THE PLAYERS

Kristen Blake DiMera	John Black	Dr. Marlena Evans	Susan Banks
Laura Horton	Jennifer Horton	Peter Blake	Stefano DiMera
Nurse Lynn Burke	Vivian Alamain	Ivan Marais	Jack Deveraux
Sister Mary Moira Banks

PROLOGUE

The Secret Room storyline was just one chapter in the feud between Dr. Marlena Evans and her nemesis, Kristen Blake, adopted daughter of Stefano DiMera. Not long after Kristen's arrival in Salem, Marlena's extramarital affair with John Black caused the end of her marriage to Roman Brady and produced young Belle. Out of guilt, John and Marlena then kept their feelings for each other secret. John had become involved with Kristen, but it was revealed that she was betrothed to Stefano's son Count Antony DiMera. In the end, lies and deceit effectively put an end to their union; Kristen and John officially became an item.

Still, trouble was far from over. A terminally ill Tony killed himself in Aremid and set up John, who, as a result of Stefano threatening the judge, was sentenced to execution. From his jail cell, in what were supposed to be the final days of his life, John wrote Marlena a letter professing his undying love for her -- she had stood by him through the trial, never doubting his innocence, while Kristen had admitted on the witness stand that she felt there was a possibility John may have killed Tony. Kristen intercepted John's letter and kept it from Marlena. Once a kind, caring, understanding person, Kristen's insecurities weakened her, and she became determined to hold onto John at all costs (Jack Deveraux had saved him from the gas chamber with crucial evidence that proved Tony's plot).

A few months after the group returned to Salem, Kristen discovered that she was pregnant. This was particularly good news for Kristen, who had been told that her chances of ever having children were very slim. She and John became engaged, but not long after, Marlena discovered the letter that John had written her. She confronted Kristen, who convinced her to wait until later to reveal the scheming to John. Marlena agreed, but was nearly kidnapped by Stefano while accompanying Rachel Blake (a.k.a. the Lady in White, Kristen & Peter's mother) to San Francisco for reconstructive surgery. Unbeknownst to all, Kristen had a hand in this plotting. Their scheme was foiled, but later on, Stefano pretended to be Rachel while someone impersonated him in jail; he managed to nab Marlena.

John headed to Paris to rescue a kidnapped Marlena from Stefano, with Kristen in tow, not realizing that she knew the key to rescuing Doc and kept it from him. A bizarre experience in the sewers of Paris led to Rachel's death. Stefano appeared to have died as well, but Kristen and Peter knew the truth. Soon after Kristen lost her baby as a result of the underground explosion, but kept this news from everyone, fearing she would otherwise lose John. Again, all returned to Salem, and Marlena made Kristen promise that she would not sleep with John or wear her engagement ring for the duration of her pregnancy, when Marlena would reveal her plotting to John. Kristen reluctantly agreed.

Kristen's brother Peter faked his death to make it appear that Jack had shot him dead after a kidnapping attempt gone wrong. Jack was sentenced to life in prison, and Peter planned to someday return to claim Jennifer and Abby and take them for himself. At his "funeral," where Daniel Scott's body was passed off as Peter's, Jennifer's mother Laura spied not only Kristen adjusting her pregnancy pillow, but also Stefano and Peter, walking around and very much alive. The DiMeras kidnapped Laura and Stefano planned to take her away, but Kristen persuaded him to settle for a laser procedure that would erase Laura's memory of the event. They hired Nurse Lynn Burke to keep her on medication that would prevent the memory from returning; when Laura failed to take it, she had flashes of the sighting, but because of her history of mental illness, no one believed her. Jack remained in jail, and Salem believed Peter Blake and Stefano DiMera to be dead.

On November 4, 1996, Kristen came face-to-face with Elvis-loving hillbilly Susan Banks, the rather pregnant woman who, bearing a striking resemblance to Kristen with the aid of contacts and fake teeth, would impersonate her at doctor's appointments and during the delivery, and later sell her baby to Kristen and leave Salem.

The Secret Room is essentially the story of Kristen succumbing to the influence of her adoptive father, of Marlena and John being kept apart in just about every way possible, and of Kristen's machinations falling apart over the course of several months, causing her plot and the lives of all involved to spiral out of control.

