(1995-1998)
It all started in Aremid with Tony's death. John and Kristen were together and in love, having recently reunited after Kristen's bitter break up with Tony. Marlena accepted the relationship and was happy for both of them, however after being saved from the demon by John, she felt even more drawn to him than in recent times.
When Tony was shot and John was framed for the murder, Kristen began having her doubts, fueled by both Stefano and Peter. Marlena, on the other hand, never doubted him for a second and knew all along that he was innocent. This caused John to turn against Kristen and focus on his feelings for Marlena. Eventually Kristen came around and realised that John was innocent and made a few last desperate attempts to win back John's love. Firstly she flew back to Salem and tried to talk to Father Francis who was still lying in a coma in the hospital. Next, she came back to Aremid and arranged to be snuck into John's cell so they could sleep together.
Just before John was sent to the gas chamber, he wrote a letter to Doc, pouring out his feelings of love for her and the children. At the same time, Marlena was with Stefano, pretending she was interested in him, but was really trying to get her hands on Tony's diary which proved John was innocent. Eventually she got the diary and gave it to the Woman in White (Rachel) to take to Abe. By the time Stefano realised the diary was gone and that Marlena had been tricking him, the diary had found it's way into Jack and Jenn's hands and they got there in the nick of time to save John. Stefano was furious. With the help of some ether, he kidnapped Marlena and took her through the secret areas of the house to some caves, where he had arranged a helicopter to collect them.
John was released from custody, and still quite groggy from the gas, attempted sleep, but was awoken with the news that Marlena was missing. Of course, he and the others (Kristen, Jack, Jenn, Peter, Abe, Lexie & Rachel) went back to the house to try and find some clues. Rachel showed them the secret panels in the house and they all went looking for Marlena.
In the meantime, Kristen was desperately trying to talk to John about the future of their relationship, but he didn't want to discuss it until he knew Doc was all right. This was when Kristen started going a bit odd. She went from this wonderfully lovely, generous, loving person to a scheming witch!!! Kristen was desperate to keep John in her life, desperate to marry him and have children, but more and more she realised that Marlena was a threat to her dreams.
Of course, eventually John rescued Marlena from Stefano, almost killing himself in the process but they were both fine. While Marlena recovered, John kept vigil at her bedside wishing and praying for his love to make a full recovery. On a couple of occasions, Kristen walked in and heard his pleas. This only fueled the fire.
At this stage, the policeman who had been in charge of John during his time as a prisoner, came in with the letter John had written to Marlena when he thought he was going to die. The envelope was addressed to Marlena and so the policeman put it in the side pocket of her bag.
Marlena recovered and they all went back to Salem. Stefano had vowed to return for Marlena, so John insisted that Marlena stay with him which of course, freaked Kristen out. Both John and Marlena were desperate to share their feelings of love for each other, but both lacked the courage to come and and say it. Thinking that John didn't have any feelings for her, Marlena encouraged John to patch things up with Kristen. This convinced John that she didn't have any feelings for him, so he went to see Kristen and resumed his relationship with her. Annoyingly, that letter was sticking out of Marlena's bag the whole time and she never saw it.
Kristen persuaded John to move in with her and he insisted Doc came too. Kristen begrudgingly agreed. Next thing we know, Kristen has discovered she is pregnant. Laura tries to convince Marlena to tell John about her feelings, while Abe is doing the same with John. Kristen catches on to what is going on and manages to interrupt them every time they are alone and begin to talk. When she privately confronts Marlena, she tells her that she is pregnant and that Marlena should keep her feelings to herself for the sake of Kristen and her unborn child. Tortured, Marlena finally tells John that she loves him as a friend and that's all.
Kristen discovers the letter in Marlena's bag, and reads it. Horrified to learn of John's feelings, she hides the letter from Marlena, knowing that she would lose John forever if Marlena knew of the contents. Eventually, Marlena finds the letter and also discovers that Kristen has been deliberately keeping it from her. She puts two and two together and realises that Kristen is not the kind and loving woman everyone thinks she is. When she confronts her, Kristen is overcome with stomach cramps. She uses this tactic frequently to both gain sympathy and to stop conversations!
Laura and Marlena hypnotise The Woman in White using drugs to help her remember who she is, but she can only remember John. Later, John asks to be hypnotised so that he might remember who she is. While he is under hypnosis, Laura asks him who he loves but they are interrupted by the burglar alarm which Kristen has set off. Laura leaves the room and Kristen enters to hear John say that he loves his Doc.
Stefano arrives back on the scene. He convinces Kristen that if she looked the other way while he kidnaps Marlena, she would be free from all threats to her future with John. This is really the turning point in Kristen's mental state. She agrees and Stefano walks right past her with Doc in his arms, but Rachel sees it and screams, thwarting the attempt. Marlena doesn't remember a thing.
Kristen is now desperate to get Rachel out of the picture because she knows too much. One night she gives her some warm milk laced with poison. When she leaves the room, Peter and Jenn burst in to tell her that Rachel is in fact their mother. Kristen races upstairs to save her mother. Rachel realises what has gone on and is terribly ashamed of her daughter's actions.
