Habits

Haunted

Sweeney was alone. There was a travelling circus in town and Nellie had taken the kids to see it. Sweeney had refused to go. He took a sip of the gin he held before standing and exiting the kitchen.  Walking down the hall to his room he paused in front of a small mirror that hung on the wall.  Staring back at him was the man he used to be so long ago.  The man he couldn't stand. The man who haunted him still.

In a moment of panic, he smashed the glass hearing pieces of the mirror that hit the wood floor.  He looked at his now bleeding knuckles.  His breathing was suddenly heavy and he lifted a hand to his forehead to wipe the sweat from his face. Daring to look back at the mirror he sighed in relief. He was gone. Sweeney Todd was the only one who remained.

He sighed knowing it was over.  Benjamin was long gone, he was lost in a sea of darkness close to drowning.  And yet. If he was truly gone, then why did Sweeney still see him everywhere?

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Nellie smiled widely as Toby skipped ahead of her and Johanna.  It was nice to see him like this. He had deserved something like this. A chance to be a kid when he'd been forced to grow up so quickly.  Despite Sweeney staying home the three had had a wonderful time.  Toby had been incredibly excited when Nellie got him a bag of toffees and Johanna had already changed into her new dress.

"Its nice to see him so happy," Johanna said smiling.

"I know, I wish Sweeney came outside once, the man needs something to clear his mind." Nellie sighed.

"You don't want to fight anymore do you?"

Nellie shook he head, "I don't, but Sweeney's a stubborn bastard, there's not much I can do."

Toby ran up to the door.  The house seemed dark and his previous cheery mood was replaced with uneasiness.  Something didn't seem right. He pushed open the door and entered, immediately hit with a wave of cold air.  Toby shivered and hugged himself as he walked forward.  The door opened and Nellie and Johanna followed feeling just as worried.  The three walked through the living room and Nellie peered down the hallway, surprised to see shards of glass spread out on the floor.

"I want both of ya to stay 'ere, I'll go find Sweeney."

The two kids nodded and Nellie made her way down the hallway.  Echoing footsteps sounded from the bedroom along with indistinguishable muttering.  It was definitely Sweeney.  She pushed open the door. There he stood, pacing back and forth, a hand tangled in his hair.

"Sweeney what the bloody 'ell is wrong with ya?" Nellie demanded, she only then noticed all the mirrors in the room smashed in, "And what did ya do to the mirrors?"

"I see him everywhere I go.  No matter where I hide he always seems to find me.  I don't know what to do. If he reaches me it'll all get worse. I'll leave everything I care about behind, I can't stand it."

He had that insane look in his eyes Nellie was so used to seeing.  It had been so long since she'd seen him like this.  He finally turned to look at her and past his panicked expression she saw pain in his eyes.

"I need to fight him off. Get rid of my last ounce of innocence and finish him off once and for all.  Something that hurts him enough to remove him from my world." He paused eyeing Nellie up and down, "Something fun for me, but in the eyes of Ben betrays poor Lucy,"

A grin spread across his face as the strode towards Nellie. Finally reaching her he put his hands on either side of her head whilst leaning close to her ear and whispering, "Something that should end our arguement."

Nellie gulped under his intense gaze.  His eyes were dark and very suddenly full of lust.  He moved closer causing their lips to meet in a heated kiss. Nellie was taken by surprise that he was actually using sex as a way to get out of a fight.