PROLOGUE
The Mad Ophelias: Prologue
A FEW WEEKS BEFORE THE PLANT EXPLODED, the local sheriff found a barefoot young woman in a hospital gown limping down the middle of the road nearby. It was pitch-dark out, a thick layer of clouds blotting out all the stars in the night sky. She was shivering in the autumn cold, hair shorn to where he could see the #MadOphe…
PART 1
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 1
Previously on TMO: What was that barefoot woman in the hospital gown carrying, exactly? And who are the Mad Ophelias? From the plant explosion just outside a nowhere town in the future, we now go back in time to see—as the sheriff said—how it all went so wrong.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 2
Previously on TMO: The protest was a dismal failure — hardly anyone showed up. When a skinhead confronted them, a gun fell from MadHatter’s coat, and he ran — leaving Ophelia unsettled, not only because she didn’t know MadHatter carried, but by just how good it felt to get the upper hand.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 3
Previously on TMO: Rattled by MadHatter’s dropped gun, Ophelia retreated to her fortified studio, realizing how complacent she’d become. Afraid MadHatter knows her past—and that even proximity to a firearm could destroy her—she hired Samuel to take her phone out and build a digital alibi.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 4
Previously on TMO: Ophelia tried to uncover MadHatter’s real identity—and discovered someone had erased her from the group’s photographs. Then MadHatter invited the women to a shooting range and messaged Ophelia directly: you in?
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 5
Previously on TMO: Ophelia tried to bury MadHatter’s invitation beneath the routines of work and survival, but you in? followed her everywhere. By Thursday, mounting paranoia—and a shooting-range flyer that awakened a disturbing childhood memory—had pushed her to level red.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 6
Previously on TMO: Unable to resist MadHatter’s invitation, Ophelia joined SlyDevil at the shooting range despite fearing the group was being steered toward violence. Disguised as “Janet,” she stepped inside—and felt her buried former self beginning to return.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 7
Previously on TMO: At the shooting range, Ophelia challenged MadHatter to a competition—and revealed a terrifying command of firearms. As the other women applauded, Ophelia realized MadHatter had successfully unleashed the person she’d tried to bury.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 8
Previously on TMO: Shaken by her loss of control at the range, Ophelia abandoned her sobriety and took SlyDevil into the basement beneath her office. There, she revealed that her survivalist father had trained her to become a weapon—and that she’d hidden her inheritance behind a sealed door.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 9
Previously on TMO: Ophelia revealed that she was the real “Prepper Princess”—the armed teen behind a notorious standoff later turned into a movie—and showed SlyDevil the arsenal she’d secretly inherited. Instead of walking away, SlyDevil decided a broken person might be exactly what their broken times required.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 10
Previously on TMO: After footage of Ophelia’s shooting-range rampage went viral, she learned Eyasi had been shot during an immigration stop. When MadHatter pushed the group toward kidnapping a politician in retaliation, Ophelia steered them toward SlyDevil’s theatrical mannequin stunt—but suspected MadHatter had another plan.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 11
Previously on TMO: A little protest art, they said. Nothing that could land them in prison. But when Ophelia and the others planted bloodied mannequin parts across a politician’s lawn, MadHatter went off-script. By morning, their warning had become a movement. But who, exactly, is controlling it?
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 12
Previously on TMO: As the Mad Ophelias went viral and inspired increasingly violent imitators, Ophelia discovered MadHatter had deliberately fed their stunt to the media. Stalking her for answers, she witnessed a secret exchange—and spotted a Phaya Naga tattoo identical to her own.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 13
Previously on TMO: A protest planned to help Eyasi exploded into a nationwide movement, with 20,000 people expected in Seattle alone. Then the FBI warns of a credible threat from the Patriot Keepers: march, and people could die. The Mad Ophelias vote to go ahead anyway. But Ophelia has a secret reason for wanting it to go on.
The Mad Ophelias: Chapter 14
Previously on TMO: Protesters flood Seattle’s streets, where Patriot Keepers and riot police are waiting. Ophelia finds SlyDevil and an unlikely new ally, Ridley, but MadHatter and the others are nowhere to be seen. Are they planning something bigger? With thousands of people watching and cameras everywhere, Ophelia fears the worst.
PART 2
© 2026 J. Lincoln Fenn. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction published as a serialized novel on Substack. No part of this work may be reproduced, reposted, or distributed in any form without the author’s prior written permission. First publication rights reserved by the author.