The House on the Hill

They say the house on the hill is haunted.

They say bad things happened there.

They say the story goes something like this:

When the Drummond family wanted to get away from the congestion and stink of the city, they commissioned a mansion in a small town between the two cities Mr. Drummond’s business operated in. But the mansion’s plans never came to fruition. After three fatal accidents, the crew abandoned the project, leaving the Drummonds high and dry.

But Mr. Drummond was not the type to give up. If he were, he wouldn’t have amassed his fortune. The same fortune that paid for the bits and pieces of the mansion to be levelled and for a new, smaller home to be built. It was still large by all accounts, but it didn’t quite leak into mansion status.

Once the house had been completed, the Drummonds moved in. Mr. Drummond was away on business often, leaving the four Drummond children in the care of Mrs. Drummond and their governess. The youngest Drummond children, aged four and six, were as much a handful as the eldest, aged nine and twelve. They kept Mrs. Drummond from tending to simple tasks, like making sure only the number of servants the Drummonds paid were in the house.

Whenever Mr. Drummond was away, there was always an extra servant in the kitchen, one with a propensity for knives.

Months passed, and the Drummonds were happy with their new lives away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The dark cloud of what happened while the failed mansion was under construction still hung over the house, but the Drummonds paid it no attention.

Until one day, Mr. Drummond returned to find the house quiet and still. Too quiet and still. He went upstairs to see if the children were napping. On his way to their bedrooms, he found the governess, in pieces. Her head was resting on a table in the hall, and her body lay in the doorway of a room a few doors down.

Mr. Drummond rushed into the eldest child’s room. He was strung up between his bedposts, his body slashed open from his chin to his waistband. Mr. Drummond crashed from room to room and found his other three children gutted as well.

Mrs. Drummond was in the parlor. Her throat had been slit, and her eyes, nose, and ears were missing. A trail of servants led back to the kitchen, some with slashes across their throats, others with stab wounds. Everyone in the house was dead, save for Mr. Drummond.

They say no one knows what happened while Mr. Drummond was away.

They say the Drummonds and their servants still haunt the house.

They say they want revenge.