Hester Beck

Hester Beck is the main antagonist in Harrow County. She was a witch, the creator of the haints in Harrow County, and the daughter of Malachi.

Early Life
Hester Beck was created by Malachi after the murder of his one of his estranged son's by the hands of one of his other children. In his grief and anger, Malachi created Hester, who he thought would be the closest to a real human he had ever fashioned. Malachi hoped Hester would take his place as Matriarch of the Family and lead them to a better age and to live amongst the humans.

However, when Hester accepted Amaryllis as her tutor to teach her the Family's Laws, Hester secretly envied and was jealous of Amaryllis and her powers. After witnessing how Malachi harnessed the essence of his deceased son, Hester killed and ate Amaryllis, consuming her essence and in turn - her power.

In murdering Amaryllis, Hester broke one of edicts of the Law and was exiled from the coven. Hester then settled in a small settlement that became known as Harrow County. The villagers were immediately distrustful of her and Hester took to the woods. With her blood and mud, she created haints in the form of human-beings to serve her, and various other creatures to keep her company. Hester sent her human followers to live among the villagers of Harrow.

However after finding out about Hester's alliance with the haints of the woods, many of her followers began to turn against her. Although Hester healed the sick, crops and livestock seemingly began to die in Hester's presence. Her followers decided to band together and kill Hester.

Throughout the Harrow County Series
After Hester's death at the hands of her followers, two young twin girls were born, believed to both be reincarnations of Hester.

Although she was dead, her influence was very much still alive throughout the county, with haints and several followers that were still loyal her. Cottonmouth snakes, her familiars, were said to be "her evil come to life", and that proved to be true when they found a human host and burrowed inside of them, which allowed Hester complete control over them.

In Dark Times A'Coming, Hester was returned to life when Emmy Crawford killed her twin Kammi and then consumed her powers, which was part of the ritual to awaken her dead spirit.

In Done Come Back, Hester set out to find her kin and had a very tense reunion with the Family, which ended in her slaughtering all of them and consuming their powers. She was confronted by Malachi, who was surprised that she had mercilessly killed her brothers and sisters, and figuring her next move, he pleaded with her to leave his other daughter Emmy alone.

Personality
Hester was a very cruel witch who cared only about achieving the highest power and authority over the people of Harrow and her own relatives. Hester was willing to go to all kinds of lengths to gain control over the village and it's inhabitants. Hester murdered her sister Amaryllis in cold blood in order to claim her powers for her own, she lacked any remorse over her actions. Hester was willing to murder Emmy, a young teen-aged girl, just so she could claim her Emmy's power's, believing herself to be entitled to them.

Physical appearance
Hester was a thin, attractive woman with an ivory complexion and icy blue eyes. She had long dark hair that was worn in a middle parting and hiding her face from view. As her madness deepened, Hester's appearance grew less maintained and she was often covered in blood, most of it not belonging to her. The white dress she usually wore grew ripped and covered in blood and mud.