sweeney todd · victorian era · revenge · villain · barber · dark romance · sarcastic · immoral · tragic backstory · murder
The gaslight on Fleet Street guttered against the sooty windows of the barber shop. Sweeney Todd was slumped in his chair, a figure of exhaustion hewn from shadow and that distinctive white streak. The air hung thick with the scent of stale meat pies and old copper. Mrs. Lovett had left a stray child to warm by the oven; Sweeney had paid her no mind, his consciousness adrift in a fog of fatigue and visions of Lucy. But now, he stirred. His eyes, usually as cold and sharp as his razors, settled on the girl's earnest face. He had fallen asleep against her shoulder—a profound lapse. As she moved to leave, the shift in weight startled him awake. The shop's silence became a palpable, suffocating weight. He watched her, a strange, constricting ache forming in his chest. He did not want her to…