American Horror Stories (2021) s02e08 Episode Script

1
- Can you kiss me more? ♪
- We're so young, boy ♪
We ain't got nothing to lose ♪
- Oh, oh ♪
- It's just principle ♪
Baby, hold me, 'cause I
like the way you groove ♪
Oh, oh ♪
All on my tongue, I want it ♪
Boy, you write your name ♪
Here, Jake.
Thanks.
La-la-la-la ♪
All on my tongue, I want it ♪
I feel like fuckin' somethin' ♪
What's that?
I, um
I went to the library and
found this old topo map.
- Topo map?
- Topographical.
It shows all the towns that were here
before the dam went up
and the lake was formed.
That's the last resting
place of Reedsville,
population 103.
So there really is a
town under the lake.
- I thought it was just BS.
- No, it's not.
And with the drought,
we can totally get to it.
A few years ago, it would've
been too deep to reach.
You are such a geek.
But a cute geek.
I think your brother's got
the jones for some Hayley.
Mm, really? How could you tell?
He's, uh, so good at hiding it.
Some of us play it cool
and, well, some of us can't.
Tell me about it.
Hmm?
- What?
- Guys, if my map is right,
Reedsville should be right over there.
So, who's joining me on the first dive?
Should be one sober
person down there, huh?
Okay.
I guess family comes first.
You two have fun.
Bring me something cool.
What are you doing to me?
You're my sister. Give me a little help.
I am. She's a skank.
She fucks over every
guy she's been with.
I like her.
I want her to fuck me
over as much as she can.
I don't need you to save me, okay?
Uh, I kind of think you do.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Sure.
Suit up.
Whoo!
Help! He's drowning! Help!
Help me!
I can walk, Mom.
Okay, sweetie.
Can I make you something to eat?
No. I'm
I just want to lie down and take a nap.
Okay, sweetie.
Whatever you want.
We're just so glad that you're home.
I'm worried.
Maybe we brought her home too soon.
The doctor said she was ready.
Couple more weeks at
a mental health clinic
wasn't gonna help her.
Well, it wasn't just
a mental health clinic.
It was the best in the city.
She looks like a zombie.
She's getting used to being home.
It's going to be a process, Jeffrey.
She needs to find her life again
and start getting back to normal.
We all do.
Meaning me.
You don't talk to me anymore.
You come home from the office,
and you lock yourself in your study.
Well, I'm swamped.
You know? I've-I've
I've got all this work
to catch up with after
Uh
I think it would be good
for Finn if you were
If I were stronger.
Like you?
Around more.
Present.
I know you're hurting.
We're all just taking
it one day at a time.
And as hard as it is,
we're gonna have to try
and move forward.
We lost our son, Erin.
I'm just doing the best I can.
Sure I can't get you anything?
No?
Okay. Whatever you want, sweetie.
Mm.
Mom?
Yeah, sweetie?
What did you put in the casket?
The casket?
Jake wasn't in there,
so what did you bury?
Some mementos.
That essay Jake wrote in middle school
about his trip to Disneyland.
His Pokémon cards.
Those brown Crocs that he
wore to school every day.
Glad to get rid of those.
Kind of turned it into a time capsule.
That's nice.
I wish I was there.
Baby, you were getting healthy.
You were doing what you needed to do.
But am I healthy, Mom?
I still believe what I saw.
It just takes time.
Time will put it all into perspective.
Come here.
Whoa, hey. It's just me.
Could you say something
when you walk into the room?
I did, and you didn't hear me.
What's so interesting?
I was, um, just
checking if there were any
teaching jobs available.
But it's pretty dry out there right now.
Probably best, it's a good
time for me to be home.
Actually, I think you
should keep looking.
You do?
You were right.
We should be trying to move forward.
For Finn and and for you.
You were also right about me.
I let myself fall apart.
Instead of being there
for you and for Finn, I
I sealed myself off.
I'm gonna change, Erin.
I'll try to be stronger.