Rachel and Marlena have become good friends and it pains Rachel that her daughter seems to be doing everything to keep Marlena and John apart. She tries desperately to convince conniving Kristen that she needs to come clean and tell the truth but Kristen won't hear of it. Marlena and Rachel are to take a trip to San Francisco so that Rachel can have plastic surgery to remove the scars on her face and they are to leave the next morning. Marlena tells Kristen that when she gets back she is going to John and telling him everything.
John has set up three planes, two with a Marlena look-alike and one with the real thing, to foil any attempt by Stefano to kidnap her. Again, Stefano enlists Kristen's help to tell him which plane Marlena is on. After her threats to tell John, Kristen twists the information out of John and tells Stefano. Just as the planes are taking off, John gets a strange feeling and stops the planes. They discover Stefano on the plane, he is arrested and the trip is delayed. When Stefano is safely behind bars, the trip is rescheduled and they take off. Little do they realise that the man in jail is not Stefano, merely a very good paid impersonator. Too late, Stefano has locked Rachel away in the closet and is posing as her. When the plane is airborne, he reveals himself to Marlena, fakes a plane crash and keeps her prisoner in a cage in the Paris underground tunnels. (Here's the full Paris story)
Kristen has a small attack of conscience over Marlena's "death" but consoles herself with the fact that now she has John all to herself. However, John refuses to believe Marlena is dead and that this is just another one of Stefano's sick games. He enlists Celeste to help him, since she has detailed knowledge of Stefano's various hideouts. She leads him to a local warehouse where John finds strange goggles. When he puts them on, he is visually taken to the Paris jail and can see Marlena. At first nobody believes him, since the goggles don't seem to work for anyone else, but it is enough to convince him that Marlena is indeed alive and well and locked up somewhere.
He tries to move in closer to see what she is doing. She is writing a diary about all the terrible things Kristen has done. He can only get close enough to make out Kristen's name, when Kristen conveniently interrupts him and prevents him from seeing any further.
Kristen is devastated to learn that Marlena is still alive. John also finds a strange type of board game, "Queen of the Night" in Stefano's warehouse and when he tries to work out how to play it, Kristen remembers playing it with Stefano as a child. John knows there is some kind of connection to Marlena and that the game holds a clue as to her whereabouts, because Stefano refers to her as his "Queen of the Night".
Kristen deliberately pretends she doesn't know anything about the game, but suddenly remembers when her mother finds out they are in Paris and is about to tell John. John flies off to Paris, leaving a distraught Kristen behind. Sneaky Stefano finds out, and sends a fax to Kristen, imitating John's handwriting, sending for her. Rachel and Lexie accompany Kristen to Paris.
John devises a plan to hold a masquerade ball in Paris with the attraction being the original crown of Marie Antoinette, a piece he knows Stefano wants to get his hands on. Marlena convinces Stefano to take her to the ball. At the ball, Kristen, John, Abe and Lexie are all wired up with secret cameras and walkie talkies, on the lookout for Stefano and Marlena. Kristen sees Marlena on her own and tells John that she sees nothing. Eventually he finds her anyway and as he passionately embraces her, Stefano injects him with some kind of anesthetic and both John and Marlena are taken back to the secret dungeon.
John and Marlena are kept apart so they are still unable to express their feelings for one another. John is "put to trial" for the murder of Tony in front of the weird underground people and is sentenced to death by guillotine. Oddly enough he is saved by Vivian and Ivan! Meanwhile, Kristen and Rachel have gone to look for John, and Kristen has vague memories of the Paris tunnels, so they go there. However there are a series of explosions and they are both knocked unconscious.
When they awaken, Kristen promises her mother she will tell everyone the truth about her lies and deceit. She is having pains from the baby and thinks there maybe a problem. They are finally found by Abe and Lexie, who find John. John has to go back and look for Doc, Rachel goes with him while Kristen is taken to the hospital by Abe and Lexie. John and Rachel find Marlena, who is injured, so John has to carry her. Then Stefano appears. John has Rachel hold the gun on Stefano because he can't carry Rachel and watch Stefano at the same time. Rachel and Stefano fall behind, and when Stefano tries to make a run for it in the gas filled tunnel, Rachel shoots and the tunnel explodes, killing her (and Stefano it was assumed at the time).
Kristen nearly loses the baby. Marlena and Kristen are in beds next to each other at the hospital. When Marlena regains her consciousness, Kristen is in a pretty bad state, so Marlena keeps quiet. Then Kristen does lose the baby, but pays the doctor not to tell John. She knows if it becomes known she is no longer pregnant, Marlena will tell John everything. She remembers that she promised her mother she would come clean, but now that her mother is dead she feels she cannot bear to lose John as well, especially after losing the baby. Marlena has agreed that she will not tell John of her feelings until after the baby is born.
Kristen, having now totally lost the plot, has it in her head that she has to get pregnant again before anyone realises she's lost the baby. She starts wearing padding under her clothes and uses Stefano's little mind control device to convince John to make love to her. However, whenever John is under the influence of the mind control device, he seems to think she is Marlena and that is is making love to his beloved Doc.
To be continued....