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A modern adaptation of the classic story Sweeney Todd with a few personal touches. |
All it takes is one day, one day to lose everything. A day to lose yourself and your love, the world is a cruel place. A place where fate will be kind to those that step over people and punish those who serve under them. My point of view may sound harsh and cruel but the truth is I know what it’s like to be crushed by those above you. Yes, I know my tone sounds depressing and unrealistically pessimistic but you don’t know what happened. Yet. The story takes place in a small but not too small town by the ocean. There were always plenty of fish to be caught. Our town was always known for its sunsets. The sun would look like a cheery pink but would disappear into darkness as it hit the hills. It all began with a dance, a sweet dance. Her name was Lucy and she was gorgeous. Her hair was long and gleamed with a bright passion but her eyes green and serene, so full of emotion and wonder, filled your heart with emotion and heat. We had fallen in love with that first dance. We decided to open up our own dentist clinic she’d be my hygienist and I’d be the dentist. Sadly, it was not just me that noticed her beauty. There too was another man. His name was Donovan. He was the leader of a dark cult called the Demons of Fleet. Ever since he laid his eyes on her he knew that he had to have her at whatever costs. A month after the dance, we were engaged. Donovan was crushed; his hatred and envy grew on me. At the time I was too twitter patted to notice him behind every shadow. At nights when we were asleep he watched us. He made sure he would know our schedule, that way he could know when to strike. One day when we were in the market shopping for groceries. Six security guards grabbed me suddenly. I can still hear Lucy’s shriek. They sent me out of the country. After that I had no idea of what happened to Lucy. I woke up in a new place with no idea where I was from than my life had been a solemn song. I continued to travel slowly until I finally found my home again. It took me 20 years. As I was walking down a street, I met a new girl named Jen Lovett. When I told her my story, she took me in. “How does a nice bloke like you end up in such a mess?” she asked politely. She had dark features; hair that was as black as charcoal, her complexion almost pale as a ghost and intense brown eyes that pierced you when she stared. “I don’t know,” I replied. I was a naïve schnook back then. “What is your name?” she asked. “Ben Barker,” I replied. “Wait Ben Barker, loving husband of Lucy Begger. Oh my god, it is you,” she said sporadically. “My cousin she knew you. She always said that you guys were the perfect couple. Wait then what she told me must be true.” “What!” I wondered. “When people saw what happened at the grocery store. People had wondered what happened to you. The police said that you had been laundering money. No one believed it. Then after you were gone Lucy… I better not say it.” “What happened to Lucy?” I screamed. “After you were gone Donovan made his move constantly. Every time she would say no to every gift and date. But one day he grew tired of waiting and he took her by force. She was humiliated. She tried to tell the cops that she had been taken by him but no one did anything because they were all poisoned by the Demons of Fleet’s bribes. She was heartbroken. On that same day she had her child, your child, but could not do anything. She left hers and your daughter in an orphanage. Then she drank poison…” “Stop.” I didn’t want to hear it. I had no idea what to say, the love of my life was gone, vanished. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity. “There’s one more thing,” she said. “Donovan adopted your daughter”. At first I felt sadness but then it came. The rage, I was mad at Donovan and not just Donovan but the town for what they did or better yet what they didn’t do. “I know what I have to do. I have to rid of them all.” She looked shocked but as soon as that face appeared it disappeared just as fast. “I know what I can do to help you,” she said ecstatically. “As you know, nowadays more and more people have organ failures. The price of organs can become expensive to private surgeons. If you could open up a dentistry and you were to say drill them in the head. I could use whatever healthy organs they have left for my own practice.” Now most people would find that insane but I loved the idea. People needed to pay. Over the next four weeks I drilled heads while Jen resold their organs. It was a demented cycle of revenge. As I was drilling a priest, I was thinking to myself that this was not enough. I needed him, Donovan. “I cannot wait any longer with this constant foolishness,” I screamed. “Come now love what is the rush, we have everything coming together you kill those that deserve it and I heal the lucky ones only to be killed later by you.” “No! We must get Donovan and I want my daughter back then I shall celebrate.” Hesitantly she said, “I may know a way of getting him back. I have a good friend that can con him here.” “How?” “She is his