Hello readers!
I apologize for making you all wait so long for me to return. When I finally did, I realized I needed to go back through all of my notes and research in order to make sure everything was still accurate and flowed smoothly.
I hope you enjoy, and please review. Another Haining footnote has been added to this chapter.

"The World into which Sweeney was born has rightly been described as 'the beginning of a Dark Age in which there was a progressive degradation of the standards of life under the blight of growing industrialization." (1)

July 28th, 1745

Regret.

This was the exact thought that entered the young woman's head as her hands clutched the sheets of the bed. Barely 20 yet, she was about to give birth to her first and only child. It had been a tough pregnancy so far, but the worst was yet to come.

Tears and sweat mixed as one as they streamed down her face, revealing frightened features. She had known of many who had died during childbirth, and although her life was quite pitiful, this was not the way she wanted to go.

Another scream escaped her lips followed by a whimper. Her body shook, and the one midwife the couple was able to afford placed a damp washcloth on the soon to be mothers forehead, trying to calm both of their nerves.

Mr. Todd watched the scene with a look of impartialness, a bottle of gin in his hand. Another sip went down his throat as he watched his wife writhe in agony, a wish in his mind that it would just end already. Not exactly because she was in pain, but because the whole situation was disturbing their very close neighbors of the slums.

One more scream and one more push finally led to a relief. A baby boy had been delivered, and the mother, although still obviously suffering, cooed over her son. She knew that times were about to get even harder.

But what she didn't know was that she had just given birth to London's future demon that would terrorize the streets for years to come.

Present

"Do you ever think about what would happen to us if they found out?" I asked softly, a small haunting thought at the back of my mind. Most of the time it was something I never considered, for I felt well protected and knew that if we had not been found out so far, we just wouldn't. Yet, I also knew our ways could not go on forever.

After a long day of work, I was finally met with a few moments of peacefulness. We had been lying here for half an hour now, my head on his chest and legs curled up. It was so nice to just relax, to hear his heartbeat and match his breath. I smiled and he ran his fingertips up and down my arm, and then rested his hand completely on my side.

He did not say anything for a few minutes, and stared off, hiding his thoughts with his expressionless face. Finally, he spoke. "I think you know exactly how it would end Love." His voice was quiet, thoughtful. "But no, that is not something I prefer to think about at all." We both frowned a little at these words before he continued. "Don't dwell on it too much. Think only on the present." In response to this he kissed my forehead, reminding me of where I was and who I was with. Don't dwell... I sighed, closing my eyes in an attempt to rid myself of the bad thoughts and concentrate only on the good.

Moments such as these were few, but they were what I lived for. It made all the bad in the world go away, and excused the times when he would violently reach out at me. No, none of that mattered. Not now, when I could truly be myself with him and rest against his warm body.

I stretched a little, positioning my chest up against his as well. He brushed the hair out of my face, and stroked my face with the back of his hand. His mood was extra rare today, and I immersed myself in it. This was the man that I loved. Although I was also attracted to his dark and powerful side, this caring, protective part of him was what made my heart flutter.

We lay in silence for several minutes, the time passing too quickly for my liking. I knew soon enough this moment would be over, and he would go back to his threatening mentality, and I would no longer be a person, but his 'play thing'.

"What all have I told you about my childhood?"

Then again... he continued to surprise me. I paused, not expecting this sudden change of topic.

"Not much." I spoke slow, curious as to what he was getting at. "I know that your parents died when you were pretty young."

He grunted, locking hands with mine. I noted the bruise and scrapes along the knuckles, curious as to what he had done. It was frustrating when I wasn't able to be around. "Yes, and it was no loss either. They both received what they deserved."

I sensed the anger in his voice, realizing what had happened. "You killed them." It was a statement and a question mixed into one, though I already knew the answer. As long as I had known him Sweeney had always seemed like a violent person; therefore, it did not come to a surprise to me that it started with his parents.

"Indeed." He murmured in response, his thumb caressing mine. "I hated my father. He would bring his work home, and then force my mother and I to do it. If we didn't..." He trailed off.

"He'd beat you." My voice was a whisper now.

Sweeney tensed at the memories flashing before him. "...yes."

"I know the feeling. Similar things happened to my mother and I with my father." I shuddered, afraid to be giving him too much of my past. "Sometimes I wish I could have done the same thing that you did with yours."

He laughed. "It seems as if we have more in common with each other than we realize."

I nodded as the silence resumed, wondering why Sweeney had decided to share this sort of information with me. We continued to lay there together, hands intertwined and thoughts drifting off into other places. A part of me was scared. Why? Although I loved him, a new thought began to dawn on me:

If Sweeney had no problem killing the ones who had birthed him, what did my future with him hold?

Isabel, the new apprentice I had hired, was doing quite well in taking over the work that I had assigned her. In just a week I knew the girl was set and I could further my business over at Todd's. And that's just what I had been doing.

After our morning together, I did a quick visit to my shop to check on how things were going. The shop was set to open in an hour, but I was happy to see that the morning routine was going smoothly.

Mr. Todd had also picked up a new apprentice while I had been away training Is. His name was Tobias, and it was an interesting experience to see a boy of his age scurry around Sweeney's shop, doing whatever was necessary. For I knew Sweeney hated children, and was not a patient person when it came to their lack of knowledge in things. I hoped the boy wouldn't get too abused. Either that, or I would surely be getting the blunt of his most likely increasing wrath in the time to come.

