It was unable to contain a scream of rage as it saw the servitor demon dissolve into a cloud of reeking steam . Fully aware that mundane human weapons could not have damaged the creature badly enough to force it back to their native realm , it realized that the missile had borne some form of enchantment . With this thought in mind , it moved rapidly away from the house , knowing that they were unlikely to pursue , since their movement seemed to be hindered by the cold , white powder .

      The demon moved rapidly through the trees , attempting to organize it's thoughts as it ran . It could abandon its pursuit of this particular group of humans , and move on to easier prey , but it instinctively balked at the idea . "No !" , it thought to itself . "They have had the effrontery to attempt to deny me sustenance , and they have caused me pain . Whether I feed upon them or no , they will surely perish . Not this night , perhaps , but soon ."

      Stopping near the abandoned house , it considered the options available to it . Go back , and attempt to attack the dwelling alone , thus risking another imprisonment , or even banishment . Or , seek out more animals to feed upon , and hope to increase its strength enough to summon a more powerful servant the next time . Mulling for a few moments , it opted for the latter ; even though the animals were far from being its preferred prey , they were preferable to continued hunger and powerlessness .

      Turning in the opposite direction , the demon bounded through the snow , looking for signs of life . After a time , it spotted a small point of light , and moved towards it . When it drew closer , it recognized the outline of a building , with small points of light showing through the openings . The silhouette of a human came into view , covering itself in the heavy garments they found necessary to withstand the cold , and it repressed an enthusiastic squeal , moving back into the shadows at the side of the building , awaiting the chance to feed .

      But , as it watched the human move toward the building where the animals were kept , and observed the man's sheer size , and apparent physical power , it began to reconsider , developing what the remnant's of its host's consciousness thought of as a "backup plan". 

      "Maybe this one will suffice ." , the demon thought . "Perhaps this will be my new form . With this one , I should have no difficulties destroying the others ."

                                  *******************************************************

      "But Dad , I'm supposed to do this myself , he's my project !" , Katie Logan protested . "It's not like the barn is miles away ."

      "No , darlin' , I know it's not , but I'm not gonna take a chance on you hurtin' that knee again . You're just starting to get around good after the surgery , and I don't think either of us wants to have to repeat the process ." , Vance Logan replied . "And I'm pretty sure you don't have to tell the 4H people that I actually fed your calf for you one time . Besides , I want to go up into the loft and see if there are any more lanterns stashed up there . So you just stay here with Gwen , and I'll be back in a jiff , all right ?"

      Katie grudgingly agreed , and Vance left the house . She stood at the window for a minute , watching him force his way through the drifts , then turned and walked down the hall towards the bedrooms . Peeking around the doorframe into one of the rooms , she looked at the woman reading in the bed , and inquired , "How ya feeling , Gwen ? Do you need anything ?"

      The visibly pregnant young woman glanced up at her young sister - in -law and said , "Not right this minute , thanks . I'm just hoping that the power comes back soon , so I can Skype with Josh again . I just wish he was gonna be here when the baby comes ."

      "Well , you have that doctors appointment in a couple of days , and if they say that you still have to be on bedrest , Dad says that Josh might be able to put in for an emergency leave . Not that I want you to have to be , you know , but ..."

      "Yeah , Katie , I know what you mean . It's boring as hell , but if it means that Josh might get to come home , I guess it wouldn't be all b..."

      Both girls started as Gwen's words were cut off by a loud , grating shriek from the front of the house . They stared wide - eyed at each other for a moment , then Gwen shakily asked , "What was that ? I thought that Josh said the cougars didn't come down this far ."

      "They usually don't , but the weather sometimes forces them out ." , Katie responded . "But I've heard them before , and that was no cougar . I don't know what it was , but I'm gonna go look out the window ."

      The girl moved quietly back to the living room , and peeked through the blinds . As her eyes adjusted , she noted that the barn door stood open , and that she could faintly see the light of the battery - powered lantern that her father carried . Gathering her courage , she quickly pulled on her coat and stepped out onto the front porch , grabbing the large flashlight by the door as she went . 

      Sweeping the light across the yard , she saw her father's footprints in the snow , leading toward the barn , and then a second set , coming back to the house , which were interrupted midway by a large amount of disturbed snow . 

      "It looks like he was fighting with something ." , she thought , "Maybe there really was a cougar ." Stepping further out onto the porch , trying to get a better look , a noise from the barn caught her attention . It sounded like Elvira , their pig , but the squeals sounded panicked , not like her usual contented grumbling . The sounds continued , increasing in volume , until they stopped abruptly , to be replaced by a different sound . This one seemed , to Katie , similar to the sound her boots made in thick mud ; liquid , yet thick and slurping , and for some reason she didn't understand , it filled her with apprehension . 

