Habits

Reunited With The Past

The week had brought nothing but rain and nightmares.  Sweeney stood in his shop sharpening his razor. Everything was silent beside the metal scraping against leather.  He'd had only one customer as the rain tended to bless him with empty streets or as Sweeney saw it, empty pockets.

He was in the mood for blood but he'd made a promise to withold himself from killing.  Sighing, he placed his razor in its box and left the room, ready to fall down in his bed and sleep.  As he exited his shop the rain seeped through his coat, causing him to shiver.  Cornelius' funeral was being held tomorrow and Sweeney had to go, though he didn't want to.

"'Ello sir!" Toby said cheerily as Sweeney entered the house.

Sweeney gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair while leaning forward and giving Nellie a small kiss.

"I was planning on staying at the shop longer but there was no point.  Not like anyone's going to come for a shave in this weather.  Is Johanna back yet?"

Nellie shook her head, "No, doubt she'll be back anytime soon.  I know yer worried but I'm sure she's fine, she's upset tis all."

Johanna had been spending her says outside only returning late at night to sleep.  She refused to talk to Sweeney, knowing he'd killed Cornelius.  But she didn't know what he'd done to Nellie.  If she knew, if she listened to him, maybe she'd understand.

"I'm sure." Sweeney sighed sadly, "I'm going to bed, night Toby, night Nell.  I love you."

He pushed open the door and fell onto the bed.  The room felt cold as always.  Nellie now tended to stay up late and get up early so Sweeney fell asleep and woke up alone.  He was tired of loneliness, he saw Johanna for five minutes a day if he was lucky, and they never exchanged words.  Toby was always with Nell and the shop was always empty.  The door opened and Sweeney saw the outline of Nellie approach him.

"Are ya okay Sweeney?" He heard her ask.

"No I'm not.  Life is so different.  I miss all the blood, I miss the killing, I miss our secret.  But I don't know why. Why am I so drawn to the pain? So drawn to death? So attached to watching people bleed? Why am I such a demon?"

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The walls dripped with blood.  Screams echoed through the Rooney, but no one could escape.  Throats slit one after the other.  Blood splattered onto the floor and more bodies fell.  Sweeney moved his way across hundreds of mounds of bodies.  He grinned as people ran, but not fast enough.  The sound of tearing flesh.  The smell of fresh blood.  The sight of thousands of bleeding bodies.  The taste of sweet revenge.  The feeling of pride.

His eyes glistened with lust. Pride. It was entertaining seeing them beg for mercy and instead watching blood drip down their necks.  Then all was silent, no one moved.  They were all dead...
Sweeney looked down on his creation. Mound after mound of death.  Blood spread across every surface.

A grin spread across his face.  Never had he seen such beauty.  It was all because of him.  His pride grew strong.  He was capable of much more than he dared show.  So much blood.  But amongst it all, he only saw one thing written in the horror around him...

"You know you miss it..."

Sweeney sat up, the cold air around him hitting the sweat that dripped from his face.  Nellie shifted beside him in the dark.  Breathing heavily he pushed himself out of the bed and pulled on a shirt.  Yet again his dreams were full of death.  Why was he like this?

The floorboards creaked underneath him as Sweeney made his way to the kitchen.  He opened the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of gin.  It had been a while since he'd drank as Nellie hated it when he did but he was tired and stressed and nothing mattered at the moment.  As he took a swig of gin Nellie entered the kitchen.