Illusions That Confine Us

Chapter Sixteen

He was such a bastard. A selfish, no-good, rotten bastard. But at the same time he was so misunderstood, so completely and utterly misunderstood…

Which made her wonder, as she stood on the threshold of the front door watching as her husband sat on his knees in the rain, why she was still worrying about him.

This all started about an hour or so after Mr. Todd had stalked out of the kitchen, when he came, bursting into the parlor while she was reading-

She was sitting, one leg swung over the other in the old armchair reading, Alfred purring contentedly on her lap as she turned the page of her book when Mr. Todd had suddenly appeared in the doorway.

Mrs. Lovett looked up, a concerned look spreading across her face as he continued to stare at her angrily.

"Mista T, what's wrong?" She asked nervously, putting her book down and placing Alfred gently on the floor so that she could sit up properly.

"Mista T?" She repeated, watching him as his fervent eyes scanned the room, "Mista T, what is it?"

Mrs. Lovett then got up and hastily made her way over to him, "Love? If you're hungry I could fix up some supper-"

He glared at her, the same murderous glint that she hadn't seen since the night of their escape. That same murderous glint that twinkled in his eyes whenever he had something devious plotting in his head.

His evil glare made her gasp, it was frightening to see him this way…

"My razors!" He suddenly barked, his eyes now continuing to scan the room.

"What-? Why do you-?" She stuttered, whimpering when he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her.

"Where are they?!" Sweeney exclaimed as he continued to shake her.

"I don't- I don't know… I didn't put them any-" Stammered Mrs. Lovett before getting interrupted once again.

"The backroom!" He exclaimed suddenly, releasing her and turning around to make his way back down the hall.

Mrs. Lovett didn't dare to follow him, she had no idea what was making him behave this way. Surely he hadn't been drinking, he didn't seem drunk or at the most tipsy. Not to mention, she had all the alcohol stored away in the kitchen somewhere for special occasions.

Thinking nothing more of it, and hoping that this behavior of his would wear off soon, she turned back around and headed back towards the chair. But her plans of sitting back down and reading the rest of this retched day away when she was suddenly pulled back by a strong arm grasping tightly around her waist and a very cold, and silver object being held against her neck.

"Mist- Mister Todd?" Mrs. Lovett asked nervously.

"I found them…" Mr. Todd sneered into her ear from behind, locking her in place.

"What are you do-"

"Shush!" He demanded, spinning her around and pushing her onto the settee.

She lay, leaning heavily against her elbows as he stared down at her, obviously enjoying her struggle.

"Mista T, what's gotten into ya?" She asked, attempting to sit up but was pushed back down abruptly.

"I said shush!" He barked again, moving over to loom over her on the settee.

He pushed her down completely, making it so that her whole body was lying on the settee, it was awkward and Mrs. Lovett fought the urge to ask him what in hell he was doing. And before she could realize it, Sweeney Todd was straddling her hips.

"What in gods sake do ya think you're doing?!" She exclaimed, squirming uncomfortably beneath him, "Bleedin' 'ell! You're squishin' me!"

"Shut up!" He demanded suddenly, pressing the razor against her throat again so that she had to keep her head down.

Reluctantly, she kept quiet, almost slapping herself when she realized that she was finding much arousal out of this.

"I have come to a conclusion Mrs. Lovett…" He spoke calmly as his razor caressed the soft skin of her neck gently.

She opened her mouth to respond but was silenced when he lifted his razor up to press up against her jaw.

"You don't have to worry about dying alone… My pet…" He continued, dragging the razor under her jaw and down her throat to land on her heaving chest, allowing his precious friend to take advantage of her rather vulnerable state.

She let out another nervous whimper when the razor pierced through her pale flesh. "Now don't be frightened, love, it will only hurt for a moment… That is unless you corporate."

Mrs. Lovett was panting now, panting so hard that she swore her heavy breaths were causing the razor to cut her even more.

"That's right, don't speak…" He purred deviously, lifting his razor-free hand to run his finger down her cheek and around her neck. "This way we will both be happy. I will die and be free from this repulsive and meaningless world- And you will die, not alone, but with me by your side."

Mrs. Lovett's eyes widened at his words, finally realizing what he meant and what this was all about. She lied there beneath him for a moment, her breathing becoming more and more rapid as her urge to slap him out of this irrational state of mind of his grew along with it.

It took all of the strength that she had to sit up and push him off of her. He fell backwards as the razor was knocked out of his hand and across the room.

Mrs. Lovett got up and didn't even bother to stop and think about what just happened and ran. Ran out of the parlor and outside where the sky was forming a light sprinkle.

She stood with her hand on her chest, attempting to catch her breath and sort out her thoughts, when an obvious question popped once again into her mind-

What has gotten into him?

