My eyes opened slowly, revealing the world again to me. I automatically clenched Mr Todd closer to me, knowing it was his body enveloping mine.

"Mr Todd," I said quickly. "Mr Todd, it's morning."

"That it is, Johanna."

I shook my head earnestly.

"No, you don't understand, Mr Todd."

"I understand perfectly. It's morning."

I wriggled free from him, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"That's what you said," he said tiredly. Angrily, I pushed a hand at his chest.

"You're not listening to me, Mr Todd!"

"Of course I am," he said more determinedly. I shook my head again, feeling almost dizzy because of it.

"You're not! You really are not!"

With a sigh, Mr Todd pulled me close towards him again, rocking me. I fussed for a split second before being pacified again. I had even forgotten why I had been so angry. In fact, I had forgotten being angry at all. I barely remembered waking. Quickly, I jumped to my feet.

"It's morning, Mr Todd!" He shook his head, confusing me slightly.

"Are you hungry, Johanna?"

I nodded vigorously.

"Mrs Lovett makes pies, doesn't she?"

"That she does."

"Then- can I have porridge?"

He raised an eyebrow lightly, making me giggle.

Mr Todd took me down to the pie house I found myself in suddenly last night. I could not help but feel uneasy. The moment I stepped into the parlour, I started to twitch and fidget.

"Cease your twitching, Johanna," Mr Todd said firmly yet quietly to me.

"It smells awfully in here," I muttered, looking about the room. I could almost see the vapours of the scent that surrounded me. I didn't like it one bit. Everything was covered in the wisps of scent. Everything had turned red.

I shrieked.

"Johanna, what is it?" Mr Todd asked alarmingly, turning and gripping my arms firmly.

"Can you not see it?" I asked vehemently. "It's everywhere, Mr Todd!"

"What is, Johanna?"

"You can not see it! How may you know it if you can not see it staining the walls, Mr Todd?" I peered at him, gasping. "It stains you too, Mr Todd!"

He shook his head violently.

"There is nothing around us, Johanna."

"There is! Can you not see it? It is everywhere here! Like smoke!"

I whispered the last word, afraid to even say it. Mr Todd stared at me for a moment, rubbing my arm as if to soothe me. I dared not be soothed. How could I trust that that only I could see?

"Johanna, there is nothing there. All of this is in your head."

"That's far too simple an explanation."

"What do you suppose the explanation is then?"

I paused, knowing well I should say what I thought.

"It is death," I said, over pronouncing the last word.

Mr Todd stared at me again, his face blank. It bemused me how he could stay so calm in the face of this news. Then again, it seemed a lot of things bewildered me nowadays. Yet this fact made me not only confused, but frightened. I grabbed the lapels of his jacket.

"Mr Todd, you do believe me, don't you? If you can not see it, then you must at least smell it!"

I was too busy sniffing the air myself to look at what he was doing. All I knew was that he was still watching me. His eyes still burnt into me. Without a single thought, I grabbed the nearest vase and raised it above my head.

"You're not listening to me!" I cried out, my face flushing. Quickly, Mr Todd grabbed my arm that held the vase. I struggled against him, but he was strong. Too strong. I dropped the vase, which he caught quite fast for the man I expected him to be. He released me, quietly taking the vase back to its place. I only stood there, trembling. The vapours still surrounded me, and seemed almost to move when Mr Todd did.

"I must get Mrs Lovett," he said after a few minute's silence.

I nodded, still shaking. It may have been only moments, or minutes, or hours since he left, but it felt like no time until he appeared again. Mrs Lovett by his side.

There was something in Mrs Lovett that made me uneasy, and yet I could not help but smile when I saw her again.

"Mrs Lovett!" I cried, jumping towards her and flinging my arms around her neck. She chuckled.

"'ello there, dear."

"Mrs Lovett, you know it's morning, don't you?" She blinked twice.

"Yes, love."

I smiled, nodding defiantly at Mr Todd.

"Mr Todd said you make pies, Mrs Lovett. Is it true?"

"Of course, love. Yeh want me to make yeh one?"

"No," I said, giggling. "Definitely not. I want porridge," I added, knowing very well how obvious it was. She smiled brightly at me.

"Yes, 'ow could I forget? Come on dear, we'll get yeh a bowl." She put a hand on my shoulder.

Then it hit me.

I looked down to my shoulder, seeing the vapours seeping from under her hand and onto my shoulder. I drew myself away from her, grabbing Mr Todd's coat.

"Mr Todd," I said warily, not leaving his side. "Mr Todd, she has it too."

"It's all in your head," he said firmly.

"No, Mr Todd, no. You can not see it, perhaps, but I can. It is on her too."

We both of us looked at Mrs Lovett, who stared back, her smile dropping slightly.

"Would yeh like me to leave, Mr T?" she asked quietly.

Mr Todd only nodded.

I watched her as she left the room, trembling more than I had done in the past day of my life that I remembered.

"Why does she frighten you?" Mr Todd asked me softly.

"She…she has death on her," I muttered, fiddling with my hair nervously. He pulled it lightly from my fingers and let it drop to my cheeks again.

"Little to none, I should think."

"You think wrong."

"I've never thought wrong in my life."

I looked pleadingly at him, but he did not listen. For a moment, I looked again at the door Mrs Lovett had just left through. The knowledge was still in my mind that death surrounded this woman, and I would not be persuaded near her again.