A feeling of deep-seated oppressive evil seemed to crush her very soul down into the ground. It was as if a million shards of ice were sitting in the pit of her stomach. Despite this, Martha couldn’t stop herself. She looked up into the trees, seeing nothing at first. Then, slowly, inexorably, pale green smoke began billowing from out of nowhere, wreathing the treetops.

Gradually, a shape began to take form inside the densest of the smoke. It became a grotesquely wrinkled dog-like face, a jackal’s face, with long fangs and ruby red eyes. It was the eyes. They drew her in, seemed to be sucking every inch of life out of her very soul…she couldn’t move, she couldn’t scream, she couldn’t even remember how to breathe.

She was traveling down a dark tunnel, drowning, being swallowed up by the narrowing darkness. All of a sudden, a pinpoint of light, a distant familiar voice “Martha. Martha, listen to me. Focus on my thoughts. Concentrate, Martha. Focus on me.” She tried, but it was like trying to extricate her thoughts from a vat of cement. “I can’t!” She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t. She was paralyzed by absolute evil.

“Yes you can, Martha Jones. I know you. I believe in you. Now concentrate!” Thus, the Doctor kept gently but forcefully talking to her, inside her mind. Coaxing, forcing her to reassert her free will. Gradually, the tunnel of light grew brighter. Abruptly, she heard what sounded like a frustrated snarl. Then, she felt the doctor’s fingers resting on the side of her head, clearly heard his voice, gently bringing her back to the world of the living.

She opened her eyes and saw him there, hovering over her. She was confused, until she realized that she was lying on the ground. The Doctor looked both relieved and worried. She tried to sit upright, the Doctor helping her. “Are you alright?” He asked with intense concern. “I–I think so. What was that thing?”

The Doctor looked at her strangely. “I wish I could tell you, but I couldn’t see a thing.” Martha stared at her friend and managed a weak grin. “What? I thought you Time Lord’s were supposed to know nearly everything.” The Doctor smiled, then looked up at the treetops apprehensively. “I didn’t see it, but I’ll tell you what,” he murmured. “I certainly could feel it.” He looked back at her and said reassuringly. “You weren’t imagining things. Whatever it was, it was quite real–and, quite deadly.” Then, he flashed an impulsive grin at her. “Right then, are you up for a little stroll around the grounds?” He held out his hand to her. “Oh, why not?” She said, then fainted dead away.