ENTER JOHN BLACK, JR./LI'L ELVIS

On February 21, 1997, Susan Banks gave birth to a baby boy. Though he was born with a slight heart defect, a few days in the hospital and a minor surgery corrected the problem. And besides, for Kristen, Susan, and Marlena, there were far more complications involved in the delivery.

Before "Kristen" (Susan in disguise) was moved into the delivery room, Vivian Alamain and her manservant Ivan Marais discovered that it was not Kristen in the bed at all. The real Kristen, disguised as a nurse in the room, came clean to Viv and Ivan, but blackmailed them into remaining quiet (and later, assisting her) by threatening to use her vote on the Titan board of directors to give power to Kate Roberts, Vivian's rival.

John, meanwhile, decided that he and Kristen should be married before the birth of their child. He called in a priest, who performed the impromptu ceremony in the delivery room. As Kristen watched on, a disguised Susan became Mrs. John Black. The ceremony occurred mere moments before Marlena would have burst into the room and told all to John. Once she learned they had been married, she decided to remain quiet.

Later, Kristen was faced with the problem of breast-feeding her baby. This meant keeping Susan around even longer, though she was becoming not only a nuisance but also a hazard to the plot. She called off Vivian and Ivan, who had been instructed to administer to Susan a drug that would keep her from lactating. Kristen would need her a little while longer.

Through all this, though, Susan realized she loved her baby, and decided she wouldn't give up her "Li'l Elvis." She also noticed that she was falling in love with John and soon began to consider him her husband rather than Kristen's. Susan decided that she would not leave Salem without her baby, even if it meant giving up Kristen's scheme to everyone. To silence her, Kristen hired her as the live-in baby nurse, and Susan agreed to remain quiet about John Jr.'s parentage. She knew that her plan to pacify Susan could only last so long and something needed to be done, but she was not aware that Susan had begun seeing "Doc" (Marlena) for therapy. Kristen's plan was becoming more and more complicated and getting further from her control.

HE'S DEAD ... AGAIN

In the spring of 1997, Marlena received word from Shane Donovan of the ISA that her ex-husband Roman had died on a secret mission for the agency. She felt not only grief at the news of his death, but also guilt that it was her affair with John that had driven Roman out of Salem to begin with. Marlena turned to her platonic friend John for comfort, neither realizing that the other was deeply in love with them.

Around the same time, each received a letter from Roman. Assuming they were together by this point, Roman gave them his best wishes and his blessing. John and Marlena spent many quiet evenings together, mourning Roman and reminiscing over the past. It became clear to both of them how strong their feelings were, but each had a reason for keeping mum about them. As John spent more time with Marlena, he was away from his "wife" on a more frequent basis. Kristen pretended to be fine with this, but in private just grew even more determined to keep Marlena and John apart.

CRAZY OL' LAURA

All the while, Laura was becoming more and more of a threat to Kristen. If she regained her memory, not only would Kristen's schemes be revealed, but her friendship with Jennifer would be history as well. Laura had begun to avoid the medication that Lynn was giving her and soon had brief flashes of the events surrounding the laser operation. Her interest in those missing days intensified.

Finally, Laura began to outright refuse her medication. After being without it for a considerable amount of time, her memories became sharper. She recalled being held in a secret room in Peter Blake's house on Pine Mountain Road. Laura headed to the Blake house and began her search. Soon she came upon the entrance to the secret chamber in an upstairs room.

By this time Lynn had contacted Kristen. Together they raced to the Blake house, where Laura had just entered the hidden room. Kristen dealt her a blow to the back of the head with a candlestick, and Laura sagged to the ground. Lynn then drove her home, claiming she had found her passed out not far from her car. Laura insisted that something suspicious was afoot at the Blake house and forced Mike and Jennifer to accompany her there. Lynn tried to stall them, but to no avail. Kristen was still at the house, unaware of Laura's continuing quest.

Kristen managed to avoid being sighted and returned home. Mike remained suspicious of Lynn, but he and Jennifer also feared for Laura's mental health. Could she be regressing? Would it be necessary to readmit her to a sanitarium? This questions were again pressing ones, as her memory of that night became more and more distinct.

THE TRUTH COMES OUT (SORT OF)

Before you read about the truth, view the "Kristen's Demise" commercial that ran on NBC. It's in .mov (Quick Time) format. The movie is courtesy of Carrie Chafin.

