The Crow + Sweeney Todd

Johanna's Home

The rain had slowed down a little and was now a very light shower. However the thunder was still loud as possible and each lightning strike would light the city up.
The two arrived at the grand Judge Turpin's house. Benjamin smirked when he saw the window he had broken was boarded up. All he needed to do was break another window and simply climb inside.
Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett stood on the side of the house; leaned up against the bricks of the wall. Ben would peek around the wall; plotting what window would be the best to enter through.
"On a scale of one to ten, how scared would you be if broken glass cut you," he said and began to walk along the long, black fence.
Mrs. Lovett slowly crept behind him and pondered an answer.
"Broken glass? I dunno... a six?" She answered unsurely.
"Well make that six a one because to get inside we gotta get through a window," after he said that, he ever so easily jumped the fence and stood on the other side.
"What the hell?! I can't do that!" She shrieked.
Benjamin sighed in frustration and began to think a plan B.
"...Um, ok, just... stay out here. I'll try and open the front door. If I don't get to the door within like five minutes, you gotta jump that fence," he instructed. "Got it?"
She nodded in response and watched him punch the window next to one boarded up. The window immediately shattered and his knuckles were cut, bled for a second, then healed.
The very second he climbed through the window, Mrs. Lovett witnessed another person in the room snatch Ben and drag him out of her view.
Her blood ran cold, but she tried to convince herself that Benjamin will be fine.
"He can't even die. He's invulnerable," she assured herself.
Inside the Judge's home, Benjamin was grabbed by the arms and yanked out of the window by a rather large man. It wasn't Turpin nor the Beadle.
Benjamin stumbled onto the floor; bewildered by what happened within two seconds.
The large man yanked Ben off the floor and had a rather tight grip on his arm.
"I think I got your intruder, my lord!" The man called for the whole house to hear.
Benjamin squirmed around; hoping the baker would come through the window as a distraction.
Ben heard rapid footsteps within the house and a tall man entered the library. His gray eyes looked Ben up and down with a disapproving look.
"Are you the one who broke in last night?" Judge Turpin asked and walked closer to Ben.
Benjamin's eyes locked with Turpin's and the tainted memories came flooding back.
There the face stood before him. The very face that haunts him. There stood the monster of a man. This was the devil who sent him away; away to his death. This was the fiend who not only raped Lucy, but drove her to her death. This was the brute who stole his flesh and blood, Johanna.
With the nightmares racing through his head, Benjamin couldn't just stand there restrained. His eyes quickly lowered down to see the man who held him's foot. Without a second thought, Ben stomped down on the foot which caused the man to release Ben and howl in agony.
The very moment Ben was free, he didn't hesitate to throw a fist right at Judge Turpin; who soon staggered back as his nose began to gush blood.
"You son of a bitch!" Benjamin yelled at the top of his lungs and punched his again.
They were now in the corridor of the house where the front door stood on their right. Ben glanced at it and knew it was his moment to get Mrs. Lovett inside. He leaped to the door, unlocked it, then opened it wide. There he saw Mrs. Lovett struggling to jump the fence. Ben gave a short, high whistle and it caught her attention. She flattened her now wrinkled, damp dress and raced up the steps into the house.
When she stepped inside, she first saw Judge Turpin bleeding and holding his nose.
Benjamin quickly shoved Mrs. Lovett to the stairs and nudged her to go to the second floor. She obeyed, and Ben stayed at the entrance of the stairs.
He watched he two men stagger around in pain. That was until the first man who restrained Ben began charging at him.
Ben looked to side to find a vanity with some brown glass vase formed in some odd shape. He quickly scooped up the vase and crashed it against the man's head. The vase immediately shattered and the man fell to the ground unconscious.
"The door's locked!" A voice from upstairs cried. Ben glanced up the stairs that led to a dark hallway he couldn't see too good. Then he looked back to Turpin who was cleaning the blood with his sleeve.
Turpin's eyes then lifted to find his other man unconscious and Ben still standing there.
"I'll kill you!" The judge hissed and charged at Ben with his arms out in front of him and hands shaped into claws.
Ben then flew up the stairs to find Mrs. Lovett turning the doorknob of a door and kicking it as well.
"Stop kicking it!" Ben snapped. "You'll give her a heart attack."
As he said this, they both could hear Judge Turpin racing up the stairs with a bloodcurdling scream.
