"Jed, I'm going to kill you!"
Burt clearly recognized the masked man. Finding Jed Sawyer had been the second reason he wanted control of the Carson estate, but grief and rage had erased every trace of caution from his mind.
He failed to notice the bullet holes covering Leatherface's mask or the blood pouring down his neck. Burt still treated him like an ordinary man and raised his handgun without hesitation.
He emptied the magazine into Leatherface's chest.
Every shot struck close to the heart. At such a short distance, Ash assumed the huge man could not possibly survive.
Only then did he study the bloodstained apron, human-skin mask, and yellow chainsaw.
Leatherface.
Ash finally understood why the mansion and the Sawyer graves had seemed familiar. Heather's inheritance was connected to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, though he could not remember which version of the story this world followed.
The franchise had been rebooted and rewritten too many times. Leatherface's history changed between movies, and Ash had no idea what role Heather played in this one.
He only knew that her resemblance to a familiar actress was no coincidence.
For a moment, Ash regretted arriving too late. If Burt had already killed Leatherface, he had lost the chance to gain whatever ability the famous killer carried.
Then Leatherface moved.
The massive figure remained upright despite the bullets buried in his chest. Dark golden eyes appeared behind the torn mask, and the pupils narrowed into vertical slits like those of a snake.
"Watch out!"
Ash's instincts warned him a moment before Leatherface attacked, but Burt reacted too slowly.
The chainsaw engine screamed.
Leatherface swung both arms and hurled the running weapon across the bathroom. The heavy machine spun through the air while its teeth tore at everything in its path.
Burt barely had time to raise his hands.
The blade struck him in the forehead.
The impact lifted his feet from the floor and threw him backward. The chainsaw remained buried in his skull as his body crashed into the hallway.
Ash drew a sharp breath.
Leatherface had taken bullets through the head and heart without dying. This was no longer the ordinary killer from the early movies.
Someone had given him the same kind of impossible durability as Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.
Leatherface had become something supernatural.
Ash raised the Remington and fired.
The first load of buckshot struck Leatherface in the chest. The force drove his enormous body backward into the bathroom mirror, which shattered beneath his weight.
Fragments of glass rained onto the floor.
Leatherface released a low growl but remained standing.
Ash pumped the fore-end. The spent shell flew aside as another round entered the chamber.
He aimed higher and fired again.
Buckshot tore through the already damaged mask. Pieces of dried skin, flesh, and bone exploded outward, revealing the deformed face beneath it.
Part of Leatherface's cheek had been destroyed. White bone showed through the blood, while those yellow-green eyes continued staring at Ash with unnatural hunger.
Ash kept firing.
Each movement was controlled and mechanical. He worked the shotgun, raised the barrel, and sent another load into Leatherface's head.
Gunshots thundered through the narrow hallway.
Flesh and fragments of bone struck the walls. Leatherface's head snapped backward under every impact, but his body refused to fall.
Ash fired until the Remington was empty.
Smoke drifted from the barrel.
What remained of Leatherface's face looked like a mass of torn meat. His throat had been shredded, yet a rough rattling breath still escaped through the damage.
The creature slowly straightened.
Ash's expression darkened.
Whoever had transformed Leatherface into this had turned a dangerous human killer into an immortal monster. No ordinary victim could have fought something capable of surviving this much damage.
Ash thought of Gwen and Heather outside.
The situation had gone far beyond anything he expected.
"Heather!" he shouted. "Take Gwen and call the police! Get out of here!"
Outside the mansion, Heather and Gwen heard the urgency in his voice. The chainsaw and repeated shotgun blasts had already made it clear that Ash was facing something far more dangerous than an ordinary attacker.
Heather's face turned pale.
She gripped the Winchester and started toward the entrance, but Gwen caught her wrist.
"Ash told us to call the police."
"He might need help."
"If we go inside, he'll have to protect us too."
Gwen's hand felt cold, but her voice remained controlled. She was terrified for her brother, yet she understood that ignoring his order could make the situation worse.
Heather hesitated for only a moment before following her toward the Ford.
Ash had left the keys in the ignition after they returned from town. Gwen climbed behind the wheel while Heather entered the passenger seat with the shotgun.
They drove down the private road toward the gate.
As the Ford approached the entrance, headlights appeared beyond the iron bars. Several police cruisers had stopped on Homestead Road.
Sheriff Hooper stepped out of the lead vehicle and moved toward the intercom. Before he could press the button, the estate gate opened automatically for the approaching Ford.
Gwen drove through and stopped beside the patrol cars.
Heather jumped out before the vehicle had fully settled. She rushed toward Hooper with the Winchester held safely toward the ground.
"There's someone inside the mansion with a chainsaw," she said. "He already killed people, and Ash is still fighting him."
Hooper looked toward the distant house as another gunshot echoed across the estate.
He drew his weapon.
"All units, move in."