Now I was back at his shop, watching closely from around the corner of the doorway as Sweeney lathered up another customer's face. The man seemed to be pretty well off by the way he was dressed, and as he spoke he would nonchalantly throw money into the topic of conversation.

"Yes, I do have to say that the vermin running around the streets of the slums should just be put out of their misery. There is no room for them when you have people such as ourselves; ones of wealth I mean. Nor should..."

He kept babbling, and it was starting to get on my nerves. I quietly entered the room, going over to Sweeney's side to clean up his materials. If the trap door was about to be pressed, I didn't want anything in the way. Besides the fact that what he was talking about would hit Sweeney to the core; the man needed to watch his words or things were going to get messy. No doubt he was going to die, but just how was the question.

"...take this woman of yours for instance." I froze, not liking where the topic was going as he gestured towards me. "I am proud of you good sir for making her earn her keep. Both females and children need to be put to work and always obey, otherwise may the rebellion in them be beaten out of them."

Sweeney looked up at me from behind the chair, studying me carefully with his dark eyes. I returned the glance, urging him to please end this bastard. He had said enough in my opinion. I was thinking slightly hypocritical thoughts, realizing that what he was talking about was something Sweeney did to me often. I had received the blow of Sweeney's hand across my face many times, but there was something about this man that angered me... as if he did it because he could, not for any logical reason.

"Tell me," Sweeney began, clearing his throat before going back to slowly shaving the scruff off of the man's face. "Is this something you practice yourself? Obedience by authority, I mean."

"Absolutely." He answered almost immediately. "I have taken to beating many woman and children in order to show them whose superior."

"I see." Sweeney's voice was a whisper as he looked back up towards me, shifting his body to behind the chair. His eye's said it all-have at him, you need this release. Show me what I have taught you. "Did you know..."he continued, still making eye contact with me. "That I myself was raised as nothing more than a 'vermin roaming the streets of the slums?"

The man tensed, realizing the former words that had escaped his lips. "I'm...I'm sorry! Please excuse me, I meant no harm..." Now he tried to fix what had been said, but it was too late.

I walked slowly over as Sweeney continued to shave the man's face, but with a sinister glint in his eyes as he made contact with hand reached for one of the razors off of the vanity. The feeling of the cold metal brushed against my palm as I strolled towards them.

"No need to apologize, sir." Mr. Todd's voice mocked the prey, a sinister growl behind the words.

With one quick moment Sweeney's hands grasped around the victims mouth and neck, putting the man in a headlock as he slammed his body back down into the chair. I smiled as I swiftly moved to the man's side, placing the razor on his throat just below the demon barber's grasp. The man writhed at first, then froze in terror as he felt the blade against him. His eyes stared back in to mine, and I relished in the fear of them.

"Vile things like you are the reason why I hate mankind." Sweeney's voice was soft and raspy, but clear to both me and the victim as he whispered into the man's ear. His eyes once again met mine, urging me to continue. I lightly scraped up the man's neck, the sound of the metal brushing against his skin ringing in my ears. I will admit that I enjoyed the moment when I accidentally nicked his skin, causing a bit of blow to flow.

I know, I'm cruel, and I was taking my time, but this man needed a lesson taught to him before I ended his pitiful life. "Whose superior now?" I hissed, beginning to drag the blade across his throat in a leisurely matter. He started to struggle again, attempting to thrash about in order to save himself.
But it was too late for him.

Blood flowed from the gash, and as he drowned in his own liquid, his eyes rolled back into his head. I pulled back, satisfied with myself and the situation. Sweeney did the same, releasing the corpse from his hold. And then something happened to me that I had never experienced before after killing.

I felt ill.

The blood, the corpse, the smell... It all filled my senses and I started to gag. I felt woozy and the room began to spin. I had to get out of this room. Now.

"Nellie.." I heard Sweeney start to say, but I did not have the will or strength to let him finish. The blade fell from my fingers and I hurried to the latrine, afraid that something was horribly wrong with me.

Everything had been going fine as usual; he was actually pretty proud of his pet. She enjoyed what she did, especially when it involved some jerk who abused woman and children. Sure, it was an everyday occurrence, especially in London. But that didn't mean it was exactly something that Sweeney agreed with. Yes, there was discipline, but there was also a fine line between discipline and downright cruelty. He had experienced both.

It was a strange thing to witness her suddenly weakened: she was always such a strong creature. But as soon as she pulled back he knew something was wrong. There was something in her eyes, an emotion that only he was able to give her.

Fear.

But what was it? Her name escaped his lips, starting to form a question, but instead she fled from the room. He followed behind, dropping the body down into the depths before departing the room. It would be taken care of later.

He found her shortly after, a nauseated lump on the floor as she attempted to pull back the hair from her face. His body leaned against the door frame, unsure of what to do as he witnessed her body shake. She let out an uneven breath, slowly sitting up to regain her composure.

"Im fine..." She said, trying to assure him. He raised an eyebrow, not quite believing her. How could his pet suddenly be so frail? He dropped to her side, placing a hand on her back for support, running it around her shoulder blades in small even circles to keep her calm. Time seemed to stop as he watched her with concern filling his heart. He thought back on this morning, when they had spent a few hours opening their hearts to each other. No matter how much he tried to push it away, there was no denying the fact that he needed her in his life.

Without her, there was no Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

1. Haining, Sweeney Todd, page 26