A Series Of Sorrowful Stories by Duane Harvey (summer reading list .TXT) 📕

But there was only one question in my head: who started all of those deadly fires.
I didn't talk to my uncle nor my aunt. They tried to make me talk, but I didn't. I was erased from the world...the real world. My uncle bought me tea every week. My aunt made me clean the house. I thought I was alone in this world, but really I wasn't. I was living by Natasha and Jessica. I was also living by Zach, Christian, their other brother (which is Alex), and their parents: Rachel and Buck.
I found out a ton of information such as: Buck wasn't Christian's, Zach's, nor Alex's real father. Natasha had a brother, Justin. My uncle and aunt were married for along time. I also found out that I had autism. I also had another question: was that why my father didn't want me?

Chapter 9 * My Story

A few years had passed. I moved out and lived with my master (Alex). I was his butler. There has been two more fires. One of those fires burned down Natasha's house. Her and Jessica survived, but Justin died. The other fire burned down Rachel's house. No one died. I had another question: why didn't my unlce's and aunt's house get burned down? While Alex was at work I visited Natasha. She was living with her husband: Rian. They both smoked.
When I was at my new home. I heard a knock on the door. I went and opened the door. I gasped. I saw a man with brown hair. His favorite color was green. His name was Joseph. He was my long-lost father. I finally felt that all of the sorrowful events in my life were about to end. My dad said, "I haven't seen you for so long."
I said, "I know. What is your last name?"
He said, "Coley."
I asked, "Where do you live?"
He said, "New York." That was so far away from here. I was now living in Flordia. Now longer Carmichaels.
I asked, "Why did you leave me? Why didn't you come back for your own son?"
He said, "I didn't leave you. Your mother and you left me, alone in this world."
I said, "I don't remember."
He said, "It was when you were a tiny little thing...you know...an infant. We were living so happy together until one day your mom and I got in a fight. She didn't want me to be around you. She hated me. She didn't want you to know who your real father was." He then walked over to his dresser and pulled out something. "Do you remember these?" He handed me a stack of pictures. The pictures that I thought I would never see again. The pictures that were lost in a terrible fire. The first fire that started all of this.
I looked down at these pictures and smiled. I said, "I remember. This is the picture of the clown pretending to kill my siblings. This is the picture of my mom pretending to kill me. And this is the picture that five men stood behind me, my mom, and my siblings."
He smiled and said, "Those men behind you were: Thomas Shotagun, Gwin Snyder, Dan Clark, Jonny Stephen, and me."
I said, "But these men look nothing like any of those men."
He said, "We were all dressed up for formal day at Carmichaels."
I smiled and said, "All of my unanswered questions all lead to this picture."
He said, "Of course, they do. But remember everyone has a sorrowful story...like you."
I asked, "I know, do you know who started all of those deadly fires?"
He said, "That was my long-lost cousin, Rainsford."
An hour later, my dad was gone. I was alone cleaning the house. Alex came home and told me to make him breakfast. I did...with a smile on my face. All of my questions were answered. The darkest secrets were revealed. My sorrowful life has came to an ending. I wasn't alone in the world. The biggest mystery was solved. At least, my mystery was solved. There are still other mysteries out there...somewhere...you know...in the world...the real world.

