The Disciple and Other Stories of the Paranormal

Praise for The
Disciple

and Other Stories of the
Paranormal

“Ms. Chase certainly knows her way around a
short story.”

Long and Short Reviews

“Ms. Chase offers an ending that was a
complete surprise.”

Single Titles

“I love the dark edged (this term is used so
I don’t scare off readers who shy away from ‘horror’) themes.”

I Smell Sheep

“With this...Gini Koch - this time writing as
Jemma Chase - explores another style of writing than her usual
snark and wit and proves she doesn't need them to keep this reader
interested.”

Pearls Cast Before a McPig

Also by
Gini Koch
:

The Alien/Katherine “Kitty”
Katt Series

TOUCHED BY AN
ALIEN

ALIEN TANGO

ALIEN IN THE
FAMILY

ALIEN
PROLIFERATION

ALIEN DIPLOMACY

ALIEN VS. ALIEN

ALIEN IN THE
HOUSE

ALIEN RESEARCH

ALIEN COLLECTIVE

UNIVERSAL ALIEN

ALIEN SEPARATION (coming May
2015)

ALIEN IN CHIEF (coming
December 2015)

CAMP ALIEN (coming May
2016)

ALIEN NATION (coming
December 2016)

ALIENS ABROAD (coming May
2017)

The Necropolis Enforcement
Files Series

THE NIGHT BEAT

NIGHT MUSIC (coming February
2015)

The Martian Alliance
Chronicles Series

THE ROYAL SCAM (coming
2015)

THREE CARD MONTE (coming
2015)

A BUG’S LIFE (coming
2015)

RANDOM MUSINGS FROM THE
FUNNY GIRL

THE HAPPY ACRES HAUNTED
HOTEL FOR ACTIVE SENIORS

Anthologies

CLOCKWORK UNIVERSE:
STEAMPUNK VS. ALIENS –

A Clockwork
Alien

TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE
BAKER STREETS –

All The Single
Ladies

UNIDENTIFIED FUNNY OBJECTS 3
–
Live at the Scene

TEMPORALLY OUT OF ORDER
–
Alien Time Warp
(coming 2015)

THE X-FILES: TRUST NO ONE
–
Sewers
(coming
2015)

The Disciple

and Other Stories of the
Paranormal

By Gini Koch

Writing as

Jemma Chase

This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, incidents, and dialogues in this book
are of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously and are
not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The Disciple and Other
Stories of the Paranormal

Published by Jemma Chase at
Smashwords

Copyright 2015 Jeanne
Cook

The Disciple first
published by Musa Publishing November 2011

Hotter Than Hell first
published by Musa Publishing October 2011

Strange Protection first
published by Penumbra eMagazine Volume 1, Issue 3, December
2011

All rights reserved,
including the right to reproduce this book or any portions thereof
in any form whatsoever. For information, contact the author:
[email protected].

The scanning, uploading and
distribution of this book via the internet or via other means
without the express written permission of the author is illegal and
punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic and
print editions, and do not participate in or encourage the
electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the
author’s rights is appreciated.

Editors: Mary
Fiore

Cover Artist: Lisa
Dovichi

ISBN:
978-1-50865-3653

Jemma Chase

http://www.ginikoch.com

Dedication

To my husband, the man who puts up with my
proclivities, bizarre cravings, fascination with the weird, and
need for constant heat even when it’s warm out.

Acknowledgments

Thanks and love to my wonderful agent,
Cherry Weiner, and my also wonderful critique partner, Lisa
Dovichi. Thanks again to all the good folks at Artichoke Head and
everyone on Team Gini – couldn’t have gotten this done without all
of you!

And many thanks to my family for constant,
loving support and lots and lots of red wine (hey, it’s the closest
thing to blood I can legally find) and chocolate.

Table of Contents

STRANGE PROTECTION

HOTTER THAN HELL

WAITING

AMAZING

THE DISCIPLE

STRANGE
PROTECTION

She was finally able to stop running for a
few moments.

She took advantage of the near wall shrouded
in darkness, leaned against it, and tried not to pant out loud.

The place seemed deserted; then she noticed
the man standing just outside of the small circles of light coming
from the train station’s few lamps. He was dressed like a typical
businessman — suit, heavy overcoat, gloves, bulky briefcase. She
wondered for a moment why he was taking such a late train into the
city, then froze, examining him carefully, in case he was one of
them.

He was clean-shaven, his hair carefully
trimmed and arranged. His clothes looked to be of good quality, but
that was all she could discern. He didn’t seem to be doing anything
other than waiting. That probably meant he wasn’t with them, was
just here, waiting to go home.

She knew she had at least ten minutes before
the train arrived, maybe more. She also knew she couldn’t stay in
the open the entire time or they would find her. They’d assume
she’d run here to escape, and she didn’t want to be a sitting
duck.

He’d noticed her before she’d reached the
station, but had chosen not to react. He watched her out of the
corner of his eye instead. She seemed like a frightened animal and
he wondered what had happened to her. He assumed he knew, but then,
he’d been mistaken once or twice before, in the past.

She moved out of the shadows, and now he
could see she wasn’t wearing any shoes. He wondered if she’d kicked
them off in her flight from whatever had her terrified, or if they
were in the backpack she wore.

She tried to walk normally but he detected a
slight limp. As she got closer, he could tell the dress she wore
was extremely thin, not at all appropriate for the weather. He
figured she’d had a coat but abandoned it somewhere along the
way.

Her hair was tousled, her breath still
unsteady, her face slightly streaked with dirt, her eyes wild. But
she managed to give him a cavalier smile as she got nearer.

“
Car broke down,” she said
briefly. “Hope the train gets here soon.”

He nodded. “Give it about fifteen minutes.
It runs late on the last trip.”

She grimaced. “Well, it’ll give me time to
freshen up.” She laughed, nodded to him, and walked into the
restroom behind them.

He looked where she’d been standing. There
was a slight smudge there. Blood. He could tell even from a
distance. He was never wrong, not about blood.