The Haunting of the Hills

The Home on the Hills

No living creature can survive sanely under the conditions of absolute reality. Reality can be unforgiving and unfortunately cruel, taking without giving and feeling no empathy or emotion for its actions. Reality can be hungry and it will get what it wants, in many ways reality is just pure existence, not good or bad but all powerful and all knowing, having authority over the lives of everyone it encounters. Many say if God himself is all good then he can not be all powerful, and if God is all powerful than he certainly can not be all good. Hill house, like a lonely angry God stands tall and proud against its hills holding darkness within, existing with only the intentions that it creates for itself, inside walls continue upright and doors are sensibly shut. Silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of hill house and those who walk there... walk alone... and the first who did, were the Hills.

Jacob Hill, a man with a vision began construction on the house after he married his beautiful wife Charlotte. Jacob had always dreamed of constructing his own estate and moving on from the less wealthy, poorer past that was once synonymous with the Hill family name. With the money he made from his family business selling and making hats he bought the property and hired over a hundred workers to begin work on what would one day become infamous for its treacherous past.

Jacob had his dream home in mind ever since he was a child, the only thing he wanted more than money was a family and he was determined to make sure that his family would not suffer financially like his did. For years the idea of his future home would dwell on his mind, constantly reminding him of how poor he actually was at the time. Working harder and harder and becoming increasingly more wealthy, his plans for the home kept growing and growing. What was once envisioned as a just a two story home in the countryside, evolved into a three story monster of a mansion with labyrinth like hallways, 6 foot tall fireplaces, a room dedicated to statues of Greek Gods and beautiful women, and a room that he couldn't get out of his mind. Jacob spent years perfecting his plans on the home, every single detail was fleshed out and fully realized on the pages that he drew them on but for some reason at night he would always have the same dream... the same nightmare. Jacob would dream about his mansion, and in his dreams he would see his home fully realized with his family and everything but every single time in his nightmare he would find himself walking up a long spiral staircase in the library made of iron. As he ascends toward the ceiling and makes it to the top of the steps he walks through a doorway and makes a right down a narrow hall. At the end of this hall, where a stained glass window should be, is a red door. The door is always open just a crack, as he walks towards it the door continues to open ever so slowly and by the time he is able to place his hand on the doorknob he awakes.

To many this may not seem like a nightmare but to Jacob this was the scariest dream he would continue to have. He had no idea what it could mean and he especially had no idea what was behind the door that practically begged him to come inside. Jacob was always a man with a plan, always one to think rationally and logically but as time went on he would begin to realize that the one thing that he has thought about his entire life, the goal that he was supposed to achieve after all of the work he has done for himself and for his family, his future home, Hill House, was not rational or logical.

The day Hill House was completed was a day Jacob would never forget. Jacob took his family, his wife Charlotte, daughter Hazel, and son William from the city to the country side where their new home patiently waited for their arrival. Jacob oversaw the construction from start to finish but he refused to lay eyes on the completed project because he wanted that moment to be a moment shared with every member of his small family. The Hills packed their things and climbed into a horse drawn carriage that would take them there. The whole trip all Jacob talked about was how excited he was to finally give his family the home they deserved and most importantly the home he has always dreamed of. The children were equally as excited about their father's dream coming true but even more so about the idea of living in what their father described as a castle all for them and them alone.

Jacob made sure to blindfold his wife and children so the reveal would be more exciting and impactful. Jacob was always a showman and very eccentric. As the horses pulled the carriage towards the property Jacob saw what he built. For some reason an overwhelming dread washed over him as he stared at this wicked building. This building was not a home and certainly no place for a family or children, this house was not made for anyone, this house was a mistake, a mistake that would haunt him for years and years to come, this house was no place for anyone, Hill House, stood against the hills holding a darkness within that Jacob could feel consuming him but he convinced himself that his feelings were not true, this was in fact the house he had always dreamed of standing in front of him, everything was designed and built exactly how he thought it should be yet it felt wrong and sinful. He ignored the feelings and helped William and Hazel out of the carriage, their blindfolds still on. Next he went to help his dear wife Charlotte when suddenly something spooked the horses. The horses went crazy and turned over the carriage, throwing Charlotte Hill onto the ground in the process. The horses ran off somehow detaching themselves from the carriage and disappearing into the woods. The children were frightened and asked if everything was okay. For a moment Jacob thought so until he looked down and saw his wife. His eyes gazed at her body, her ankle twisted, hand broken, and her head placed firmly on a rock as if she was placed there on purpose. It was the only rock on the path yet whether by pure chance or a purposeful act, it was now also the only rock on the path stained with blood.

"Can a house be born bad?" Jacob thought as he looked up at his dream home that seemed taller now, standing over him mockingly, and staring at him intensely. This death would stain the property and all who walk there forever. Jacob picked up his wife's body and carried her into the house as his children followed close behind. As Jacob walked into the grand foyer he realized that this house was not as big as he thought. The walls were closing in and the sadness was overcoming him. This house was not new, he had been in this house all his life and he never even knew it. He had built himself a prison and his whole family were the prisoners.