Her thoughts were interrupted, for probably the billionth time in the last twenty minutes, when he appeared outside, his eyes narrowed and focused clearly on her as he clicked his razor back open.

"Nothing to fear my love…" He said calmly, advancing his way toward her.

She backed away until she tripped as a result of being distracted by the menacing look he was giving her as he continued to move nearer to her. It was raining harder now.

She almost fell in a puddle of mud until Mr. Todd seized her by the wrists and pulled her close to him just enough to whisper in her ear. "No sense in running away… It's going to happen whether you like it or not."

Mrs. Lovett couldn't help but grimace at the irony in his words.

"Stop doing this." She choked out, rain streaming down her chest, her cuts bleeding more.

"I have to…" He replied back, his stare looking less dangerous now.

"No." She said firmly, trying to talk some sense into him as she shook her head, "You don't."

He looked so broken and shut down now, but his grasp on her wrists was still as tight as ever.

"Mista T, I know why you're doing this."

"You don't!" He yelled suddenly, causing her to jump, "You don't know why!"

"I do," She said back, "I know that there's something… You know it."

Mr. Todd pulled a bit away from her, still holding on tightly to her wrists but she moved closer to him and rested her chin on his shoulder to whisper to him, "You don't have to kill me, you don't have to kill yourself, you don't have to run away-"

He was silent for a while, as if really thinking about what she said until he let go of her wrists and sank to his knees in the rain.

"If I don't do either of those things, Mrs. Lovett, I won't know myself anymore." He spoke quietly, staring at the soggy ground.

"Come on inside now, dear." She insisted, before he spoke up again.

"Who am I?" He questioned, lifting up the razor in his hand to look at his reflection. "I am monster… A demon..."

He turned the razor when he caught sight of Mrs. Lovett's blurry reflection as the rain continued to pelt the blade of his silver friend and frowned once more. "Leave me." He said and when she didn't move he shouted, "LEAVE ME!"

She obliged, turning and walking up to the porch where she stood, watching him from the threshold of the front door.

She should have left him there, sitting so helplessly in the rain. She could have risked him catching a chill or something worse. She could have left him to his grief… His hopeless and confusing grief. But for some strange reason, she wasn't mad at him for attempting to kill her. She was mad at herself for driving him into that conclusion.

Sighing she moved back out into the rain and stood beside him as he sulked on the ground. "Let's go," She spoke calmly, putting his arm around her neck and assisting him to the door. "Come on."

When they got back inside, Mrs. Lovett sat him down in the kitchen.

She left the room for a few seconds before coming back carrying an old quilt from the parlor.

"Here we are dear." She said, wrapping the blanket the blanket around him, "Nice and snug, eh?"

Mrs. Lovett smiled politely although Mr. Todd made no effort to move, blinking once every few seconds.

After finishing their tea, he spoke in a hushed tone as sorrow painted every feature of his face, "What have I to live for?"

Mrs. Lovett, who was wearing her shawl to keep warm, looked over at him sympathetically, "Now, now, Mista T. There's no sense in talkin' like that."

"No." He said firmly, "I was only good for revenge. I have no purpose anymore."

He blinked as a few raindrops rolled from his hair and over his eyes as he stared gloomily into his teacup, which was held securely in his hands.

"Oh darling… That's not true. You have a beautiful daughter that would still probably be trapped with that good-for-nothing judge if it wasn't for you." She said soothingly.

When he did nothing but continue to sit and stare into his cup, Mrs. Lovett cleared her throat and nervously said, "'Sides, you have a wife that loves you."

He glanced up at her for a second, meeting her coldly with his dark eyes and his mouth opened to speak, "I had a wife that loved me, and she's gone. You mean nothing to me."

Words couldn't even begin to explain the number of emotions that she felt from is incredibly harsh words.

"Very well then." She responded coolly, getting up and leaving him to sit alone in the kitchen, "I don't even know why I care anymore." She muttered as she made her way down the hall to her bedroom.

She didn't need him, after all, there was always her cat, Alfred. Who was now lying spread-eagle on her bed, looking up at her with his brilliant yellow eyes. It was a comfort to know that as long as Alfred was there, she would never be alone.

It's a shame that cats only have nine lives.

There we go!

Are you happy now? You impatient woman you? XDDD

Tahahaa, dedicated to Melissa (Neon Blaqk) cause she is so darn special.

Sppttt... If there were any errors, blame her because she forced me to type this!

& A special thank you to Aimee in Whaleland for the simply amazing trailer that she made for this story.

I seriously suggest that you watch it. The link for it is on my profile, but if you prefer just go to youtube and search 'Illusions That Confine Us' it is pretty obvious which video it is.

Thanks again, Aimee!

Until next time, my pets(;