Semua Bab House of Quiet Screams: Bab 11 - Bab 13

Lissa hadn’t expected company. She was halfway through folding laundry when the knock came two quick raps, then one softer. She opened the door to find her sister standing on the porch, coffee in one hand and phone in the other like always. “Hey,” Riley said, forcing a smile. Lissa blinked. “Everything okay?” “Yeah,” Riley said. “I just… wanted to check on you. And I was in town.” Lissa stepped aside to let her in. The visit felt awkward right away. Not cold. Just…careful. They sat at the kitchen table, sipping coffee that neither of them really tasted. “I saw your post about Lucas’s birthday,” Riley said. “He’s getting so big, I wish I could have made it but work, ya know.” She said with a small smile Lissa nodded. “He’s five now.” “That’s wild. Well Happy Birthday Nephew.” Riley said as she lifted to cheer and brought the glass to her mouth as she realized Lissa was not smiling. Not one bit. Silence stretched between them, familiar yet itchy. Then Riley blurted out loudly,

Chapter Eighteen: The JournalIt was raining outside. Not heavy. Just enough to blur the windows and make the house feel like it was holding its breath. Lissa sat cross-legged on the floor of her bedroom, the old box open in front of her. Inside, the journal.She hadn’t touched it in years—not since the night she caught Colt reading it years ago. But today, something told her it was time. She opened the cover slowly. The pages were wrinkled at the corners. Some ink had faded. But the words were still there. Raw and jagged and small, like the girl who’d written them. Lissa began to read slowly as her hands shook.“He comes into my room when the moon is on the window.”“I don’t move, because if I do, he talks softly and says it’s a game.”“I hate games now.”Her handwriting changed as the pages went on. Bigger. Angrier. More urgent.“Why doesn’t anyone hear me?”“I think maybe I’m invisible.”“I want someone to know, but not if it means I disappear.”Lissa closed her eyes and took a br