And All Through The House

Larry (Derrick Pierce) is being escorted down a hallway by security. He is wearing a Santa Claus outfit. He is nervous as he tries to make small talk with security, asking if they've finished their Christmas shopping yet, but he's ignored. There is not a smile to be seen on Mr. Willis's face as the mall manager directs Larry to take a seat, gesturing to the chair across from the desk. Larry tries to start with small talk, spotting the framed picture of Mr. Willis's teenage daughter, Carrie Ann (Emily Willis), on the desk. He smiles and asks Mr. Willis how the daughter's doing? She just turned 18 a few weeks ago, right? Mr. Willis curtly responds with 'Yeah, she's 18, but I don't see what that has to do with anything,' and rotates the picture away from Larry, seemingly eager to end the conversation there. Mr. Willis sternly tells Larry that he's been called in for more pressing matters. There's been a lot of complaints about his behaviour, particularly around female teenagers... Larry looks anxious as he watches Mr. Willis leisurely suck on a candy cane. He tells Mr. Willis that you can't believe anything that teenagers say, really -- they lie! He's sure that some of them were even purposely trying to get a rise out of him! He's been doing a GREAT job! The little ones love him -- there's no denying that. Their faces light up so much when he asks them what they want for Christmas... Mr. Willis is not moved by Larry's attempts to sway the manager. The manager firmly asserts that they can't keep Larry as a mall Santa for any longer. It's a family establishment and the mall is not going to risk a scandal for some replaceable loser. Where's Mr. Willis's Christmas spirit, Larry insists, begging for sympathy. Has has a family to provide for, too. It's right before Christmas! The boss tells Larry again that he needs to leave immediately. If he doesn't, Mr. Willis has no issue getting the cops involved. 'Oh, what, the MALL cops?' Larry mocks. He then tries to hurt Mr. Willis, but the same security guard grabs him. Larry argues and shouts the whole time as he's dragged out, looking more and more unhinged, telling Mr. Willis that they're going to pay. TITLE PLATE CUT to outside later that day, when Mr. Willis returns home from work. When Mr. Willis is gone, Larry emerges from the backseat of the car with a crowbar. Larry is decked in his full Santa suit except the beard, Larry himself looking slightly dirty and disheveled, and is slowly dragging a crowbar at his feet as he approaches Mr. Willis's house. He sees Mr. Willis and Carrie Ann through a front window. They look happy as they hang the last few decorations on a Christmas tree. They are talking to one another but we only see their lips moving. Carrie Ann is the main focus now, looking so cute and innocent in her Christmas PJs. Now he just has to wait... When it becomes dark, Larry makes his move. To his surprise, the door is left unlocked and ajar, so he lets himself inside. He carefully creeps through the house, his eyes lingering on anything Christmas-related that paints the household as happy and normal. He stops by the Christmas tree and plucks a candy cane off a branch. Larry then continues stealthily through the house. He pauses briefly as he sees Mr. Willis resting in his bedroom, then continues on. He still has his crowbar with him the whole time, lightly smacking it against his palm or tapping it against his leg as he walks. He continues down a hall, then reaches a door with girly decorations on it, which signals that it belongs to the daughter. He seems to deliberate for a moment - continue down the hall, or change his plans? - then seems to have a change of heart and turns, slowly opening Carrie Ann's door. Carrie Ann is in a state of deep rest tucked away in bed and is wearing Christmas PJs. Larry slowly approaches her bed, setting the crowbar quietly down. He looms menacingly over her, gazing over her body with the male gaze POV as he slowly pulls down her blanket to get a look at her full body. Even though she's wearing innocent PJs, her shirt's pulled away from her shoulder a bit, showing bare skin. His gloved fingers twitch with anticipation as he slowly reaches out as if to touch her, though he doesn't quite. She stirs, groggy and disoriented, seemingly confused about the presence of someone else in her room, though she can't see clearly. She rubs at her eyes and sees Larry, squinting at him. 'Santa? Wait, am I dreaming?' she questions. Larry shushes her, saying, 'Yeah, sure, sweetheart. This is a dream, why not?' Now that she's up, he sits down on the bed beside her and runs a hand over her leg, telling her that Santa came to check up on her. She's still a bit groggy and trying to get her bearings. If this is a dream, why does he have a crowbar? Larry pauses a moment and mentions that Santa had to do some emergency repairs on his sleigh, so... Even as he says this, he moves closer to her, being slow and methodical. Although Carrie Ann lightly tries to back away into the bed's headrest at first, admitting that this is a really weird dream, she tells Santa that she thought he'd look... different. He looks... handsome. Larry gives a sleazy disgusting grin and says Santa likes how she looks too in her cute little PJs. She asks why Santa's here and not downstairs - he tells her that her parent Mr. Willis has been very bad this year and is on Santa's naughty list, but he wanted to give Carrie Ann the chance to prove she belongs on the nice list. Carrie Ann mumbles groggily that she wants to be on the nice list. Larry says that that means she has to do what Santa says, does she understand? Santa has a very special present for her this year but only if she behaves...