There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And it's filled with people who are filled with shit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it.
But not for long...

They all deserve to die.
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why.
Because in all of the whole human race
Mrs. Lovett, there are two kinds of men and only two
There's the one staying put in his proper place
And the one with his foot in the other one's face
Look at me, Mrs Lovett, look at you.

No, we all deserve to die
Tell you why, Mrs. Lovett, tell you why.
Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief
For the rest of us death will be a relief
We all deserve to die.
-Epiphany from Sweeney Todd-

Chapter Five

"Don't lie to me you little bitch!"

Her mothers hand landed on her face with a resounding crack, Jamari stumbled backwards from the force. She could smell the whiskey on her mothers breath, how could she be angry with her. It really wasn't her fault, she wouldn't be doing this if she wasn't drunk, and she wouldn't be drunk if daddy wasn't sleeping around...

Jamari pulled her hand away from her face, blood trickled from the small cut her moms ring had left on her face...

"Holy shit!" Jamari jumped, awaken from her dream, the movement made a small scream escape from her mouth. It wasn't unusual for her to have nightmares about her mother, or her father for that matter.

She was only eight when that happened. Her mom asked her a question, she couldn't even remember what the question was, and she answered it honestly. But her mom didn't believe her, so she hit her. Which wasn't unusual, her parents had a habit of hitting her, she had gotten used to it.

When she met Camryn and Tobie their parents showed her what parents were supposed to be like. It made her realize that she'd grown up in a house full of abuse, and there was no way out. Except suicide, but she couldn't even do that right. That was a fact her mother constantly reminded her of. She couldn't run away, where would she go? She had no money, no job experience, and no way of hiding from her parents. They were a well known family in New York, if anyone saw her on the street, the cops would be there faster than she could blink.

So she continued suicide attempts, hoping maybe, someone would notice and investigate the family. She couldn't go to the police, they would never believe her, even if they did, her parents money would keep them quiet. Soon, people did notice, but not the people she wanted, her high school was full of rumors about her. She could handle it at first, just little comments intended to make her feel like a mental case. But when she opened her locker and razor blades fell out she dropped out.

Her grand-father died several weeks later, leaving her all of his billions. The best thing about it was that her parents couldn't get their greedy hands on it. It was all hers.

She now knew she could run, she told Tobie and Camryn of her plans, and they said they would go with her. They moved out to California and have been there ever since.

Her parents put filed a missing persons report, and the search was on. But no one thought to look on the other side of the country. They didn't want to tell the police that she had inherited his money, they wanted the public to think that the billions was going to them, so that they wouldn't get the wrong idea about their intentions for finding her.

But now she was 20, which meant, even if they found her, they couldn't make her go back. She was legally an adult now, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Jamari grew up in privilege, never wanted a single material thing, had chauffeurs, large houses, went to the best private schools, but she hated it all. So now, even with the large amount of money in the bank, she acts as if she's a struggling young high school drop out. She doesn't own a car, she doesn't wear designer clothes, and she doesn't act like she's better than everyone else.

She scooted to the edge of the bed and slowly stood up, here's hoping Josef had a big shower.

The bathroom was the kind you would expect in a house like this. Marble counters, large shower, bathtub big enough for six people.

She turned on the hot water in the shower and smiled. Baths weren't her thing, but she could spend hours in the shower. It was kind of rejuvenating for her. Made her forget what was going on outside, made her feel completely comfortable. It was weird, she knew that. But there was just something about a hot shower.

She unbuttoned the large shirt and stepped out of the boxers, the hot water felt good against her skin. She hadn't had a shower since the attack, her hair still had clumps of dried blood in it. The water going down the drain was tented red, she watched it with a slight morbid fascination. That was her blood in her hair.

How attractive.

Her body seemed to be sewn together everywhere, three large gashes were stitched up on her stomach, and one underneath her right breast.

"Damn..."

She turned off the water and grabbed for the towel hanging on the shower door. She stepped out onto the cool tile floor, trying her best not to slip. But, grace isn't one of Jamari's traits. She soon found her feet sliding out from under her. She landed on her butt with a loud thud.

"Fuck!"

Before she could move, the door busted open and Josef was standing there. He ran over and started looking her over.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "My ass hurts."

He smiled. "I figured that much."

She started to attempt to stand but couldn't, the fall had reminded her how bad she was hurting.

"Would you just let me help you."

She sighed. "Even with help, I don't think I can stand up."

Josef put his hand under her back, then his other arm under her knees. He slowly stood up, bringing her with him.

"What the hell, put me down, I hate being carried."

"Well get over it." He said back flatly.

She struggled against him. "Seriously Josef, put me down."

"If you don't stop fighting I'm going to drop you on your ass and leave you."

She glared at him. "You wouldn't..."

He smirked, she felt his grip on her loosen, she immediately put her arms around his neck to keep from falling. He just laughed.

"Relax, I'm not going to drop you."

"It's kind of hard to relax, I'm being carried, in a towel, by someone I barely know."

"Trust me, you don't have anything that I haven't seen before." He placed her gently on the bed.

She smiled up at him. "Yea, but mine are special."

He laughed. "That's what every woman thinks..."

He gave her one last smiled before quickly walking towards the door.

Any anger he had towards her for lying was gone now, as soon as he saw her lying on the floor like that, his anger disappeared. Maybe once she wasn't hurting he could try to be angry again. But something told him, that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stay mad at her for long.