traveling their way into the spacious house. Cursing, Sweeney dodged into what seemed to be a kitchen, opened yet another door, and made his way into a lavish drawing room. If he wasn't running from officials, Sweeney would of, perhaps, taken a moment to gaze at the intricate fireplace that was trimmed with gold, or sneak a glance at the Judge's large collection of fine cigars. Mr. Todd was always thinking of the possibilities, even when being hunted for murder.

The voices grew louder and Sweeney's nostrils flared, his eyes darting to a large black door in the back of the drawing room. He ran to it and grabbed the doorknob. The door was locked but he gladly noticed how cold it was compared to all of the previous ones. This door led outside. He spun, scrambled to the room's entrance, and shut it. Not seeing a lock on this door, he grabbed a large chair and shoved it in front of the entrance so the constabulary wouldn't be able to get inside.

Todd, making sure his razor was secure inside his belt's bindings, walked to the black door again and quickly studied the design of the bolts and hinges. Having been locked away for so long, Sweeney was aware of how hinges and door knobs were constructed. It was all he could do, those years ago, to study what was around him. A light smirk played on his lips and he backed up a few steps.

There was a sudden bang at the room's entrance and Todd heard the voices grow louder, now being able to make out their shouting: "RUNNING ONLY MAKES YOU MORE GUILTY, TODD. BE A MAN." The voice was gruff and low and he would of normally shot a glare in his general direction, but Todd was too satisfied with his skill of escaping.

Only a brief moment later did Todd swiftly lift his leg and kick the black door square in the middle, knocking it loudly to the ground. After identifying which direction the door would open, he also recognized the design of the hinges were old and loose, making them easier to pull from the wall. Thanks to this bit of knowledge and physical strength, Sweeney bolted out of the door and into the alley ways the moment the officials burst into the room.

Sweeney Todd ran. He ran swiftly and with ease, feeling his legs regain an earlier flexibility. With a sunken, pale face and a lean frame, Todd didn't look healthy. But in truth, he was probably more physically fit than any other man in London. To survive in the prisons of Australia, one was required to be fit. He felt a foreign warmth fill his body as he ran, dodging carefully around corners and other things. The commands of the yelling men were soon drowned out by the pace of his breathing, the leap in his step, the flicker in his eye. He forgot how running made him feel so alive.

Wiping some dried blood from his eyes, Sweeney neared the pie shoppe, coming from behind. Looking over his shoulder one last time, he figured that he lost the police, but only shortly. They knew where he resided and the officials would be quick to check their first. His heart raced from the adrenaline pumping throughout his body, sweat forming on his back and forehead despite the cold weather.

"BENNY!"

Now, only a few shops from his tonsorial parlor, the shriek of a voice broke his steady thoughts. Glancing to his left, he saw a ragged figure rushing wildly toward him, her arms flailing about.

Sweeney gritted his teeth, looking more like the madman than ever: he was almost entirely soaked from the waist up with blood, along with some dried in his black, wavy, mess of a hair style. The sleeve of his shirt was ripped, having snagged on a fence post when running, and his eyes were more vindictive than jealous love.

He growled, feeling deliciously poignant, and charged at the ragged figure. He would take down these bloody law enforcers one by one if he had to, and the Good Lord knew that he could. Grasping his silver accomplice, Todd's right arm pulsated. Not with revenge, however. An unfamiliar, yet equally satisfying feeling that he couldn't place. Victory, perhaps?

The hunched figure stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening. A swirl of confusion and shock seemed to have hit her with a strong force and she blinked vigorously. "You! You're helping the devil woman!" she screeched in the highest of voices, jumping a little. She gasped loudly, stumbling backward. "Covered in blood, too! Dear me, dear me, the devil is approaching!" Quickly turning, she began to run in the opposite direction, flailing about as she had been moments earlier. "Somebody! Somebody over here!"

The beggar was grabbed roughly from the back of her dirty shawl and pulled backward. A glint of silver, a sharp intake of painful breath. Then it was over.