      "Dad !" , she called out , moving towards the steps that would take her down to the yard , and to the barn . "Dad , is everything okay ? Do you need me to come help ?"

      Instead of her father's voice coming back to her from the barn , Katie heard a loud hissing noise , akin to air escaping from the compressor . This was followed by a scraping sound , and as she stood rooted to the porch , something bounded out of the open barn door and along the side of the building . She turned her flashlight towards the form , which caused it to emit the same noise they had heard from the bedroom , giving her a brief glimpse of a face , oddly featureless save for the gaping mouth , filled with teeth like shards of glass .

      She screamed and stumbled backward , nearly falling , as the thing darted out of the beam of light and around the corner of the barn , out of sight . She turned and scrambled back into the house , slamming the door behind her and locking it . After leaning against it for a few seconds , she gathered herself enough to look through the blinds once again . At first , she saw nothing , but after several minutes , she made out the shape of the thing she had seen leaving the barn , moving away from the house , and it appeared to be dragging something fairly large through the snow .

      "Damn , it just stole Chester !" , she blurted .

      "Katie , who are you talking to ? What was all the noise about ?" , Gwen called from the bedroom . 

      Dashing back down the hall to where the other young woman waited , Katie skidded into the room , almost babbling . "There was something out there , I don't know what it was , and it took Chester , and I think it maybe hurt Elvira , and I don't know where Dad is !"

      Taking hold of Katie's arm , Gwen pulled the girl down to sit on the bed next to her , and spent several minutes calming her down enough to repeat her story in a more coherent fashion . This wasn't entirely helpful , since by the time she finished the tale , Gwen was nearly as panic - stricken as she was .

      "I have to go out there and find Dad !" , Katie insisted . "What if it hurt him , too ?" 

      "Katie , honey , Vance is a big , strong fella , he can hold his own with just about anybody ." , Gwen responded , trying to appear calm . "And if he couldn't , then neither can you . You can't go out there , he'd never forgive himself if you got hurt going to look for him ."

      The two girls debated for nearly an hour , until Katie finally agreed to wait until morning to go out . She left the room to double - check the locks on all of the doors , then returned to Gwen's room , shoving the dresser in front of the door , and curling up in bed with the pregnant young woman , both of them sleeping only fitfully .

      As the sky finally lightened , Katie unblocked the bedroom door , dressed herself in warm clothing , and let herself out of the house . Struggling through the snow , she reached the churned up patch , where her father's footprints stopped , and mingled with another set . These seemed , to her astonishment , to be bare , shoeless prints , which looked as though they had claws .

      Continuing on to the barn , she hesitantly stepped inside , and was greeted by a gruesome sight . Elvira was lying on the hard - packed dirt of the barn floor , obviously dead , with her internal organs scattered around her body . Katie's hand flew up to cover her mouth , and she turned away , only to be faced with the corpse of Chester , her sweet little black - and - white calf , killed in the same way as the sow .

      Forcing herself not to throw up , Katie began walking back to the house , thinking , "If Chester's in the barn , then it wasn't him that thing dragged off , so it must have been Dad . But where did it take him ?"

      Katie reached a decision as she walked , and as soon as she entered the house , she went to the kitchen and began gathering items into the biggest mixing bowl they owned : bottles of water , pudding cups , bananas , a jar of peanut butter , and silverware . Scooping up a loaf of bread , she carried it into the bedroom , and placed everything on the small table next to Gwen's bed .

      "That thing killed Chester and Elvira , and took Dad off somewhere , so I'm gonna go see if I can find some help ." , Katie stated in a flat voice . "I brought you some food , so you don't have to get up until somebody comes , unless you have to go to the bathroom ."

      "Katie , you know your knee still isn't in great shape , you can't go out in this stuff ." , Gwen protested .

      "I know , but I have to ! Neither one of our phones is working right now , since we don't have any power to charge 'em , and we can't sit here forever  and let it hurt Dad , so I have to ."

      Realizing that she couldn't argue with the teenager's reasoning , Gwen merely nodded , and said , "Okay , but be careful ."

      "Don't worry , I will ." , Katie replied as she left the room . Grabbing a packet of Pop - Tarts off of the counter as she passed through the kitchen , she ripped it open and began nibbling on one of the pastries as she forced her way through the snow , which reached nearly up to her ribcage in some areas .

      Deciding that the safest thing to do was to go in the opposite direction from the one the thing from the barn had taken , she slowly made her way through the trees , walking for several hours , until she noticed the trees starting to thin out enough for her to make out the outline of a house .  With her lungs nearly raw from the frigid air , and her knee feeling like someone had jammed an icepick into it , she felt a huge wave of relief when she heard voices . 

      Moving as quickly as she could , she saw two men standing on the back porch of the house , and called out , "Excuse me , guys , but is there any chance that one of you has a phone that works ? There's something really wrong at my house , and I need to get some help ."