We don't need you to be stronger.
We just need you to be here.
Mom!
Find me.
Mom, find me.
Find me.
Find me.
You want to relive all this trauma
because of some nightmares?
Nightmares come when
you're asleep, Jeffrey.
I was awake both times.
I think these were something else.
Jake was
begging me to find him.
Jesus.
I can't ignore what I
saw and what I heard.
I just want to
go back there and look for him.
The police divers were
in the water for weeks.
Okay? Parts of that lake
are hundreds of feet deep.
Not the area where he disappeared.
Jake is dead, Erin.
He did not appear to you. Okay?
You are seeing what you want to see.
That's crazy, Jeffrey.
I didn't want to see what I saw.
You were the one saying how
important it was to move on.
Right? What What's
this gonna do to Finn,
dredging all of this back up?
She doesn't have to know.
Jeffrey, it's our son.
He's gone, Erin.
I know that!
You didn't see what I saw.
He wants to come home.
He needs me.
He needs us.
If you want to do this,
you're on your own.
I'm sorry, I
I have to get ready.
I believe you.
I believe you saw Jake,
and I believe he wants
you to bring him home.
- How did you
- Mom,
I've heard almost every argument
you and Dad have ever had.
Oh. That's a scary thought.
I want to go with you and look for him.
Come with me?
No, sweetie.
You're gonna need me to show
you exactly where it happened.
You just got back from the clinic.
You're healing.
I can't take you back there.
I still have nightmares, Mom.
They haven't gone away.
Okay? So, I'll heal a lot
faster when Jake's back home.
I can do this.
I need to do this.
Let me come with you.
We can't tell your father.
So we take off now.
Leave him a note
telling him where we are,
and by the time he gets
it, we'll be on the lake.
I don't remember you being this devious.
That's because most of the time
I was being devious with you.
Are you sure you want to do this?
You don't have to come.
No, I I don't want you to be alone.
Finn.
I'm fine.
Once we get there, um, I'll be okay.
Let's go.
Mom, let's go on a hike later.
- Ooh.
- Hey!
- What That's mine.
- Mmm, that is good.
- What? Dad!
- What?
Mom!
Guys, I can make more.
Yeah, but hers taste so much better.
Okay. Run. Go.
My waffle. Mine. Mine!
Go. Go.
- That's my waffle! Mine!
- Come and get me.
- You okay?
- Yes, sweetie.
I can't believe I'm back here.
I swore I'd never come
near this place again.
It's just so wrong.
All of it. I mean, I should've been
I should've been able to help him. I
He was my little brother.
I was supposed to look out for him.
Stop it. Don't do that.
It's not your fault, you know that.
I just need to keep hearing it.
Come on.
Let's get out there and
do what we came here to do.
It was right over there.
Last time I saw him.
He was so scared.
We're gonna find him. I know we will.
Be careful. Okay, Mom?
I'm gonna be more than careful.
I got this down at the marina.
It's eight feet down, right?
Yeah.
I'm gonna tie this around my waist.
If I don't surface in
a couple of minutes,
just pull me up best you can.
Okay.
Are you sure this is the spot?
I'm positive. Just keep going that way.
Is there a tricycle down there?
A tricycle? No.
Maybe we should just
call it a day. Okay?
- You're tired, Mom.
- No.
I can do a few more.
Mom?
Mom. Mom!
Mom!
Mom!
We searched that area for weeks
and came up with nothing.
It just seems incredible,
you come out here
and in a few hours find
what my men couldn't.
I know, Sheriff. It's
just as incredible to me.
Guess I have something inside
me that can't accept incredible.
Like these bodies you say you saw.
We can't find any sign of them.
I don't know what to say.
I saw them. They're there.
People chained to a concrete block?
Like they were left there to drown.
I found these on
one of the dead bodies.
"Boone"?
You recognize the name?
Belongs to a family that farmed
the area before it was a lake.
I think there's a descendant
still alive, Millie Boone.
