Page 3 of Spark
Just in time to witness a scene straight out of a horror movie.
A monstrous creature that looked like some kind of half-wolf/half-human mutant was stalking through Calidus's softly-lighted, tastefully-appointed dining room, and it was headed in their direction.
The waiters and the restaurant's other diners seemed completely unaware of the monster that had suddenly appeared among them.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "What is that?"
The creature's head turned towards Sophie, giving her the impression that it had not only heard her, but was startled by her words.
It continued forward, its misshapen head swinging from side to side, as if sniffing after prey. With a shock, Sophie recognized the tatters of bloodstained satin and lace hanging from the creature's shoulders as the remnants of fancy lingerie.
"Huh?" Chris asked. He looked around the dining room with a confused expression. "What are you looking at?"
"I—uh—" The words choked in Sophie's throat. It had been years since she'd dared to tell anyone that she could see ghosts.
This creature looked terrifyingly solid, not all misty or transparent like most spirits.
And based on the total lack of reaction from anyone else seated in the restaurant, Sophie realized was the only one who could see the monster. Therefore, it must be a ghost of some kind.
The wolf-ghost-thing scanned the dining room, then came alert. Its gaze fixed on Javier, who was speaking with the diners seated two tables over.
The monster snarled, displaying a terrifying array of blood-stained fangs, and lunged forward.
Sophie let out an involuntary shriek as the snarling, slavering thing hit Javier squarely in the chest.
The young man, who had been one of Sophie’s high school classmates, toppled sideways with a strangled cry, the monster on top of him, its jaws clamped around his throat.
"No! Stop! You're killing him!" Sophie shouted.
Everyone in the restaurant had stopped to stare at Javier when he fell, and Mitya was already halfway out of his seat. They all looked at Sophie as if she were some kind of crazy person.
The wolf-thing raised its head from Javier's now-reddened throat and glared at her with burning golden eyes.
Chapter Two
Sophie stared back, paralyzed with terror, unable to look away. She was suddenly glad that her sister hadn’t come to dinner with them tonight.
"Damaris, phone 911!" Mitya ordered Mom.
His chair toppled backwards and bounced off the carpet as he rushed over to Javier and knelt at the fallen waiter's side. Like most of the other adults in the Bearpaw Ridge area, Mitya was a member of the town's volunteer fire department.
With a loud growl, the creature released Javier, abruptly rose on its hind legs and bounded on top of the nearest table, rattling the dishes and silverware. It leaped through the restaurant's wainscoted wall and vanished from sight.
Chris was right behind Mitya. He and Sophie's other best friend, Matt Swanson, were also volunteer firefighters.
"His throat's all bruised and closing up," Chris reported tensely.
"What the hell happened here?" Mitya demanded.
Frozen with horror, Sophie heard Javier's tortured wheezing, and saw him straining to breathe.
An instant later, the tall, silver-haired Executive Chef, Daniel Langlais, burst through the swinging kitchen door, a large, soft-sided first aid kit in his hand.
"Is he having some kind of seizure?" Daniel asked as he approached Javier. His voice was soft but urgent.
"Hey, Linda, we’ve got some kind of medical emergency happening at the restaurant in the Bearpaw Springs Resort hotel," Damaris said into her phone. Her gaze never left the fallen waiter, or the three men now working to apply first aid. "One of the waiters just collapsed."
She paused as Linda, the area's longtime emergency dispatcher, apparently asked her some questions.
