House of Quiet Screams
After years of struggling to survive and suppress the trauma that shaped her, a thirty-year-old single mother returns to her small hometown—a place where secrets rot just beneath the surface and everyone remembers more than they admit. She hopes to rebuild a quiet life with her young son and husband, but the moment she crosses the threshold of her childhood home, long-buried memories begin to claw their way back.
When a hidden letter surfaces—one she doesn’t remember writing—her reality begins to splinter. The letter is addressed to someone she swore she’d never speak to again. Someone dangerous. Someone she knows too well. As more clues emerge, she is forced to confront a truth she’s spent her whole life running from.
Haunted by flashbacks, OCD compulsions, and a town that still refuses to take her trauma seriously, she begins to question what’s real—and who she can trust. Even the people closest to her are hiding things, including her husband, whose past may be tangled in the very mystery she’s trying to unravel.
In a house that holds more than memories and a town that whispers behind her back, she must face the terrifying question: is she losing her mind—or finally uncovering it?
House of Quiet Screams is a gripping emotional suspense novel about trauma, survival, and the power of facing the truth—no matter how loud the silence has been.
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Chapter: Dedication & About Me PageBy Malissa Wood Copyright © 2025 by Malissa Wood All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews or scholarly works. This is a work of fiction, loosely inspired by real events. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or real events is purely coincidental. ISBN: (to be assigned) Cover Design: Malissa Wood Author Photo: (Optional) Published by: Simply Magical Creations, LLC Printed in the United States of America About the Author Malissa Wood is a South Carolina-based author who writes emotionally charged fiction grounded in truth, trauma, and survival. Drawing f
Last Updated: 2025-05-13
Chapter: CHAPTER SEVEN: COLT & CHAPTER EIGHT: THE BASEMENTLissa always said she married young because she found something rare—someone who saw her, even in the moments when she tried so hard to disappear. Colt was that someone. They met in their early twenties, back when Lissa still carried her trauma like a second skin, soft-spoken and always bracing for the next emotional blow. But Colt? He was steady. Kind, but not naive. Protective, but never controlling. And most importantly, he loved her without trying to fix her. Now, nearly a decade later, he still looked at her like she hung the stars. She watched him from across the room as he wrestled with a squeaky cabinet door in the kitchen, his tool belt slung low on his hips, a pencil tucked behind one ear. He was tall and lean, all calloused hands and sun-worn freckles, with a quiet smile that made her heart ache in the best way. Lucas sat nearby on the floor, lining up his toy trucks in perfect rows and talking non-stop about dinosaurs and the possibility of a “rock treasure” by the
Last Updated: 2025-05-13
Chapter: CHAPTER SIX: ANNIEAnnie had always been complicated.To anyone outside their family, she was the kind of woman who turned heads—tall, effortlessly put-together, with the kind of beauty that lingered even when she didn’t try. She was quick-witted and sharp-tongued, the kind of woman who knew how to survive. Lissa respected her, even admired her strength as an adult. But their history was a patchwork of silences, half-truths, and emotional potholes.Growing up, Annie had never been the warm-and-fuzzy type. Affection was rare and always earned, never freely given. Lissa could remember being a child and watching other moms hug their kids, press kisses into their hair without needing a reason. Annie didn’t do that. Her love was practical—clothes folded neatly in drawers, dinner on the table at five, Band-Aids for skinned knees, even if the hug never came with it.They fought more than they talked when Lissa was younger. Sometimes over big things, but usually over the small—missed curfews, messy rooms, the s
Last Updated: 2025-05-13
Chapter: CHAPTER FIVE: Coffee and Old Wounds The café was the same one Lissa used to skip school in, tucked off the square, smelling like burnt espresso and powdered sugar. The bell above the door jingled as they walked in, and her sister—Riley, five years younger but always more polished—flashed a grin at the bored teen behind the counter. They slid into a booth by the window. Riley shrugged off her light jacket and set it down with care. Lissa, on the other hand, kept her hoodie zipped to her collarbone, arms crossed like armor. “So,” Riley said, stirring a packet of sugar into her iced coffee. “You’re really back.” Lissa nodded, sipping from her black coffee like it might ground her. “Looks that way.” There was a long pause. Not comfortable—just full of things neither wanted to say. “You’re not staying at the house, are you?” Riley asked, glancing up with something close to concern. Lissa’s jaw tightened. “Yeah. Why?” Riley hesitated. “I don’t know. Just… after everything, I didn’t think you’d ever set
Last Updated: 2025-05-12
Chapter: CHAPTER FOUR: LUCASThe sound of small footsteps echoed down the hallway as Lissa sat at the kitchen table, staring at the half-filled mug of coffee in front of her. It was still early—too early for the weight of the day to settle on her shoulders—but the world outside was already waking up. "Momma!" Lucas’s voice called out, high-pitched and full of excitement, as he barreled into the kitchen. Lissa’s gaze softened as she looked up, her heart lightening just a little. Lucas was standing there, his hair a mess of wild curls, his pajamas covered in tiny cartoon dinosaurs. He had that look—the one that said he was on the verge of a new adventure, ready to explore anything and everything. To him, the world was a wonderland of possibilities. "Good morning, baby," Lissa said with a smile, though her exhaustion tugged at her words. She watched Lucas for a minute with a tenderness she couldn’t quite put into words. Sometimes, she wondered if he had any idea how much she relied on his energy to keep
Last Updated: 2025-05-12
Chapter: CHAPTERS TWO & THREEThe house felt heavier with each passing day. Lissa had been staying in her old childhood home since her mother passed away six months ago. "Six months" she said out loud and shook her head.Her mother Annie, died peacefully in her home beside the river like she wanted. She had spent the last months of her mother’s life taking care of her and making sure she had her daily dose of sunshine.Lissa sat in the quiet of her childhood room, the faint scent of dust and old memories thick in the air. The house felt too small, too oppressive, a cage of her past that she had been trying so hard to escape. Every corner whispered secrets, every floorboard creaked under the weight of things left unsaid. She had come back here for a fresh start, but it felt as though the walls were closing in, trapping her in a story she had never wanted to finish.The sun was setting, casting a soft golden light through the window. Her eyes drifted to the desk where her journal lay, a place where her deepest
Last Updated: 2025-05-12
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