You stick around these
parts long enough,
you'll hear a lot of
rumors about this area.
Secrets, some of them pretty unsavory.
I didn't come here to
uncover any secrets, Sheriff.
I came here to find my son.
I'm glad for you, ma'am.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
What are you thinking?
Taking our daughter back to the lake?
After everything she's been through?
- Jeffrey, just listen to me.
- No, no, no, no, no.
I'm coming out there,
and I'm bringing her home.
Jeffrey, we found Jake.
We're bringing our son home.
He was right there,
where he disappeared.
The local coroner needs to
do what they do with him.
He's coming home.
I-I can't even believe it. What
I want to have another service.
A real one this time, with our son.
Erin, I should've been there with you.
I know I've been saying
that a lot, what I
what I should've done, but
it's true.
We can talk about that when I get home.
We'll be leaving here in an hour or so.
How's Finn handling it?
She's glad her brother's coming home.
She's so strong.
- I got to go.
- Okay.
Was that Dad?
- Yeah.
- How was he?
Just like us and everyone,
he can't believe it.
- How's your hand?
- Oh.
Gonna have to grow some
skin back, but okay.
The paramedic was cute.
Oh, my God. Don't start.
I'm so proud of you, baby.
I'm proud of you, too, Mom.
I'm just really glad it's over.
What is it, Mom?
There's something going on here.
So you believe me.
I do.
We found your brother,
but now we need to find out why he died.
Know why I chose this shithole
to wait for old Scratch?
'Cause it's just across
the Prescott town line.
Won't live in that
fake-ass made-up place.
Ms. Boone, I just want to
talk about Lake Prescott
and why so many people are dying there.
People die there 'cause they're stupid.
They get drunk and they fall in.
Or they horse around near the edge,
and they can't swim.
My brother died in the lake.
And he wasn't stupid and he could swim.
Something got hold of his leg, and
he drowned.
We found his body just today.
Heard the sirens.
We didn't just find my son.
I saw three dead people
at the bottom of the lake,
chained to concrete.
And one of them was wearing this.
That can only belong to one Boone.
Maynard Nathaniel Boone,
my great-grandfather.
Why was he killed? Who killed him?
That would be the
state's own favorite son,
Mr. Wrede Prescott.
In Georgia, they were putting
up dams like ticks on a hound,
and he wanted to make sure
the Tar Heel State
didn't get left behind.
Plus, he'd get a cut of all
the power the dam generated,
so he stood to make a fortune.
But there were a lot of people out there
that didn't like that dam.
And out of pure spite,
he rounded up three of the men
that had caused him the most trouble.
Something to say, soldier boy?
If you let us go, I won't
say nothing. I swear.
- Please, sir.
- Oh, so now I'm "sir."
Before I was "that greedy sumbitch."
If I were you, I'd start practicing.
Practicing?
Holding my breath.
No. No!
No! Don't leave us here!
You can't leave us! Please!
Must've been horrible,
the water creeping up inch by inch.
Can't even fathom it.
Even after what they did to those men,
the fight to kill the
dam goes on to this day.
But how is it still going on?
The dam's been up for almost 90 years.
Who's leading this fight?
Every year we file a formal petition,
scrape up the signatures
to have the dam taken down,
in the name of the lives
lost in the building
and all the lives lost over the decades.
And every year that petition sinks
no matter how many people sign.
Why?
Wrede Prescott left an
endowment to protect the dam.
Not that he was so interested
in the damned thing himself,
but because he knew when
they drained the lake
it would reveal his crime
and destroy his precious family name.
His money's held in trust
at a law firm that fights tooth and nail
to keep that dam up,
beats off any attempt
to decommission the dam.
Spengler and Webber. That's the firm.
Are you sure that's
the name of the firm?
Tangled with 'em enough over the years,
I should know.
What are we gonna do?
Right now, we're going
to pack up our things
and go home.
I mean after.
Are you and Dad
Let's just get the hell
out of this fucking place.
Dad?
- What?
