All Chapters of House of Quiet Screams: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

The town hadn’t changed.The cracked sidewalks still weaved through rows of tired houses, sagging like old men under the weight of too many winters. The air smelled the same too—cut grass, the waste dump down the road and the faint sourness of something long forgotten. Familiar and foreign all at once.She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her knuckles whitening.Just a few months, she reminded herself. Just until you get back on your feet.In the backseat, her son stirred, his small voice cutting through the heavy silence."Are we there yet, Mama?"Almost.Almost somewhere she never wanted to be again.She pulled into the driveway of her childhood home, the tires crunching over gravel like brittle bones. The house sat slumped behind a curtain of weeds and peeling paint, looking as beaten down as she felt.Memories she had spent years burying clawed their way to the surface. She pushed them down with the force of someone used to running from shadows."Mama?"Her son’s voi

The 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

Annie 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

By 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