secretary; he’ll do anything she schedules him to do. For example a dentist’s appointment for a certain drill to take place in his skull, wouldn’t that just be swell.” “Yes, indeed.” Today was the big day; it was the day where finally Donovan would get his just desserts. I had just quickly finished hiding a corpse of a manager from Sears under the floor. When a crazy old woman entered, this woman had blonde hair that was covered with mud and her eyes looked lost and passionless. She ran to me then shook me and said, “Quick you must get out of here, this place has the stench of a thousand dead souls. The woman who works here has no soul, she would do anything to get what she wants. There is no limit with her madness. Please sir your must ru… Wait a minute. Don’t I know you?” The front desk bell rang three times. He was coming, so I quickly slit her throat with my blade and I threw her body under the floor. There was no time for reunions I had to get my revenge. The door swung open and in came Donovan. “What seems to be the problem good sir,” hoping he wouldn’t recognize me. “I’m just here for an appointment.” Luckily he didn’t. “Any aches or pains you have.” “Nope not a single one,” he said hesitantly. “I’m sorry I’m afraid I get nervous with dentists. It just brings back bad memories.” “Oh really, do tell.” “Well, you see there was a man, who was a dentist, I used to know. You see, he was a very bad man. He would hold this beautiful blonde hostage. He was quite possessive and would never let her go anywhere. One night she snuck out and told me that she no longer wanted to be with him. So I helped her out and I threw him out of this town away from her.” “You liar!” Lucy loved me and I loved her, she would never do such things. Our love was pure and honest like the rest of the world. She couldn’t have, she wouldn’t have. “It is you I thought I recognized you, how the hell did you get back here. Scum like you deserve to die.” “Correction you’ll be dying.” I drilled him in the head and felt his soul splatter into hell. I couldn’t let him get off easily. Even after I knew he was dead I continued. I wanted him beyond dead to the next level. When I had heard a scream from downstairs, it was the sound of Ms. Lovett. My heart pounded as I raced down, I had never felt so alive. There was Ms. Lovett with a knife stabbing a beautiful girl. “What is going on here?” I asked. “The secretary went crazy, I thought she’d be stronger than this. I guess she couldn’t live with the guilt that she’d set up her own boss.” I looked at her dead beautiful green eyes. Even I had seen many dark things but for some reason I could not look into her eyes it made me sick. “C’mon I’ll help bring her to the surgery room.” As we carried her towards the dissection room, I couldn’t help but feel a slight feeling of déjà vu. As if I had once carried this girl in my arms before. As we set her on the floor. Ms. Lovett pulled the switch that brought all the bodies from the floors upstairs to fall downstairs. Suddenly, death had stricken over her face. “How did you end up here?” she asked faintly. I went to see what was happening when Ms. Lovett threw herself on me and kissed me. This kiss had felt like a decoy, so I pushed her to the ground to see what she was hiding. I looked closer at the corpse of the crazy woman. Her eyes were green, that same green that once intrigued me. “You knew she was alive didn’t you?” No answer. “DIDN’T YOU?! You lied to me, you knew she was alive.” “No I never lied,” she cried. “I said she drank poison but I never said she died. I tried to save you from the pain of her. You have no idea what it’s like living with her. When we were kids she would always get what she want, she never had to do anything. The only reason why she took you because she knew I loved you.” “Wait when you were kids… You knew her when she was a kid? Then you must be her sister?” Her face flushed with white. “You told Donovan that I was holding her prisoner. You told him to set all this up, this was your little plan wasn’t it, to get back at your sister.” “No, no, no it was never a plan to get my sister back, it was because I love you so much. She just got in the way.” My day of sweet revenge had bitten me back. I screamed with anger and sadness, tears and blood mixed together on my face. I threw myself on the table, when my teary eyes looked directly into those green eyes. It was my daughter’s eyes that stared back. “Ms. Lovett you have caused me great amounts of pain. However I forgive you.” “Really my love, all this had been for you. I was only thinking of you.” “Come to my arms darling, everything will be alright. We will continue our business as usual taking revenge on those that deserve it.” She ran to my arms and squeezed me tightly. “I love you dearly,” she cried joyfully. Bam, I smacked her in to the table. I felt her life break away. I looked around me. Everywhere were fragments of a game, a game called revenge. Every single one of us played in this sick game. What I said was true, everyone deserved to die. Especially me, what we felt was right before was now just a fool’s move. I picked up my drill and put it to my head. |