Right now, James and Cassie were clinging to his artificial leg, like they were trying to pull it off.

And the baby, Billy, was still bawling in the crook of his arm.

And Big Red was mad all over again. So mad his chest was heaving up and down with the force of the awful feeling.

Usually he had trouble maneuvering his artificial leg. But right now the leg was feeling hot and powerful, like it could do more than a human leg could. Sure enough, he let out this amazing kick with his artificial leg that sent James and Cassie flying against the wall.

They just sat there for a second, staring up him, dazed and surprised. They had been laughing so hysterically. Now their laughter ceased. In its place came tears.

In fact, all three kids were crying now.

And it took all of Big Red's willpower not to throw Billy against the wall and break him like a toy.

Instead, he forced himself to drop the crying baby back in his crib. Then he headed out the door and down the stairs. He had to turn his big feet all the way outward like a penguin to fit them onto the narrow steps.

The chain saw continued its high-pitched scream as Red clomped down, down, down to the basement. He was getting angrier with every step.

   Chapter 11

The wooden house was dark and quiet as Bud junior and his wife drove up the grassy drive.

"Looks like Dad got them to sleep all right," Bud junior told his wife with a proud smile. Earlier this evening, Buddy and his wife had argued whether it was safe to let his father mind the kids—even for a couple of hours. Looked like he'd been right to trust his dad, Buddy thought happily.

Jessie took Buddy's hand as they strolled up the steps to the front door. That wasn't like her. A night away from the kids seemed to have done her a world of good.

Jessie went in first. Buddy was putting the latch on the door when his wife gasped.

He whirled. Through the archway into the living room he could see the liquor cabinet; it had been smashed open and toppled onto the floor.

Husband and wife stared at each other for one shocked second, then Jessie started racing up the front stairway. Buddy just stood where he was. He was moving toward the fallen liquor cabinet, his feet crunching over broken glass, when the screams came from upstairs.

They were piercing horrible screams that sounded as if his wife were vomiting up her insides, they were so loud.

   Chapter 12

He sat there, hands over his mask, blubbering like a two-year- old. He just felt so awful for what he had done, to Ma and Pa, Tuck and Bud... But most of all, he felt bad about those little kids. Those children were his friends.

"I'm sorry," he kept saying. "I'm sorry."

He didn't know how it had happened. After he killed Bud, he was still in a rage. He went upstairs. And the next thing he knew, it was like his artificial leg took on a life of its own. It started kicking and stomping and—

Big Red stuck the liquor bottle he was holding up to the hole in his mask and tilted his head back. He had taken three bottles from Buddy's house. This one was all that was left.

At first Red wanted to smash all the bottles in Buddy's house, spill out all the liquor that had caused so much pain and trouble through the years. But then he thought it might make him feel better if he drank some.

It hadn't worked. He kept seeing these awful pictures from Buddy's house. Like that new dollhouse Uncle Bud was working on down in his son's workshop. After Big Red had gotten so angry, he'd used the chain saw on Uncle Bud. Then he'd wedged Bud's head into the dollhouse. It looked so creepy, sitting there. Uncle Bud's eyes kept staring right out the dollhouse windows.

   Friday the 13th: Jason's Curse, chapter 15