Ophelia Kethagee

Ophelia Kethagee is a loving, introverted 12-year-old girl with an active imagination and a tragic past.  She is currently living in Michigan with her adoptive mother, Sally.


History

Ophelia Kethagee was born on May 18, 2000 in Michigan.  Growing up, Ophelia's family suffered from poverty due to her father, Peter’s, drug and alcohol addiction. Ophelia’s mother, Deana, tried to shield Ophelia as much as she could from this, but Ophelia was always secretly terrified of her father and did her best to placate him, even if it meant acting more childish and innocent around him than she felt. She witnessed domestic violence between her parents on a regular basis and endured her own forms of sexual and emotional abuse from Peter that had a lasting effect on her emotionally and spiritually. Deana acted completely oblivious to the things Peter did to Ophelia, but she would every so often tell Ophelia to stay strong. It was apparent to Ophelia that her mother was terrified of her father.


Ophelia always felt like an outcast, different from her peers because of her interest in fantasy novels.  Ophelia believed herself to be one step ahead of her peers in terms of emotional intelligence, as though she was on a different level due to having endured trauma and hardship for so long. To cope with the abuse at home, Ophelia escaped through books and imagination.


Ophelia had minimal friends and was often mocked for being a bookworm and, around the age of twelve, for developing sooner than the other girls in her class. Because of this fact, Ophelia was often ogled at by her male peers, which made her feel even more helpless and alone.


Summit of the Wolf

On one fateful night in July 2012, Peter Kethagee lured Ophelia into the basement and sedated her in an attempt to sexually abuse her.  Ophelia, despite feeling woozy, stood up against her father and attempted to attack him in an effort to stave off the abuse.  She fell down from dizziness, however, and bumped her head hard on the furnace.  Peter, panicked, cradled Ophelia's unconscious form and called for an ambulance.  Ophelia was taken to Tristan General Hospital.


While in a coma, Ophelia had a remarkable experience in which she woke up in the fantasy world of Renea.  In the dream, she was a pixie, and she was sent on a quest to find the fabled Summit of the Wolf.  Ophelia's experience was allegorical to the tragic events in her life and symbolic of her loss of innocence.  Over the course of her journey, Ophelia came to terms with the abuse that she had suffered and chose to no longer let it define her.  She woke up from her coma and immediately reported to nurse Brianna Auberon what she had endured at the hands of her father.


The police got involved, and Ophelia was taken by child protective services.  She began to see a psychologist on a daily basis and is progressing well.


Post-Summit of the Wolf

Three months after entering foster care, Ophelia was adopted by Sally Gropner.


In January 2019, Ophelia stops over at a roadside carnival with a group of friends.

Ophelia Kethagee

Name:  Ophelia Kethagee

Age:  12 (at the end of Summit of the Wolf)

Status:  Alive

First/last seen:  Summit of the Wolf

Featured in:

Date of birth:  May 2000

Known relations:

  • Arthur Kethagee - grandfather (deceased)
  • Deana Kethagee - mother
  • Jim Murphy - grandfather (deceased)
  • Lila Kethagee - grandmother (deceased)
  • Marie Murphy - grandmother (deceased)
  • Peter Kethagee - father
  • Sally Gropner - adoptive mother



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