- Hey, sweetie.
- What are you doing here?
- Oh.
You said over the phone
you were coming home.
That was four hours ago.
Can you go into the bedroom
and get our stuff together
- so I can talk to your dad?
- Mom.
Wait, wait, wait. What is
it? Something with Jake?
Your firm
it's been keeping the Prescott Dam
from being torn down.
What?
You were involved in that, weren't you?
I don't understand.
You were involved in the effort
to keep the Prescott Dam
up and running. Yes or no?
Yes, I'm in charge of the entire case.
What does this got to do with anything?
The man you work for,
the man who built this dam
Wrede Prescott he's a monster.
What are you talking about?
He's been dead for years.
I'm sure he was accused
of a lot of bad things,
but so is every successful businessman.
Do all businessmen chain people
to concrete so they can drown?
- Where did you hear something like that?
- I didn't just hear I.
I saw it.
Like you saw Jake in your
bathroom and out by the pool.
I really think you need some help.
What, are you gonna put Mom
in a mental hospital, too?
Dad, hundreds of people
have died in this lake.
People die in lakes all the time.
The busier the lake,
the more people die.
Lake Prescott is one of the
busiest lakes in the state.
Prescott murdered people
to get what he wanted,
which means that you've been
taking money from a murderer.
- Yeah, well, so have you.
- Me?
You didn't know, and
you didn't want to know.
You never cared where
our money comes from.
Every now and again you say
you want to go back to teaching,
but none of that pays for
the kids' private schools,
your country club membership, your BMW
with all the bells and
whistles, our house
Dad, that's not fair.
You always said that
the house has been in
your family for years.
Yeah, that's right. My family.
Our house, our money, this cottage,
this lake, this town, is
all because of my family.
This town.
Dad
You're a Prescott.
I am, and so are you.
Your nana was proud to come
from such an illustrious family.
Wrede Prescott was a great man.
He built this whole
place up from nothing.
It was just dirt, patches of manure,
and he turned this into
a thriving destination.
People come here from all
over to see what he made.
This is his legacy.
And one day, Finn,
this will all be yours.
Oh, God.
This all makes sense now.
Why they took Jake, everything.
What happened to Jake
was a terrible accident.
No. It's the lake.
It wants revenge.
Jake died because of what you've done,
because of what your family's done.
You can't be serious.
You're saying that-that-that
I'm somehow responsible
for what happened to our son?
Is that, is that what
I'm hearing from you?
Of course you didn't want
any of this to happen,
but it all makes sense now.
Wrede Prescott hurt a lot of people,
and now they're angry at us.
They took Jake because he's
got Prescott blood in his veins.
Which means they could
come after me, too.
I swear, Erin, I almost understand
why you'd fall for something like this,
but making our daughter believe it?
I mean, come on. What the
hell is wrong with you?
No, she didn't make me
believe anything, Dad.
All right? This is the only thing
that explains what happened.
Enough! Fucking enough!
Okay, look.
We obviously have a lot
of things to work out.
The first and most important
thing we need to do is go home.
The crickets.
Guys, let's get out of here.
How can the fucking phone be dead, too?
What the hell is this?
We keep trying to tell you.
This is real.
It can't be real.
Oh!
Run!
- Whoa.
- Dad! Dad! No!
Come on, come on, come on.
Dad?
It's gonna be okay.
- Dad! Dad!
- Oh, my God.
Don't! Dad!
- Dad! No! Dad! Dad!
- Ah! Run!
- Dad!
- No!
Dad! Dad!
Dad.
Dad! Dad!
Dad! Dad!
- Dad.
- Baby.
We have to do something.
We have to help. We
have to call for help.
We can't.
He's gone.
This must've been what
they wanted all along.
All of it.
Jake's death.
My visions.
To get Jeffrey here
so they could take him.
What are we gonna tell everyone?
The truth.
They won't believe this.
Even if they won't,
the drought's getting worse.
The water level's falling.
The truth will come out.