The Betrayal at Hemlock Hill

Prelude

The house was built in 1880 to a witch known as Phillipa. She was on the run from England. It so happens that she was chased out of every town she visited. Phillipa would randomly choose a house she wanted to live in and pretend to be a poor old lady that needed some help. Once the resident of the home would inevitably habitat. She would go on to say, “It’s time to play”. This would in turn be the point where mysterious and unthinkable things would happen to the people living in the house. Phillipa would live there in the house for a short three months, then she would move on. Except one day things would not be so easy and she would have met her match.

Getaway Weekend

Piper had recently applied for scholarship to the University of New York and would be attending this fall semester. She realized that she had a month or two before she had to leave to move into the dorm on campus. So, Piper decided to spend a week in the woods with her three best friends: Daisy, Emma, and Grace. The Dynamic Four as they often referred to themselves, had been friends since daycare. Piper had seen this cabin called Hemlock Hill in the woods of Greene, NY. This home was about 1620 square feet, enough room for four women to have one last hoorah. The house had not been occupied in over 25 years.

There were rumors by the town’s folk that mysterious and unexplainable things would happen at this house. The floor plan would be different from one day to the next. The colors of the house would change as well. Piper did not care what the towns people said about Hemlock Hill, she wanted to have her girls’ weekend at this house no matter what. It would add the perfect amount of mystery to their week.

Piper called up each of the girls, provided them the address of where the house was located. So, they set the date for this girl’s night on Oct 26. They got together over the course of the next few weeks to figure out what they were going to where and what to bring. The made sure that there would be a video camera to film this last hoorah. When she was making the final check on the house, Piper noticed some small changes to the look of the house. Unbeknownst to Piper, the house could sense that it would be getting visitors soon.

The Arrival at Hemlock Hill

When Piper and her friends arrived at the house, it was dark and cold. As they exited the vehicle they looked around and saw there was three bar stools, two couches and a large fireplace in the center of the living room. The girls thought it was unusual size of a fireplace for the living room. Emma and Grace both simultaneously said “Wow, you can fit two people in there.” Piper looked at Emma and Grace with a curious look and then said “whatever, you both watch too many horror movies.” The three of them burst out into laughter. Little did they know a dark shadow was living behind the fireplace. The shadow was watching the girls very closely. As they continued through the house, Piper passed in front of the fireplace and the witch sensed her recognizable aura. At that point, Philipa knew exactly who she was and relished in her revenge.

After the girls found their rooms and settled in, they came down for dinner and drinks. They caught up on life, discussed the future and reminisced about the past. Hours passed and they all decided to go to bed. The next morning, Daisy woke up bright and early and took a shower. She was dressed and ready for the day, before the other three. So, she decided to walk through the house, since she noticed as she was getting dressed, she heard noises. Daisy is always the odd one out. She was someone who was attracted to the strangest things. She knew something was up with the house, but she was not sure exactly. She noticed odd things in the house, such as the size of the fireplace. She knew that there had never been a fireplace that large in any house she has ever seen. Her curiosity got the better of her, but when she was about to walk away, that is when she saw a dark shadow standing in the middle of the fireplace staring back at her with red eyes.

Philipa knew the other three girls had to go, but there was something about this girl that was different. She knew her aura was different than Pipers but was not sure what it was. At this point, Daisy suddenly sees a premonition from the past. “Elinor is a witch that has claimed the state of Virginia. When she finds another witch there by the name of Philipa, she decides to end her. Thus, began a war in 1780 in Roanoke that would last three days. The skies grew dark, no sun shined, and the waters were boiling. Houses caught fire in the main area of where the witches were. In the end on the third day, Elinor would defeat Philipa and order her to go back to England and not return. Elinor may have defeated Philipa, but she was severely injured in battle. Despite being told to leave and not return, Philipa disobeyed and continued north to Greene, NY. She found a small cottage in the middle of the woods, surrounded by hemlock plants. Here is where she plotted her revenge over the years. Word spread to the town of Greene, NY that Elinor had died from the wound she suffered in the war. At that moment, Philipa wondered if she should show herself or if she should remain hidden in case Elinor’s descendants were looking for her to avenge Elinor’s death. She decided to stay in hiding and while she waited for the day, she would defeat Elinor’s descendants, she practiced casting different spells to become powerful. As, the centuries passed she still did not feel she was completely ready to battle Elinor and win. So, as she did her spells, they would have different affects on the house. At first, she noticed the color of both the inside and outside would change, then as the spells got grander the house would shift in size.

Philipa made sure that she conjured up a spell that would protect her from being seen by anyone that happened to visit the property. She knew that Elinor had descendants and recently found out that Elinor had a great niece named Piper that just turned eighteen years old, which was the perfect age for her to cast an unthinkable spell on Piper. Philipa knew that Piper was unaware of her ancestry, so she would not see this coming.”

Daisy is drawn back from that premonition at the sound of the others coming down the stairs chatting. As she walks past the fireplace not dazed by Philipa she speaks in a nasty voice “I have been looking for you.” Philipa was in shock and taken back. She wondered who is this person? Is she a witch like me or something created by Elinor to avenge her death?

It turns out that Daisy was born when Philipa would wonder through different towns causing death and destruction. Daisy was only five years old when she saw Philipa kill her family and since then she has practiced casting spells to seek her revenge on Philipa and to make sure she is alive to do so. Daisy states, “Let the revenge begin”. Unbeknownst to her friends, Daisy enters the fireplace on the last day of their stay and is never seen again. To get a glimpse of Philipa you would have to travel to the UK and visit the Caenarfon Castle located in Caenarfon, UK. Philipa was banished and bound to this castle by Daisy for eternity.

The End

We hope you enjoyed this story and remember, “You never know who is watching you, when you are watching someone else.”