August 18, 1973
Sally Hardesty jumped out the window, shattering it, hit the ground and looked around, her head aching from the sledgehammer.
As she started to limp away from the hell house, blood streaming down her face, the hitchhiker burst out of the door with his pocketknife and began to run after her, with Leatherface following right behind holding the chainsaw, which made the haunting, echoing vroom.
She reached the dirt road and felt the hitchhiker slice the knife down her back several times, and watched as he was crushed under the wheels of a large cattle truck.
The cattle truck driver lifted the traumatized girl into his truck right before Leatherface began to scrape at the door with his chainsaw. The driver and Sally exited through the passenger door. Unfortunately, Leatherface was right behind them.
The driver threw a pipe wrench at Leatherface, causing him to fall and the chainsaw ripping the flesh on his leg. He got up and continued to follow Sally while the cattle truck driver ran away down the road.
Sally flagged down a pickup truck and rushed to climb into the back. After slipping twice, she climbed once more and finally fell into the back with Leatherface no more than a few inches behind her.
The truck started to speed down the dirt road, with Leatherface following it and swinging the chainsaw.
"Go!" Sally screamed. "Go!"
She continued to scream as the outline of the mainiac who killed her brother and friends shrank in the distance.
Soon, her screams of terror turned into crazed laughter.
August 18, 1988
Sally woke with her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She sighed in relief.
Just another nightmare, she thought.
She got up before looking at her husband, James, who was dead asleep. James was a handsome man and looked younger than his thirty-seven years. He had brown hair that he always kept combed to the side and was very muscular. He was also a very gentle man, but was very protective of Sally and their daughter.
Might as well get up, Sally thought.
She planted a sweet kiss on her husband's forehead before getting out of bed to check on Annie.
When she walked into her daughter's bedroom, Annie was also in a deep sleep. She was a beautiful six year old; she had Sally's blue eyes and James's brown colored hair.
Sally also gave the sleeping child a loving kiss before going into the kitchen to make herself coffee.
Their black Labrador Retriever, Opal, was waiting.
"Hi, girl," Sally said sweetly, "would you like some breakfast?"
Opal began to wag her tail.
Sally laughed. "I'll take that as a yes."
After feeding Opal, Sally started the coffee machine.
Then she remembered the date.
15 years later, she thought, 15 years later and they don't know a thing.
She gasped as she felt muscular arms wrap around her waist.
"Morning, darlin'," she heard James's voice.
She laughed. "James, don't sneak up on me like that."
"I couldn't help it," he said, "You seemed so deep in thought."
"I made coffee." she said, handing him a mug.
He smiled and buried his face into her neck as he took the mug.
"What would I do without you?" he murmured.
"Who knows?" Sally joked.
Then her mind switched to a different subject.
"James?" Sally said, her voice serious.
"Yeah, baby?" He raised his head.
"I need to talk to you about something."
They both sat down at the table.
Sally took a deep breath. "Remember when I told you about my friends and my brother Franklin?"
"Yeah, you told me about the car crash before."
"James, I lied."
Now James was silent.
"On August 18, 1973, we were all in a van. We heard about grave robbers at our grandfather's cemetery, and we wanted to make sure he wasn't robbed. After that, we decided to visit the old homestead. Along the way, we picked up this hitchhiker. He was insane and he cut Franklin, so we got him out of the van. When we got to the homestead, Kirk and his girlfriend Pam wanted to go swimming, so Franklin gave them directions to the swimming pool. That was the last time I saw them."
James was completely silent as he listened to his wife. His face got more concerned every second.
"When they didn't come back, my then-boyfriend Jerry went to go look for him and I never saw him again. By the time it was dark, me and Franklin went to go look for them. We pushed our way through the trail to where all three of them were headed. Then Franklin told me to stop. And just then this hidious looking man wearing this bloodied apron and a mask made of flesh came out of nowhere and just drove his chainsaw through my brother. The police later referred to him as 'Leatherface'. I screamed and ran before I was kidnapped by the brother of Leatherface. They fed my blood to their old grandfather, and the next thing I knew I was at a dinner table tied to a chair. They were all there, and one of them was the hitchhiker. All I could do was scream.