Chapter 10 * Emma's Story

A day later on a stormy night a girl was sleeping in her room. The room was dark and silent. The little girl woke up because she heard thunder. She got out of bed and walked over to the window. It was opened. The wind was blowing her curtains here, there, everywhere. she reached up and closed the window. Suddenly the girl heard a creaking sound coming from behind her. She looked at her clock. It read: 2:50 a.m. The little girl then looked at her closet door. It was wide open. All she could see inside was pure darkness.
She walked toward the closet door. She saw an outline of a dark figure standing. Looking straight at her. She backed away slowly. The dark figure walked out of the closet. The girl ran to the window and tried to open it. It wouldn't open. Her bedroom door opened and the girl's mother walked in. She turned on the light and looked at her daughter. "Emma, are you having those nightmares, agian?"
Emma turned around and saw that the dark figure that was walking to her, was gone. Emma said, "Mom, this different. I saw him! He must be hiding back in the closet!"
Emma's mom said, "Emma, you must be seeing things. There is no one in this room! I will open the closet door, and prove that there is nothing to be scared of." She walked in front of the cloest door.
Emma yelled, "Mom! Don't let him out!" Emma's mom opened the door. She walked into the closet and turned the light on. She only saw clothes and toys. Suddenly Emma stared at something that made her frown.
Emma's mom looked at her and put her hands on her hips. "What's wrong this time?"
If I were you I would run out of the house and go tell Emma's mom to leave the house. Something terrible is going to happen...somthing sorrowful that will only create a new mystery. A mystery that I can't solve. A mystery that only Emma could solve by herself.
Emma pointed at something, or someone, behind her mom. Her mom turned around and saw a man holding a bloody knife. The closet door closed with Emma's mom inside. Emma heard her mom hitting the door and screaming for help.
Emma ran out of the room and ran down the stairs. She could've been outside already, but she heard something that made her stop. That sound was the creaking sound of the closet door, but this time, it wasn't the closet. It was the front door, which she was standing in front of. She watched as the door opened and stared outside. She saw trees and the house across the street. She wanted to go over there for help, but she was scared that the man would be outside waiting for her.
She turned around and saw her father. Blood was dripping from his face. She said, "Daddy? What happened?"
Her father said, "Your mother did this to me please help me."
Emma looked at the clothes he wore. He wore the same clothes as the man in the closet. She looked down at his hands and saw the bloody knife. She screamed and ran outside. Her father was chasing her. Tears filled Emma's eyes. She crossed the road. A large truck was coming. She looked across the road and stared at her father. The truck started to drive passed them. When the truck passed, Emma saw that her father was gone.

Chapter 11 * Emma's Story

A few years had passed and Emma was now sixteen years old. She had a boy friend named, Marcus. He was eighteen. Emma was living with him and his family at their house, in Carmichaels. Because Marcus was now eighteen years old, he talked to Emma about living in an apartment.
The next week, Emma and Marus bought an apartment room. On Monday, Emma was taking a shower. The water was not too hot nor too cold. It was just right. When she was done, she got out of the shower and dryed. She put her on clothes and stared into a mirror. She saw her reflection. She walked out of the bathroom. If you walked into that bathroom, when Emma walked out, and stared into the mirror. You could've seen someone else's reflection. It was the reflection of her father. The man that killed Emma's mom and nearly killed Emma.
Eight hours later when Emma got home from school, she walked into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and saw her reflection. Then she saw a crack. Someone ran passed Emma. She saw a dark figure running in the hallway from the corner of her eye. She peeked out of the bathroom door and saw nothing or no one. She walked slowly down the hallway. Waiting for something to pop out at her. The lights went out. She heard a door slam, from nearby. She yelled, "Marcus? If that is you, please stop. You are scaring me."
She got to the end of hallway. She opened the door slowly. She peeked out into another hallway. She saw nothing and heard nothing. She closed the door and walked back into the bathroom. She stood frozen staring at the mirror. She was looking at the mirror, but the cracks were gone.
Emma was scared to death, not knowing who was in her apartment nor who fixed the mirror nor who turned off the lights. She put her red robe on over her T-shirt and walked to her bed room. The lights were still off. She was staring at a closet. She closed her eyes and remembered the night that she watched her mother get murdered by her father and how her father disappeared into thin air, without a trace.
Emma opened her eyes and walked over to her pillow. She put her hand under the pillow and brought out a sharp knife. She held it tightly in her hands, while she walked slowly to the closet door. She opened it and saw female clothes on one side and male clothes on the other. She walked into the closet and looked around. There was no one in there watching her. She then saw a door knob on the wall she was looking at.


She grabbed the door knob and turned it. She then pulled and saw that there was a hidden door. She opened the hidden door and peeked inside. She saw spiderwebs and a block of stairs. She backed up and looked on the floor. She saw three blood stains. She remembered on the night her mother died that she saw blood fall from her father's knife and landed on the wooden floor. The floor she was looking at now was also wooden.
She held the knife tighter as though she were trying to strangle it. She walked into the hidden room and looked around for clues. She saw a picture of her mom and dad kissing. She walked further into the room until she found another picture. It was a picture of her father kissing another woman. The picture was black and white. She took the picture off of the wall and flipped it over. She saw the date: October 5th, 1845. She also saw a time. The time was: 2:50 a.m. That was the same day and same time her mother died. Emma gasped.

There were footsteps coming from the floor above. Emma looked up and listened to the footsteps. The footsteps then stopped. Suddenly there was pounding on the floor. Emma covered her mouth and stared at the ceiling. Some dust fell