Chapter 31: Silent Slaughter
Note: This will be a difficult chapter to write, and it might not be the best because of that. So Sweeney is going to have to kill three men in this chapter and dispose of their bodies in a way that won't get them caught and I'm afraid my solution might not be the most creative or believable, and I hope it does not harm the fic overall so I am sorry for that. But I promise I'm doing my all so let's begin the chapter. Oh and there will be some minor time skips.
(Sweeney's POV.) I had to work late tonight so I knew everyone would be asleep, but I needed to get home now and speak with Anthony. I knew we were being followed, and by Daniel Shaver of all men. He saw Benjamin Barker dying in that hell hole, and helped it along. I will end this night standing over his corpse. I marched up to Anthony's room and opened the door quietly.
He seemed to be sound asleep. I heard him mumble Johanna's names in his sleep. I walked over to him and shook his shoulders violently. "Mr Todd" he sputtered. "Stop dreaming about my daughter and get up boy, we have trouble." He got on his feet quickly.
"I was right, we were being followed by three men, one of them was a guard at Devils Island. I need you to get a carriage and take it to the edge of town so it will not be seen, then I will kill them one by one, and you will carry supplies to clean the blood so none is left on the ground. I will carry the corpses one at a time and then we will take them into the woods and bury them deep so they won't be found, so buy a shovel and bring it to the carriage too." "But, but Mr Todd" he stuttered. He silenced himself at my glare, and nodded swallowing hard. And long last, I can sate some of my blood thirst, and there will be one less threat to me, Johanna, Lucy, and Anthony.
(Jason's POV.) It has been about an hour since we split up. This was not a big town so it's not like it would take forever to search. I was walking down an alley when I heard a sound. I saw a man at the end of the alley. I figured maybe he or she might have some info on our target.
So I decided I would go over to this person and ask them if they knew anything, after all it always pays to be thorough right?' "Hello, may I ask a question?" I asked as I approached. "How can I help you sir?" said a cold voice. "I am looking for a small group of fugitives who escaped from London, England." The man drew closer to me. "I think I can help you," he said.
He drew his arm up that he was holding an object in and opened it. He lunged forward before I could react. I tried to grab his arm and stop him but he was too swift. I then felt something sharp sink into my neck. (Sweeney's POV.) Anthony cleaned the blood off the ground as I told him to, and I carried the body to the carriage as I said I would as well.
"You seemed too happy to kill him." 'He deserved his fate Hope, he is dead and gone as deserved." I turned to face the sailor. "One down, two to go," I said, sneering. Anthony shuddered at my smile. "Don't be such a weak boy" I snarled.
I marched back into town ready to take the next man down. (Jeremy's POV.) It was about an hour now and I kept finding dead ends, but one woman did mention a weird family having moved in just recently. I decided I would find Daniel and tell him what I learned. As I approached the area we decided we would split ways to find the barber, I saw a figure I did not recognize standing there. I decided I would be polite just in case it was some beggar or something wandering around.
"Fine night tonight?" I asked as I stood next to the figure. "Quite a fine night indeed," he said coldly. "Do you want alms?" I said cautiously. This man seemed to have a cold air about him that made me feel some suspicion. "No thank you, I'm just enjoying the night." Before I could dodge the attack, he spun in front of me swiftly and swung something sharp at my…
(Sweeney's POV.) Once more Hope mopped the blood, as well as any that occasionally dripped from the body, as I eventually got the body into the carriage. "Only Daniel is left," I said darkly. "Did he treat you badly sir?" "He was skilled with a whip, and a punch if need be Hope." I turned to face the sailor.
"He was eventually transferred from Botany Bay despite the fact that Turpin hired him to watch me. He watched Benjamin Barker slowly die, and watch Sweeney Todd be born, though he definitely helped that along. As I got stronger, both emotionally and physically, I made sure to leave bruises on the bastard if things got physical." "Did you get into a lot of fights?" "Not often, but if anyone said anything positive about that bastard judge, or said a thing about my Lucy or Johanna." I took a deep breath to calm myself.