They then tried to have the grandpa kill me by beating me with a sledgehammer. He was to weak. I broke free and jumped out a window before getting chased by the hitchhiker and Leatherface. The hitchhiker was hit by a cattle truck. I got into a back of a pickup truck and escaped. I talked to officers about it. And then I went into a catatonic state. I spent the next three years in a mental institution."
It was very quiet in the room as Sally waited for James to leave her.
But he walked over to her, pulled her up and kissed her. "Baby, why didn't you tell me in the first place?"
"I thought you would be frightened of me."
"Oh, Sally," he said, resting his chin on top of her head, "you're too sweet to be afraid of."
Sally felt a smile crawl up to her cheeks.
Just then Opal raised her head and raced down the hallway to Annie's room.
Sally pulled away and began to follow the dog down the hall.
"What's the matter, Opal?" Sally asked.
Opal stared out of Annie's window and growled.
Sally knew something was wrong. This was not like Opal.
So Sally looked out the window and immediately froze.
There in the driveway was none other than Leatherface, standing there holding a chainsaw. Almost immediately, he pulled the string to his weapon and Sally heard the faint vroom.
She turned to James. "Grab Annie."
"What's going on?"
"It's him!" Sally yelled.
James looked out the window, and immediately woke up Annie.
"Daddy?" Annie said groggily. "What's happening?"
"We need to go, darling." He grabbed her hand. "Get Ollie."
Ollie was Annie's stuffed teddy bear, who she could never leave without.
Annie grabbed Ollie and got out of bed.
"Get in the basement!" he shouted.
The three of them ran into the basement, with Opal right behind them.
All four walked down the basement steps hurriedly. When they reached the bottom, they walked into the huge storage closet, which was big enough to hold all of them.
Sally closed the door and locked it before turning to Annie. "Baby, stay very quiet, okay?"
Annie could see the fright on her mother's face. She nodded.
Opal was a smart dog. She knew when there was danger, so she never made a sound.
All of them waited in the dark closet for a good thirty seconds. Then they heard the sound of the chainsaw tearing open their front door. After that, they heard the sound of footsteps just above them.
Sally then remembered there was a hammer in the storage closet. But their only light was the cracks through the door. So it was impossible to see.
She ran her hand along the walls, trying to not make as much noise as possible.
She then felt the top of the hammer and grabbed it just as Leatherface opened the basement door, the chainsaw now much louder. They listened as he stomped down the steps almost cautiously.
Sally's heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she saw the maniac's shadow stop right in front of the closet.
Sally saw the chance. She burst out the closet and just as Leatherface turned his head she landed the hammer directly on the top of his head with all her strength. He didn't make a sound as he fell directly onto the ground, his chainsaw still running.
"Hurry!" Sally screamed.
All of them ran up the steps with Opal ahead of them and they burst out of the shredded front door for the station wagon. James opened the backseat door and hurriedly placed Annie, who was still clutching Ollie in her arms, and held the door open as Opal immediately jumped in right next to the little girl.
Sally ran around to the passenger door and sat inside quickly as James hopped into the driver's seat.
He placed the keys into the ignition, but the engine just sputtered.
"Dammit!" he muttered.
"What?" Sally practically shouted her question.
"The goddamn thing won't start!"
Just when he said this, Sally turned around to see Leatherface running out of the front door, swinging his chainsaw.
"Hurry!" Sally shrieked.
James turned the keys once more, and the car finally started just as Leatherface almost reached the front of the car.
And the car began to race down the road as Leatherface began to dance in the road crazily.
As they drove away, Sally gave a huge sigh of relief.
"It's over." She said. "It's finally over."
Opal rested her head in little Annie's lap, shaking.
"Mama?" Annie asked, looking confused. "Who was that?"
Sally turned and looked her daughter in the eye.
"A person Mommy met a long time ago sweetie."
"So a man wearin' a mask made of flesh broke into their home?" the sheriff asked the officer skeptically when they walked into the basement.
"Apparently so," said the officer, "but it does explain the front door."
They reached the storage closet.
"They said they hid in here." The officer reached for the doorknob.
Before he could, Leatherface burst out of the closet and the roar of the chainsaw drowned out their screams as the maniac drove it through both of them.