Pentatonix: Murder House

Smoldering Children

1994

"Ladies and gentlemen, the ham." Connie says carrying a large pineapple covered ham out into the dining room.

Rick claps in excitement as he hearing Connie coming closer with the food she spent hours making for the family.

 "Wow. It looks lovely." Scott says with a small smile.

Nicole sits next to Scott with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

Connie sets down the ham and looks around the table.

"Now, who wants to say grace?" Connie asks.

"Oh, Mother, may I?" Scott asks sarcastically.

"Of course, son. I was hoping you would choose to become a part of this family." Rick says.

 Connie looks at Scott with wide eyes and then at Rick.

Scott reaches out his hands to Connie and Nicole and everyone joins hands at the table so he can see grace.

"Dear God, thank you for this salty pig meat we are about to eat, along with the rest of the indigestible swill. And thank you for our new charade of a family. My actual father ran away when I was only six. If I'd have known any better, I would have joined him." Scott says with his head bowed.

Connie slaps his hand away from her, but he continues to go on with his speech.

"And, also, because she's been trying to get back into this house ever since she lost it, Lord, a big thank you for blinding the asshole that doing my mother so that he can't see what everybody knows. She doesn't really love him."

"Amen." Nicole says.

Connie lights up a cigarette at the dinner table as Rick shoves his face into his hands.

He thought Scott really turned a new leaf and was trying to be part of the family finally, but he was sadly mistaken.

Rick sighs loudly.

"Now, Scott, I know that you've had a hard time making the adjustment, with all the recent changes, moving back in here after the, the tragedy that my own family went through-"

"They burned themselves alive after you were cheating on your wife with Connie, Richard." Scott spats.

"That...That was nobody's fault. Passion drove her to it. One day, you'll understand. There are sacrifices you have to make in the name of love. On a lighter note, I have reserved tickets for everybody, for Saturday, at our community theater, for the opening night of Brigadoon. I'm delighted to be debuting in the chorus." Rick says quickly changing the subject.

Scott just stares angrily at Rick no saying a word.

He hates Rick and he wishes Rick would just get that through his thick skull that he's not Scott real dad either and should feel more sorrow for the tragedy that happened to his family in this same house right upstairs months before they all moved back into this house.

"Well, I, for one, shall be there with bells on." Connie says raising her wine glass.

"Thank you, darling, for being so supportive and encouraging. You have allowed me to explore another facet of myself." Rick says.

"Yay! I love the theater!" Nicole shouts.

"Don't, Nicki! You're a smart girl! You know he killed our brother!" Scott yells slamming his fist down on the table in anger.

"Stop it! Beau died in his slumber of natural causes! Now you know he had a respiratory ailment. Your brother's in a better place! He suffered with every breath that he took!" Connie yells.

Scott wipes the tears away from his face.

"He only suffered because of you!' Scott spats back.

Connie chuckles. 

"You know, Scott, unlike your siblings, you were graced with so many gifts. How is it that you can't bring yourself to use them!? Just a smile, or a kind word, could open the gates to heaven." She says.

Scott wipes the tears away from his face again.

He knows Connie is right, but he would give her the satisfaction of letting her know she's right.

"No matter how much you want it, I will never be your perfect son!" Scott says through grit teeth.

Connie chuckles as Scott pushes his chair back from the table and excuses himself.

**

The next day, Scott sits at the edge of his bed shaking and waiting for his alarm clock to go off.

He has an evil plan in mind and he can't believe he's even thinking about going through with it, but something has to be done.

His alarm strikes 7am and heavy metal music starts blasting, meaning it's time to set his plan into action.

Scott slaps the alarm clock off, gets dressed in black from head to toe, does a line of drugs to numb himself.

Afterwards, he lifts up the bed skirt and pulls out to shotguns and a handgun out from under the bed and starts to load them up with bullets.

Scott then proceeds to drive to Rick's work and walks in with a large red gas can with him. 

"Scott, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?" Rick asks.

"I'm going right after." Scott says.

"After what?" Rick asks.

Scott then rushes towards him and dumps the gasoline all over Rick and his desk making sure every inch of his office his drenched in gas.

He then lights a match as Rick begs for his life.

Scott flicks it at him and watches as Rick goes up in flames and then walks out as if nothing happened.

Then off to school Scott goes to start his crime spree.