Read Online The Disciple and Other Stories of the Paranormal by Jemma Chase - Free Book Online Page A

far off. Susan tried to hurry, but I held her
tightly. Just because we could see an exit didn’t mean we could
reach it.
    It took a few more minutes, and then we were
in light. Like the hallways we’d been in, it wasn’t a lot of light,
but after the total darkness it seemed bright. There was a curtain
in front of us.
    We looked at each other. Susan shrugged. We
pushed the curtain aside.
     
     

     
    The stage we stepped out on was empty. Well,
empty of people. There were a lot of props hanging from the
catwalks.
    “ Are those supposed to be
angels, devils, and demons?” Susan asked as she looked
around.
    “ Looks like it. So much
for our play idea, though.” The seating was a half-and-half, where
the main aisle went down the middle of the room and aligned with
the middle of the stage. There were plenty of seats, but no one was
in them. “It’s a weird setup anyway. Who has their theater aisle in
the middle?”
    “ It’s not pitch black, I’m
okay with it.” Susan sat down at the edge of the stage and pulled
out her map. “Okay, the Stage has two other doors. One leads to the
Conservatory. That’s a popular spot.”
    “ Well, you said it had a
lot of doors.”
    “ True. The other leads to,
get this, the Maze.”
    “ I thought we were in the
maze.”
    “ Me too, but I guess it’s
an official maze.” Susan looked at me. “I think I hate your
boss.”
    I shrugged. “He’s eccentric, I’ll give you
that.”
    She looked around the room. “I don’t want to
go back to the Conservatory, and I don’t want to go back into total
darkness.”
    “ I only see one door.” I
pointed to the other end of the room. The single door lined up with
the center aisle.
    “ That means the other door
is hidden. And I’ll bet it’s another walk in the darkness. Let’s
take the one in front of us, regardless of where it
leads.”
    I jumped down off the stage and lifted her
off by her waist. Susan giggled and I kissed her. “See? We can have
fun even in the middle of a weird maze.”
    She hugged me. “True enough.”
    We were about to walk up the aisle when we
heard voices. “I think they’re coming from behind the curtain, the
other side from where we came.”
    “ At least they’re not
screaming or crying.”
    They were arguing. “I told you, stop
worrying, stop crying, stop whining.” I didn’t need to see him to
recognize the voice – it was Michael.
    He strode on stage, Oriana stumbling behind
him. He wasn’t holding onto her. Her face was streaked with tears
and her hair was a mess.
    “ Oh, you’re here,” Michael
said. “Where did you come from?”
    “ Storage,” Susan said.
“Via a really long, dark, horrible path.”
    “ Us too,” Oriana said,
sniffling. “But we weren’t in a storage room.”
    “ Were you the one
screaming earlier?” Susan asked.
    Oriana shook her head. “I was too scared to
scream. I hate this place.”
    “ Some people would
appreciate this kind of entertainment being created specifically
for them,” Michael said.
    “ Who in the hell would
that be?” Carla asked as she came out from behind the curtain,
Johnny right behind her. “This is the craziest place I’ve ever
been, and I’ve been all over the world.”
    “ She’s a little freaked
out,” Johnny said. “Sorry.”
    “ Who can blame her?”
Oriana muttered.
    “ Were you all in the
Conservatory?” Susan asked.
    “ Yes,” Michael
replied.
    “ If you mean that weird
looks like it’s open air but isn’t place with the crying hills,
yes,” Carla answered.
    “ You’re reading the map
right, hon,” I said quietly. “Not that I ever had a
doubt.”
    Susan smiled proudly. “Then let’s head for
the Maze.”
    “ We’re in the
maze,” Michael said with disdain. I really didn’t like
him.
    “ No,” I said before Susan
could reply. “This is a special maze within the larger maze. We
have a map.”
    Michael rolled his eyes, but he got down off
the stage. Johnny jumped down like I had and helped