Prologue
Sara awoke with a start, disoriented and still very tired. The wind whipped around the house, moaned down the chimney and howled it’s fury through the trees. It wasn’t those sounds that awoken her, but another almost rhythmic sound heard far away through the cacophony. Bang, bang, there it was again. The barn door! The barn door was open, she must have failed to latch it correctly and the wind did the rest. Her thoughts went immediately to her horse Blizzard. Jumping out of bed she ran to the window. Through the swirl of leaves and driving rain she could see nothing, that is until a flash of lightning painted a stark picture. The door was caught in mid swing, she could see her father, holding a lantern approaching the barn, fighting against the terrible wind.
Sara began to sob. The storm had started around noon the day before. Word had reached them that the river had flooded and the bridge out of town had been washed away. If Blizzard was out, he may run towards the river out of fear and be swept away.
Another bright flash of lightning illuminated the scene before her.
Through the trees she could see something white, moving slowly. Blizzard! She opened the window and tried to scream over the sound of the storm. Rain hit her like cold birdshot. Leaves swept into the room and flew in circles all about her. She pointed toward the trees and tried to get her father to hear her. It was useless. In her fear and excitement she didn’t even notice that the rain had soaked through her nightgown and clung to her like white seaweed.
The next burst of lightning revealed her father heading towards the woods. He must have seen her horse there too. She could still see it, sturdy white hind quarters moving through the swaying pine trees. She saw her father one last time as he stepped in after the animal, the after image burned onto her retinas.
She waited for what seemed a very long time. Peering into the darkness she willed herself to see in the dark, but saw only blackness. Thunder boomed in the surrounding hills and lightning struck a tree not far from the house. There was a sudden burst of flame and then it was extinguished by the relentless rain. In that flash she saw her horse Blizzard approaching the house, alone, head hung down. She leaned out of the window and called for him as loudly as she could, then stopped. She wasn’t sure but something seemed to be wrong. It didn’t look exactly like Blizzard. It might have been a trick of the light, or her own anxiety working against her but she could have sworn that this horse was much larger than Blizzard, the size of a draft horse or bigger. Blizzard was a smaller horse, perfect for a sixteen year old to ride and control. There was also something in the way it moved…something not horse-like.
A wave of uncertain fear swept through her. She closed the window and stepped back. The horse would be at the house now, just under her window, but something was keeping her from looking. She thought to herself how foolish this was, what if the horse was hurt or in trouble? She was shivering uncontrollably now, she told herself it was from the cold and moved to open the window.
That’s when it happened.
The white creature below must have stood on its hind legs, pale almost human hands, though much larger clamped down on the windowsill, claws tearing through the wood.
Sara tried to scream but found her voice frozen behind chattering teeth. Slowly, an long white horse-like head rose into view. It’s nostrils flared and hot steam fogged the window for a moment. Pale eyes, like blue sky reflected on ice stared at her. They were not a horses dark kind eyes, but human eyes, cold and full of hate. It’s muzzle parted in a grin revealing a row of large sharp teeth, stained red with blood and flecked with strands of meat.
“Father…” was all Sara said before fainted.
She didn’t hear the glass break, or see the long arms reaching toward her. She never felt the claws dig into her cold wet skin. She never felt anything again.
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