Kristen was finally living the life she had chased for so long. Marlena had moved into the DiMera mansion, allowing Kristen to keep a close watch over her. John was spending more time with his "wife" as a result, and Vivian and Ivan were on hand to assist Kristen, albeit unwillingly, through any complications. Perhaps most importantly, Susan was quite pacified living with her "Li'l Elvis" and being able to spend all day with him.

Yet while her life appeared to be near-perfect on the outside, it was full of tiny flaws that could lead to her downfall at any moment. Laura was consistently refusing her medication, and Mickey, Mike, and Jennifer were all paying more attention to her accusations. Kristen could not contact Stefano, who would be able to resolve some of the glitches in her plan. Psychic Celeste had made known her premonitions that Kristen was not the baby's real mother. And of course, Kristen was blissfully unaware that Susan was receiving psychiatric help from Marlena -- by some odd twist, Marlena managed to never see the Blacks' new baby-nurse, thereby never connecting Kristen's situation to that Susan described.

This opened up another problem. Happy as Susan was with her baby, she wanted John for herself. She described to Dr. Evans a situation in which a terrible woman (Kristen) had moved in with Susan and her husband (John) to steal her husband and child. Since Susan did not use names, Marlena was not able to put two and two together. Furthermore, the Elvis-obsessed baby-nurse was parading around Salem in full Kristen garb. Susan Banks had become a loose cannon.

Kristen knew she had to dispose of Susan. She commissioned the building of a secret room in the wine cellar where Susan would be locked up. In time, Stefano would return to Salem and take Susan away for good. Or, at least, that was how it was supposed to work.

Susan went to visit her therapist one day and didn't bother to take off a pin she was wearing. It was one that John had given to Kristen, and when Susan dropped it in Marlena's office, Doc became suspicious. Kristen covered, but Marlena knew Kristen had not been to her office in several months. In short time, Marlena put all the pieces of the puzzle together and confronted Kristen. While she waited for John to return home so she could expose his "wife," Marlena found herself taken captive. Kristen, Vivian, and Ivan locked her in the secret room instead.

For weeks they led John to believe that Stefano had returned and taken Marlena. Kristen feigned concern for her missing "friend." A video monitor had been installed in the secret room, along with cameras throughout the house. This system was operated by a hand-held video device through which the room itself could be viewed. During this time Kristen tormented Marlena by forcing her to watch John and herself in intimate situations, but Marlena was given hope by John's obvious unwillingness to give up the search for her.

Kristen enjoyed her visits down to the cellar to torment Marlena in person. She'd take her food about once a day, continuing to rub in her relationship with John. The secret room was hidden behind the wine stock in the cellar. Kristen passed the food through a little hole behind a couple of wine bottles. She spoke through this hole also.

One of the events Marlena missed was Brady's fifth birthday party. Kristen planned the family event and turned on the monitor so Marlena could see her children enjoying themselves with Kristen. While Brady ate his ice cream, Belle asked, "Where's Mommy?" John told her she'd be back real soon. Marlena watched the whole thing on the monitor, saying, "You sweet babies. I love you so much." Kristen gloated throughout the event, knowing that Marlena was watching every minute of it.

Vivian, Kristen, and Ivan began planning a renewal of vows for John and Kristen so that they would legally be married. To silence Laura, Mickey arranged for Peter's body to be exhumed. Kristen found this out with Lynn's help and, claiming she had found updated papers that listed Peter's request to be cremated, had Vivian and Ivan dig up Peter's coffin. They cremated the body of Daniel Scott, who had been in the coffin, but in an angry rage, Laura confronted Kristen. In front of Kristen, Vivian , Ivan and Lynn, Laura went into a rage, holding a letter opener to Kristen, saying she'd kill her. Lynn called Mike and Jennifer and told them of Laura's state. They came over and got her to back down from the confrontation. She soon passed out and was taken to the hospital. Unknowingly, Lynn and Kristen had both given Laura sedatives; this overdose caused her to slip into a coma.

Susan spied Vivian and Ivan digging up Peter's grave and this confirmed her theory that they were vampires. In a nervous fit, Susan rushed back to the DiMera mansion and accidentally discovered Kristen's small video monitor on which she could watch Marlena.

Finally, Susan locked Kristen in the cellar with Marlena. Kristen and Marlena shared many moments in the secret room. They had a cat fight and threw zingers at each other as they watched John and "Kristen" get close.

