Chapter 3

John found himself in total darkness. Panic immediately set in as he felt four walls on all sides of where he lay. He was in a box, of some sorts. Worse still, he had a sense of falling.

"Help!" he screamed. "Let me out! River! Help!"

Nothing. John could feel the sweat beginning to drip down his face. He could feel his heart racing as he struggled to escape the trap he was in. Most of all, he felt betrayed. As though River had tricked him in order to kidnap him for some nefarious deed. Images of the Phoenix group immediately came to mind.

"John," River's voice called, almost dreamlike. "John, you must not fight that which you do not understand. Relax and all will be well."

"But I'm severely claustrophobic," John told him.

"Yes, I know, but you must relax."

"Please, River, let me out," he begged.

"John, if you do not relax now, then your journey will never begin and the ritual will have been a waste. Please, trust me and relax." River ordered.

"Alright," John acquiesced.

John closed his eyes and cleared his head. He was remembering meditation techniques used by Tibetan monks and made good use of them. Relaxing his entire body, he got the sense that the walls holding him were opening up more. His panic eased and his heart rate slowed considerably. He felt completely relieved.

"Good, you have faced one of your fears." River's voice came back.

"What do I do now?" John asked.

"Allow your mind to focus, and it shall come to you."

John did as he was told. Slowly a street replaced the darkness. Buildings faded in all around him. He noticed immediately that he was alone.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Tommy?" a voice called.

John spun around. He knew that voice. It was the woman from the ferry. Theresa. However, he couldn't see her anywhere.

"Hello? Where are you?" John called out.

He turned and saw he was in front of a house. Theresa's house. At least he thought it was her house. The first time he'd gone there, the inside had been a normal house. It was there that he'd met the strange old woman with the yellow teeth. The one who'd lied to him. John slowly walked to the door. He wasn't sure what he'd find.

"Tommy?" Theresa's voice called again.

John reached out and opened the door. It opened to reveal the man in the trench coat, the one he'd noticed with the old woman. Every time the man opened his mouth, it was Theresa's voice that came out.

"You? What have you done with Theresa?" John asked.

"Tommy, why didn't you come meet me at the ferry?" the man asked in Theresa's voice.

"I don't understand."

"If you'd come to meet me, then maybe you wouldn't be in this situation."

"But I tried to find you, but you were gone by the time I got there." John said.

Now, instead of Theresa's voice, the man started signing.

You could have discovered the truth, John Doe the man signed.

"I don't understand. What have you done with Theresa?" John demanded.

When the man didn't answer, John became angry and reached out to grab him, only the man burst into flames, in the image of a Phoenix. John jumped back, shocked.

"What's going on here? Why am I being shown this?" John yelled.

"You are facing your inner spirits, John, the bad ones. You must find a way to defeat them."

"How?"

"Thomas, you know if you try to defeat them, you'll only lose," the voice said.

John spun around. It was the yellow-toothed woman.

"You. But you're dead. I saw you die."

"As your friend says, I'm a bad spirit. Unfortunately, you cannot defeat me. I am more powerful than you can even imagine."

"Why are you doing this to me?" John screamed.

"Troubled, Thomas?" Yellow Teeth asked.

"Leave me alone!" John lunged at the woman.

"Yes, Thomas, give in to your anger."

John was enraged. He'd never known himself to be so angry. He did get angry, but never like this. His hands went to the woman's neck.

"John!" River's voice yelled out. "John, you must not give in to the taunts of your demons. Defeat them the way you know how."

John stopped short of strangling the woman. River had a point. Violence was not the answer to his problems. He needed to use his mind instead of his strength. Taking a deep breath to calm him, John thought of a way to deal with Yellow Teeth.

"You're nothing but a part of my rather vivid imagination," he said eventually. "I know that you're dead. I saw you die. You're nothing more than a manifestation of my inner stress. I refuse to give into your taunts."

The woman seemed to vanish. Her voice remained, though.

"Very well, Thomas, I'll leave you be, for now."

John's field of vision was filled with the image of the Phoenix bird. He was back.

"And you," he said to it. "I know that I am you. You are a part of me, somehow. I don't fully understand my connection to you, but I will find it. Until then, leave me alone. Let me live. Let me learn what I need to learn."

The trench coat man replaced the image. His eyes stared deeply into John's.

Unlike my associate, I am not easily defeated, he signed. Some spirits you can defeat, other's you cannot.

The man in the trench coat vanished. Immediately, the house burst into flames. John ran for the door, but it closed and wouldn't open. John tried to break a window, but it wouldn't break.

"What do I do now?" he yelled.

"What does your mind tell you, John?" River's voice asked.

"I don't know!" he yelled, panic-stricken.

"Is the house on fire, John?"

"Yes, yes it is," he said.

"Are you sure?"

John realized River was right. The house wasn't on fire, not in the literal sense. Yet the flames gave off heat. But it was all in his mind. His fear was nothing more than a release of adrenaline. His subconscious mind was merely providing something to stimulate those fears.

Remembering his Tibetan meditation techniques, John quickly relaxed his mind. Around him the fires subsided, finally going out. The scene was replaced by a meadow. The place looked very familiar.

"Hi, JD," a voice called.

He knew the voice. He turned around. It was Karen.

A/N: Ok, so Karen finally showed up in this. I ended it here to give a sense of "Wow!" The next chapter should have JD dealing with Karen's death and another confrontation with trench coat, the only other member of the Phoenix JD's seen. Hope you enjoyed this one. The next chapter should come soon.