"But what fighting I can do, I learned in prison. I can not wait to finally kill the piece of shit, and stand over him instead of him standing over me." "Do you think you can do it?" "I'm stronger than I was when he was there, and I can swing my arm faster than I ever could, I will end him. "I don't like being an accomplice in this, I absolutely do not like it." "It's too late for you to back out now Hope, as you'll be dead if you ever betray me.
(Daniel's POV.) I returned to the part of town we agreed to meet, away from the main part of town away from prying eyes near the quarry. There was a new family here, and a man who matched Barker was working here now. So hard labor similar to Botany Bay hmm Barker. I was wondering where my companions were. Must be following leads, and will be back later. Hopefully before the morning.
He heard footsteps from behind me. I turned to see two men walking toward me. I could tell it was not my companions though. "Well who do we have here?" The man on the left said in a cold voice. My eyes widened in shock once I recognised the voice. "Yes it's me," he said, as I recognized the white streak that began to take root in his hair as I had worked at Botany Bay.
I saw that he was clutching a straight razor in his hand. His eyes were cold and dead, only hatred shown in them. We began to circle one another. "I'm here to bring you to Justice and to make you pay for the death of the judge." "I brought justice by killing the judge," he retorted. "How is killing a man of the law justice?"
"I told you in prison, but it is a waste of time to try to get through to you." "I don't truly give a shit barber." (Sweeney's POV.) I had explained to the man again and again the snake the judge was, I would not go into it now. I figured he had a gun on him so I had to be swift if I wanted to kill this man, and he was strong so I would need to give him my all. "You will not take me away from my family, I'll give you once chance to leave or you are a dead man."
"Just come quietly barber." I had my razor, but he did not have his gun in his hand yet, and I would use it to my advantage. He more than likely did not think I would rush him, and therefore didn't think he needed it in his hand. I rushed toward him and he grabbed his gun, but I grabbed his wrist. He had a good grip on his gun, and I had a good grip on his wrist. We struggled and wrestled over the gun.
I spun around to his back before he could and twisted his arm behind him. He spun us around and slammed me into the wall next to us, but I kept a grip on him. Twisting his wrist hard, his gun fell to the ground with a clang. I pushed him away from me and lunged forward with my razor in hand. He grabbed my wrist and we wrestled again. I pulled out my other razor with my free hand and brought it to him.
He grabbed my other wrist and we glared at each other. I rammed my knee between his legs and he dropped to his knees. "Bastard" he growled. He tried to stand again, but I kicked him in the chest knocking him back down. I dropped down and pinned him down. I would not lose this fight, I would kill him.
He flipped me over on my back, and I rolled him back on his. We wrestled on the cold hard ground for a while. With a hard slam I smashed him hard into the ground knocking the wind out of him. "Even if you kill me it means nothing shit stain." He managed to shove me off him and we both rose to our feet sore and panting. I lunged back at him and this time he missed my attack. He gasped as my razor connected to his neck.
"Goodbye shit stain" I snarled. With a thud his corpse hit the ground. Anthony cleaned the blood and we brought him to the carriage. "The men following me are dead, now we can rest," I told Anthony. I could tell he hated the whole experience. We drove the carriage deep into the woods.
Using the shovels we both dug three deep holes into the ground. I took the corpses from the carriage and buried all three. Once we were done dawn was breaking. I was exhausted from it all. "We need to head back home so the others do not worry," Hope said. "This time I agree with you, Hope."
Now that was behind us now, I only had two more goals in mind. Live with my family, and find a way to return to London and kill Mrs Lovett. But for now I needed to return home as my blood lust was quelled for now.
Note: Sorry for the long chapter but this is now behind us. The next chapter we will return to Mrs Lovett for an important plot reason. We still need to find out what happened between Lucy and Lovett as well, but that will come later. We will get some fluff between Lucy and Sweeney as well in the next chapter. A few more events must pass before we start the final leg of the story, and in the next two to three chapters we will begin the wind down to the final arc of the story.