Mrs. Lovett did all she could not to fall over from shock as she stared at the scene from her bedroom window. With wide eyes Nellie stared, her jaw hanging open slightly, not really sure how to react. Her fear had escalated to an extreme when Lucy had dashed to her husband, and she fought over the idea of climbing out the window to rush after her. It was when she was attempting to lift her aching leg over the pane when she heard Lucy's screams abruptly stop and take a completely different direction.

Nellie's head had shot up only to see Sweeney swipe a razor cleanly across his wife's throat. She felt suddenly very heavy and the baker leaned on the pane for support now. Part of her wanted to jump with a glorified triumph, but Nellie also felt the largest knife of guilt stab through her heart. She now knew the troubles Lucy Barker had suffered, the pains she endured. All Lucy wanted, Nellie knew, was to remember and feel joyous again. And the beggar woman had, only to loose her grasp of reality the moment it was inches away from her.

How horrible, Nellie felt, not knowing what else to do but to put herself in Lucy's tattered shoes.

The pale landlady didn't have much time to ponder these emotions, sadly, as both Toby and Sweeney called for her in unison. Toby was approaching her from behind, having burst into her bedroom.

"Mum, Mr. Todd is a bad man!" It was the only thing Toby could let out, for he met the gaze of the bad man himself. Glaring harshly, Toby flung himself in front of Mrs. Lovett, holding out his arms as if to shield her, even though Sweeney was out the window. "STAY AWAY FROM US. I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TAKE A STEP CLOSER," he shouted ferociously, intense for such a young boy.

Sweeney Todd, on the other hand, was giving Mrs. Lovett one of the only smiles she had ever seen grace his features. He seemed strangely calm and he neared the window, ignoring the threats of Toby. "Mrs. Lovett," he shouted over him in his husky growl of a voice, "We're leaving in two minutes. Meet me by Johanna's tree." With that, he was gone.

The rest was a blur to Mrs. Lovett. Taking Toby firmly by the shoulders, Nellie shushed him, hugged him, whispered to him.

"You said you'd do anything for me, Toby, dear?" she asked him quickly yet her voice was steadied with a keen gentleness.

Toby hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Yes, ma'am, anything, but-"

"Then forget any bad thoughts you have of Mr. T, can you do that? Just do as he says for now."

Toby shook his head, opening his mouth to protest. "But, Mum he kill-"

Mrs. Lovett quickly kneeled beside him, cupping his face in her hands. Her voice dropped to a low whisper. "Toby. Please. Promise me." Her brown eyes were shining with such concern, more worry than Toby had ever seen.

He let out a small, defeated breath. "Alrigh', mum. I promise."

Nellie gave him a tight smile and now gave him a stern look. "Now, go to the parlor, and fetch the bag underneath the organ." She stood, pushing him a little. "Quickly now, grab your coat, too, and meet me back 'ere. We don't 'ave much time." Toby then rushed promptly from the room, leaving Mrs. Lovett alone.

She quickly changed out of her robe, despite her open window, and dawned an older black dress, not caring to fetch a corset. Nellie then pulled a dark coat from her closet and pulled it on, her chest heaving at her quick moments. Her legs and arms ached as she moved about the room, snatching a few small items from her dresser and shoving them anxiously into her pockets. Not a moment later did Toby return, a large brown sack slung over his shoulder, wearing his brown jacket, a hat shoved crookedly onto his head.

Toby ran to her, grasping her hand. "They're 'ere at your door," he explained, pulling her to wards the open window. "I know we're runnin' from 'em, so we have to go now."

Nellie Lovett nodded and they both climbed out of the window. Running in the shadows of the back streets, Nellie held Toby's hand tightly, never having been so glad to have such a smart lad for a son.

A/N: I'm shaking, I'm so happy. This all shot out of my head about 40 minutes ago, I was so glad I finally thought of something. I have so many ideas now. :) I do hope you all review, telling me what you think! Oh, and also, maybe vote on my Sweeney poll that's on my profile? Hehe. Oh, my friend Stephanie says hi. :)