Without You, There is No Point in Surviving

Chapter 13 The Caged Songbird

When she closes her eyes, she's still in that barber chair. In her ridiculous disguise as a boy and how the mysterious woman's scream saved her life. She didn't know the baker downstairs that Anthony briefly mentioned but seeing how a man drenched in blood with anger in his eyes could fly out of the room away from his prey as quick as he did, that baker must have meant a great deal to him.

Did they possess some hidden love? Was she, his mistress? Mr. Turpin had several mistresses, some from all over the world. It was normal for a successful man perhaps. Would Anthony have his own someday?

"Johanna?" his voice sounded far away as she was too busy being wrapped up in her own thoughts, staring out the window of their room in a London inn. "Johanna!" the voice rang more urgent and shriller, almost a nuisance.

Reluctantly, Johanna turned away from her gaze out the window. "Did you hear me?" Anthony asked, his tone sweet as it is whenever he addresses her, like speaking to a scared lost child, or as if she'd break apart.

"No." her feathery voice honestly spoke.

Anthony frowned, and she sensed she must have offended him in some way. "I was saying, when we're in Paris, we should—" the rest of his speech was droned to a buzzing in her ears. Talking giddy about Paris and their wedding and sailing was all he could ramble.

It's only been a day since Anthony retrieved her from Fogg's asylum. A day since she met her father and a day since she lost him again.

"We'll set sail tomorrow, at dawn." Anthony spoke and this time Johanna heard him loud and clear.

"In the morning?" she confirmed.

"Yes," he said all smiles. "We have to get out of this city, so the ghosts will go away, and we'll be free."

Johanna smiled faintly in return before looking out the window at the sky once more. The ghosts aren't ever going away. If you can't see that, you're a fool, she wanted to tell him, but kept her mouth closed.

Anthony always rambled about her father Sweeney Todd, no, Benjamin Barker. How he trusted the man and felt betrayed. How foolish he was for seeking help in the hands of a monster. After his rambles ended, he'd always say how it was worth it now. And tell Johanna that she was a treasure of his. She never knew how to feel about this. Was she supposed to feel flattered or in love? She didn't even know what love was. Was being someone's prized possession that they managed to obtain, love?

The thought of leaving London next dawn unnerved her for some reason. She couldn't relax all evening and she didn't sleep well that night, although she never sleeps well anymore. Out of the slight couple hours of sleep she managed to get, she dreamed of Anthony sniffing her hair and pinning her underneath him. He called her his wife and tried to kiss her. She leaned away, feeling disgusted. She tried to run; he grabbed her wrist in a tight grasp. He looked at her with a sickening grin, his face contorting into Mr. Turpin's. "I love you" he snarled.

She bolted upright, feeling hot and sticky. She almost opened her mouth to scream for Rachel, her dear nanny, but remembered that she's not home anymore, she's in an inn in London. And tomorrow, she'd be on a ship set for Paris. With Anthony. And he'd be her husband and she, his wife. And he'd be happy, and he could kiss her, and more.

Her hands felt clammy, and they shook gently.

"From one cage to another." She muttered in the dark.

Next thing she knew, Johanna was stepping into the dark of the London night. She scribbled a note for Anthony to see when he woke up. She didn't know what to say so she kept it simple:
Thanks for your help. Goodbye.

It wasn't until she had managed to walk about five miles, the inn no longer in sights behind her, that she realized the multitude of what she's just done. She stopped on the sidewalk. The rain was pouring down. A wide grin spread across her lips, and she let out a victorious shout of glee. Johanna laughed and twirled in the rain droplets, finally free from her cage.