JC…wake up…JC…wake up… Pain. A slow, steady pain. Throbbing inside his head. Weighing down his eyelids. Wake up JC! JC forced his eyes to open, only to discover his vision was blurry. "Where am I?" He mumbled incoherently. The evil entity seemed to understand him. "Welcome to the Fear Chamber." JC’s awareness snapped into full alert. He surveyed the chamber. Velvety, black curtained walls. A rectangular long table to his right. A gigantic stone fireplace 10 feet in front of him. Flames crackled and leaped from the dry wood. JC attempted to move his sore arms and legs. He was chained. JC lay on his back, twisting and tugging. Panic seized his heart, threatening to dissolve all reason. He (the master) let out a grim chuckle. "I hope you like it. It’s the last place you’ll see as a human being." "What?" The Master casually walked over to the rack. JC feared to look at his face. What would he find? The Master, delighted because he could sense JC’s fear, put an icy hand on his pale arm. JC cringed in disgust to the bony touch. Several sensations coursed through his skin. Slimy slithers. Creepy crawling bugs. Freezing shock. Burning numbness. "Ugh. What are you?" The entity leaned in close to JC’s face. "Do you really want to know?" "Um…well…" "I am the bogeyman that lives under children’s beds. I am the darkness that creeps up on you when you’re alone. I am the devil you’ve been taught to fear at church. I am the paranoia a victim feels when being stalked. Do you know what I am?" "N-n-no." "Fear. What is the ultimate result of all those scenarios I mentioned? Fear. Behind the labels, details, names, and facts of those situations, if you were to strip them down to the bare bone, what element would be the beginning cause? Fear." He strolled to the wooden table. JC craned his neck. 5 items were neatly arranged in perfect order. A thick, musty leather book sat at the center. To the left was a bowl and 2 packets, one filled with herbs and the other with powder. To the right was a sheet of paper. The Master waved the paper in the air. "Recognize this?" JC’s stomach performed enough somersaults to beat an Olympic gymnast. It was the Fear List. The Master ran his fingers across the list. "Hmm, interesting choices." JC swallowed the lump in his throat. "What are you going to do with it?" "How old are you?" Silence. "Answer me!" "25." He ripped the Fear List into 25 strips, placing them in the bowl. Next, the book was opened. The evil entity recited a chilling incantation. The bowl glowed slightly. JC screamed. The packet of herbs opened. He sprinkled the awful, green plant onto the strips of the Fear List. He recited another spell. The contents of the bowl burst into green flames. JC desperately yanked at the chains. He had to escape! But he couldn’t. The Master dusted silvery powder into the flames. They rose higher, changing from green to white. JC watched his captor carry to bowl to the fireplace. Tears stung his eyelids. "Stop!" The evil reached into the flames and threw one strip into the fire. "Joshua Scott Chasez…" A second piece disappeared into the fire. "Parents are Karen and Roy…" He tossed in a third piece. "Siblings are sister Heather and brother Tyler…" A fourth piece. "Born August 8, 1976…" A fifth piece. "Belongs to a band called Nsync…" A sixth piece. "All these memories now belong to me…" A seventh piece. "Your past forever erased…" An eighth piece. "Your future in my possession…" A ninth piece. "All kindness and humanity from your heart banished…" A tenth piece. "Evil overpowers good as your animal instincts take over…" An eleventh piece. "Stay in Whispers…" A twelfth piece. "Your soul belongs to me!!" He threw the rest of the list into the fire. The flames shot up to the ceiling. JC let the tears flow freely as a thick fog surrounded him. The entity laughed cruelly. Laughter echoed off the fog. And then…