"Kristen" and John nearly made love as Kristen and Marlena watched on the monitor. Susan popped down on occassion to supply them with food, including pork rinds and fried chicken. (You can download a Quick Time movie of Marlena and Kristen in the Secret Room)

As "Kristen" and John's wedding approached, Stefano DiMera returned to town. He plotted to find the right moment to remove Marlena from the secret room and take her away with him. Events became more complicated when Susan's twin sister, Sister Mary Moira Banks, arrived in Salem. Vivian and Ivan, mistaking her for Susan, tried to kidnap her. To make amends, they were forced to scrub the convent for a few days. Finally, the day of the wedding came.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL

Susan had the wedding's decorations redone to give it an Elvis theme, and this raised some suspicions around Salem. "Kristen," however, was able to convince everyone that Susan had merely tampered with the wedding plans before leaving town.

Stefano lurked about the mansion (it was to be a backyard wedding) disguised as a waiter. The premises were swarming with Salem PD officers, making it difficult for him to get to the secret room. He attempted to use Vivian and Ivan as his accomplices in snagging Marlena.

Kristen and Marlena remained in the secret room, watching the wedding on the monitor. Kristen's hopes that Vivian would discover Susan was impersonating her had been dashed, and she resigned to the fact that she would never legally wed John. In the midst of all this, though, a gas leak began in the secret room, knocking the two women unconscious.

Laura awoke from her coma and staggered to the DiMera mansion, determined to expose Kristen. Once she arrived, Mike and Jennifer brought her inside to subdue her. The couple said their vows, and as the reception began, Susan had a little too much to drink. Laura again confronted "Kristen," and shook her so angrily that Susan's false teeth flew right out of her mouth ... into Vivian's martini glass.

Stefano fled after Susan revealed that he had been at the mansion recently. A drunken Susan cried for her baby, confusing everyone all the more. Kristen and Marlena were retrieved from the cellar in time to be resuscitated. While Marlena lay unconscious in the foyer, Kristen convinced John that Stefano and Susan had been plotting against them all along. The wedding resumed, this time with the true bride and groom preparing to say their vows. Luckily, Marlena burst into the room and stopped the ceremony.

She questioned Susan about John Jr., and got her to admit the truth about being the baby's mother. John (and everyone else) finally learned the complete truth, from Kristen's miscarriage to her failed scheme to Vivian and Ivan's involvement. Jennifer tried to force a confession out of Kristen that Peter was still alive, but to no avail.

After everyone had left, Abe had his officers handcuff Vivian and Ivan. Seeing how angry Kristen was, he refrained from cuffing her. Kristen grabbed one of the officers' guns and held John and Marlena at gunpoint, claiming she had nothing left to lose. John managed to wrestle the gun from her and Kristen, Vivian, and Ivan were all booked on kidnapping charges. John and Marlena looked at their future together and were soon engaged.

IN THE END

The "Secret Room" storyline won a great deal of critical acclaim, and was named Best Story of 1997 by Soap Opera Digest. It also carried "DAYS" for the first half of the year, a far-reaching umbrella story that had repercussions on the entire Salem canvas.

First of all, it brought Kristen out as a true DiMera and full-fledged villain. Susan Banks, originally intended to be a short-term character, became one of the most loved characters in recent "DAYS" history; this story also led to Eileen Davidson's eventual portrayal of five different "DAYS" roles (Kristen, Susan, Sr. Mary Moira, Thomas - the Banks' brother, and Penelope - an integral part of the later "Killing Pool" story).

The "Secret Room" also served to carry the Jennifer/Jack/Peter story during an extremely static time while Jason Brooks (Peter) was away from the show. As punishment for their involvement in the kidnapping, Vivian and Ivan lost all their money, leading them right into the Jonesy storyline. It also provided an excellent occasion for Stefano to return to Salem, and his later admission of being Li'l Elvis's father set the stage for another generation of the DiMera dynasty in Salem.

More than anything, though, this was just another piece of the ever-continuing saga of John and Marlena. Kristen's bid to win John back led to the return of Roman Brady and the jungle adventure storyline, as well as the "Killing Pool" story of early 1998.

Thanks to Michael Ross for writing this storyline. Additional information was added by me. Thanks to Carrie Chafin for providing the movies.

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