Alice sobbed with relief. And then, she heard the sound of something hard hitting the door. A chopping sound. One of the boards splintered as the blade of a machete ripped through again and again as the mad woman continued to hack at it. A large piece of the door broke loose and fell inside.

Mrs. Voorhees looked through the gap, grinning insanely. She reached through and opened the latch, throwing the door wide open.

"No! No! No!" Alice felt the scream coming and she couldn't stop it. Mrs. Voorhees raised the machete and lunged with a yell.

Without thinking, reacting purely by instinct, Alice raised the skillet. There was a loud clang as the machete struck it. Glancing to one side, screaming hysterically, Alice swung the skillet once more. It struck the woman in the shoulder, stunning her momentarily but Alice didn't stop. She swung the skillet again and struck the woman's head with all her strength. Hearing the dull sound of metal hitting bone again and again. Mrs. Voorhees cried out and staggered back, bringing her hand up to protect her head.

Alice kept pounding at her, furiously until she fell back on the floor. She stood over the fallen body, ready to bring the skillet down again but Mrs. Voorhees didn't move.

Alice held her breath. The woman lay motionless on the floor. Alice couldn't tell if she was breathing.

Cautiously, keeping as much distance as she could between herself and the woman's body, Alice edged out into the kitchen. She reached out with her foot and prodded Mrs. Voorhees in the side, half expecting her to jerk up and grab her ankle in a powerful grip. But the woman didn't stir.

There was a large bruise over her eye where the skillet has struck her. The skin had split and blood slowly trickled down her face. Swallowing hard, Alice turned the body over with her foot. There was a dark puddle of blood on the floor beneath the woman's head.

Alice dropped the skillet. God, she thought, she's dead. I've killed her.

Relief and revulsion overcame her at once and she ran out of the cabin, gasping, drawing in deep lungfuls of the cool, night air.

I'm alive, she told herself over and over again. Thank God I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm alive.