His body then shot up from the stairs and he now stood in the same hallway Ben and Mrs. Lovett stood in.
Just as Ben was about to attack him with his fists, a deafening bang filled the air. Ben froze and watched the judge collapse. With confusion on his face, he slowly turned his head to find Mrs. Lovett with tight hands around a pistol.
"You've had a gun this entire time?!" Ben hissed and went to examine the judge.
"I only wanted to use it if I had to," she replied. "I know you wanted him to die in your hands, but I was scared and kinda just... fired it."
Ben scanned the wound; it just hit his right shoulder. The man was still breathing.
"Well he's not dead," Ben muttered and watched Mrs. Lovett hide the gun in a pocket in her dress. "I'll deal with him later. Like I said earlier, first thing I want is her outta this house."
He paced to the door and tried the doorknob. Locked. He pushed Mrs. Lovett to the side and and backed up. He planted his left foot solid on the ground and raised his right, where it took down the door.
The wooden door snapped and crumpled to the ground.
They could now see the inside of the room. The room was filled with light colors and there on the bed sat a little girl. The little girl had her hands covering her eyes and a doll sat in her lap.
Benjamin stood there silently; just looking at her. He wasn't able to speak a single word.
The child slowly spread her fingers to see the two figures at her doorway. She quickly covered her eyes again in fear they'd kill her.
Mrs. Lovett was first to step into the room; clearly seeing that Benjamin was unable to function.
She smiled as she came closer to the eight year old Johanna. Her long, blonde curls caressing her face. She was sniffling with salty tears streaming down her pale cheek.
"Now, honey, don't cry," Mrs. Lovett soothed and came to the foot of the bed. "We're here to help you." The baker looked back at the door to find Ben still frozen.
"...You are?" Johanna whispered as she slowly rested her hands on the doll in her lap. She looked up at the woman who stood at the foot of the bed. Her hair was wet and she smelt like the cold rain. Johanna then looked from her to the odd man at her door. He looked almost like a shadow due to his entire black attire. The only thing that made him differ from a shadow was his ghostly white hands and face.
"Who's he?" Johanna asked and pointed at Ben.
Mrs. Lovett looked over to Ben; as if asking permission to tell Johanna the truth. Ben shook his head then leaned against the doorframe.
"He's just helping me get you outta here," she answered. "You do wanna leave, correct?"
Johanna nodded with a smile.
"Wonderful," the baker beamed and held out her hand for Johanna to take. "Come with me. You can bring your doll if you'd like."
Johanna stayed on the bed with her legs crossed for a moment; thinking would this be a wise decision. Then she thought, any place is better than being lock in this room for days on end. She took the baker's hand and squeezed it tight. Her little body jumped off the bed and they walked over to the door.
The closer Johanna got, the more Ben could see Lucy in her. Her blonde curls bounced with each step she took. Her fair skin that glistened in the moonlight from the large window.
The baker's eyes shot up to meet Ben, who was choking back tears and trying to keep a straight face.
Little Johanna then looked up Benjamin Barker; the father she didn't know she had.
"Hi," Johanna whispered as if she was sort of nervous of him. She waved her hand that wasn't holding the doll and she stepped into the dark hallway.
Ben then tugged on Mrs. Lovett's arm and muttered to her. "Keep her eyes on you. Don't let her look at the judge or the other man. Eyes on you."
Mrs. Lovett then nodded and bent down to Johanna's level.
"Johanna's your name right?" Mrs. Lovett asked in a gentle voice.
Johanna nodded happily. "What's yours?"
"Eleanor," the baker answered with a grin. "Now, we're gonna leave this house. Do you mind if I held you while we left? I'd hate if you were to trip down the stairs."
"I don't mind," Johanna replied and opened her arms for Mrs. Lovett to pick up. Johanna found a liking towards the baker. She was like no other person she's met before; kind and caring.
Benjamin began walking behind them as Mrs. Lovett kept the child captivated by asking several questions. Most questions being like what's your favorite color, animal, etc. The baker asked what was the name of her doll and Johanna answered happily and went to a huge conversation about her doll.
Johanna's eyes stayed on the baker. Every now and then her eyes would glance over at the strange, tall man with curiosity.
By the time they made it outside of the house, the rain had stopped. The night was very late and freezing.
