They say that blood is thicker than water; it is what defines us, binds us, curses us. This is the story of Ophelia Collins and how she came to be.
It was the year 1764 and Ophelia and her mother and father were on their way to the new world of North America; she was only six years old. After a short week of sailing, they arrived in the newly formed town of Collinsport; it was simple and beautiful. For most of her life, Ophelia had seen the construction of her family's beloved home, Collinwood. It was the most beautiful and the most glorious manor she had ever seen with her own eyes and she was forever grateful that she was going to live there with her beloved uncle, Barnabas Collins.
The two were as close as a man and his niece could ever be, almost inseparable; they always stood at each other's side through thick and thin. In good times and in bad, they were always there for each other. And when Barnabas's parents, Joshua and Naomi, and Ophelia's parents, Atticus and Mercedes, were mysteriously killed in a horrid incident, the two were there to comfort each other during this dark time. But they were convinced that this was no accident, so they both became obsessed with dark magic and ancient curses.
But even in the darkest depths of their own grief, not all of it was darkness and despair for Ophelia had found her one true love; a strong, capable young man by the name of Lowell Garrett. He loved Ophelia just as much as she loved him.
But of all the creatures she could have angered, of all the forces she could've tampered with, Ophelia got one with a secret; she got the witch's brother. Caught in Angelique Bouchard's spell, Lowell had brutally hanged himself in Collinwood, but not before gazing upon his beloved Ophelia one last time.
"Help me."
That was the last thing he ever said before he removed the chair from under him, killing himself. Ophelia stared at the hanging, lifeless corpse of the man of her dreams in shock, anger, bitterness, and sadness. She crumpled down to the marble floor and wept bitterly into her hands; first her uncle was taken away from her and now the love of her life.
'Could this wicked life be any crueler…?' She thought, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
All too soon, a dark thought formed in Ophelia's mind; the only available and liable option she had left. She decided that she should join both of the men she loved and she wanted to do it at the only place she knew she could, the infamous Widow's Hill. Ophelia made her way to the cliff and nervously looked down at the rocks below her before slowly turning around with her back facing the ocean. She took a deep breath and she finally leaned back, letting herself fall a great height.
"FORGIVE ME!" She shrieked as she fell.
And finally, after a few seconds, Ophelia's body slammed against the rocks at the very bottom of the cliff. But instead of being greeted by death, she was greeted by the cold water of the sea splashing onto her face and body; she wasn't dead.
Ophelia slowly opened her eyes, shakily rose, and looked around her as the waves crashed onto the stones beneath her feet, still splashing her. But then, she felt something; it felt like something big and hard was pounding inside of her skull and against her brain. She looked up at the sky and saw Angelique Bouchard and her younger brother Reginald standing at the very top of the cliff side by side. She was shocked and enraged by the sight of them.
"What have you done to me?!" She demanded.
Ophelia looked down at her hands and saw that her fingers were painfully growing and there were sharp claws where her fingernails should be. It was at that moment that Ophelia realized that Angelique had cursed her to become a vampire so that her suffering would never end. She could only stare at herself in shock and disbelief, hoping that it was all a dream and she would wake up soon… but it was all real. What had she done to deserve this fate? Why was this world torturing her so? When she made her way back to Collinwood, she was met with an angry mob with the Bouchard siblings at the lead.
"There's the monster." Angelique said, pointing an accusing finger at Ophelia.
As a result of Barnabas's actions, the Bouchard siblings had turned the townspeople against Ophelia and condemned her to suffer her anguish alone in the dark for all time. As punishment, she was locked away in an iron casket and the townspeople buried her deep within the forest far away from the village where no one would ever find her. After what seemed like an eternity, all of that changed.
She was coming… and soon.