Mrs. Lovett then dropped the child to her feet. She kept on talking about her doll and you could see her breath in the cold air.
Seeing that, Ben didn't hesitate to remove his jacket and drape it around his daughter.
"There you go," he smiled. As he placed the jacket around her, memories took over his mind.
He could see a bright, colorful scene with him tossing his daughter up in air and her giggling. He could see Lucy beside him laughing as well.
The memory soon ended and he saw the reality of gloomy London.
"Thank you, sir," Johanna responded. The jacket was rather large for her small size and it went pass her knees; nearly being dragged along the ground. "So where are we going?"
"A safe house," Mrs. Lovett quickly answered. "A very safe house."
"I won't be locked in a room... will I?" She asked in a shaky voice.
"Heavens no!" Mrs. Lovett exclaimed. "Were you always locked your room in that house?"
Johanna only nodded, which made both Mrs. Lovett's and Ben's heart sink.
The talking silence but a loud, booming thunder awoke the sky. Johanna clutched her doll tighter and walked closer to Mrs. Lovett.
It made Benjamin realize Johanna wasn't as fond as him as she was with the baker. Though this saddened him, he knew he didn't want to get to close to Johanna for its not like he could get his old life back.
The sky roared again, and it looked as if it were about to rain again.
"Get her to the house," Ben ordered. "It's about to rain again. I'll meet you there later." His tone was soft and melancholy.
Mrs. Lovett was about to question why, but assumed he was going to the cemetery. She nodded and picked up pace with little Johanna by her side.
Benjamin took a separate road; a road that led to the cemetery.
The rain began to fall, but Benjamin couldn't care less. In record time, he approached the cemetery and exhaled a great sigh.
He had completed his first task and a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He slowly trudged around the cemetery. The dirt was becoming mud and splashing onto his boots and ends of his pants.
He paid no mind to his filthy attire and walked his way to Lucy's gravestone. He found it, and sat in front of it with his legs crossed like he's done before.
He read the short words along the plaque and hung his head.
"She's outta the house," he sighed and began playing with the soft dirt in front of him. He dragged his index finger along the dirt; drawing small pictures and words into it.
"Just two more things left to do. I could've killed him there. Could've gotten things right... but I want him last. The Beadle wasn't there. Some other man. I could've killed him too. But not with Johanna still in the house."
After those words, his head shot up. "Johanna's outta the house now," he smiled from the side of his mouth. "I'll get it done," he smirked and jumped to his feet. "I'll get it done now." He spoke with confidence surging throughout his body. His eyes glistened with madness as he placed his hand in his pocket and pulled out one of two razors he had on him.
He opened the straight razor and beamed into the silver reflection.
Suddenly, his vision of the razor in his hand faded and he now saw the inside of Judge Turpin's house.
The crow was still inside that house and watching Judge Turpin awake and wrap up his bullet wound. The other man also came to and was now trying to figure who the dark figure was.
"That woman looked oddly familiar," Judge Turpin stated as he wrapped up the wound and paced back and forth in the first floor corridor. "They took Johanna," he hissed. "That's it!" He exclaimed. "She's the one who tried to keep Johanna when she was an infant!" He said with a smile of genius. "But who the hell was that man?"
"Perhaps the father of Johanna. You said you sent him to prison... he could've escaped," the other man suggested.
"Please, Botany Bay is one of the best prions. No one can escape there. Besides, he probably died there and we all know you can't come back from the dead," he laughed.
If only he knew the irony.
"Fetch the Beadle from the courthouse," Turpin ordered. "And gather more of your men. We're gonna go give that baker on Fleet Street a visit."
The vision ended and Ben found himself staring at the razor in his hand. He stood there in utter shock before shoving the razor back in his pocket and booking it to his old home.
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Author's Note
To start with, rest in peace Alan Rickman. It's hard to believe you're gone and you'll be dearly missed.
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This is a really short chapter, sorry. Well what shall happen in the next chapter? As I've said before this is going to be a short story; much shorter than my previous stories. Because this is such a short story, I've suggested the idea of rewriting ST: Insanity Within in my previous chapter. I'll only rewrite it if you the readers think it's a good idea, so please comment if you think so!
And as always, thank you very much for reading and if you like spooky, scary stories, feel free to follow my other IG account @/the.boogeymen
See you in the next chapter!