Chapter Thirteen: Pay The Consequences
Dawn came on the Island of Sodor as everyone was ready to seize the day, that is, except James and Cara. For James, he was to be fixed and mended at The Steamworks while suffering from blindness. James finds it as a massive struggle as unexpected noises frightened him as he didn't know where it was coming from, and he didn't enjoy seeing nothing but darkness as it did make him feel miserable.
For Cara, she barely slept for the night, and she didn't eat her breakfast. Her mother was concerned about her daughter's well-being, and all Cara did was sit by her bedroom window, looking worried and upset. Her mother did everything she could to assure her daughter that James would get better, but Cara disagreed. Will James ever get better?
At Trent's house, in the living room, all but Darren were laughing and being silly as they talked about yesterday's experience. Darren was the only one to remain silent as he didn't find yesterday's experience pleasurable. Instead, he thought they went too far, especially since the police were now involved. As the boys talked, Trent had a bad idea, "Hey guys, I got a good idea that will make Zero Eyes even more ugly!"
"Do tell!", Oscar exclaimed.
"I thought that we would sneak into her house and invest them with some cockroaches and mice! I got some pet mice with me, and I collected cockroaches!", Trent replied.
Darren gasped in horror, "Cockroaches and mice?"
"Mhm. Let's say that she will have a heart attack!", Trent smirked.
"Awesome idea!", Joseph laughed as all, but Darren laughed maliciously.
Darren frowned as he thought to himself. What was he thinking? Why was he having out with the wrong boys? Why did he allow Cara to suffer and make her miserable? Cara did nothing wrong as she was innocent, kind, and intelligent. He glanced from left to right as he thought of his decision. What's better, being with the boys and adding the guilt or leaving the group and getting bullied?
With that, Darren gave the boys a harsh glare, "I say we shouldn't."
This made all the boys stop laughing as they gave a shocked look to Darren, "What did you say?", Trent sneered.
"I said we shouldn't!", Darren replied, "Don't you think we are going too far?"
Trent frowned at this as the other boys looked nervous at each other before looking at Darren, "Who do you think you are?", Trent asked him, "You're not the group's boss, and you decided to disagree with my plan. I thought we were best friends."
Darren knew where this was going, but he was willing to take a risk, "I may not be the boss, but I got some morals here. We are already in trouble with the police, even though we haven't been caught yet, but now you decided to go extreme? Why go that far?"
"Because Zero Eyes is stupid, and I can't stand her!", Trent replied angrily.
Darren was shocked about this. Did Trent hate Cara purely? Either way, Darren knew this was the last straw, "You know what? I'm leaving!", Darren got up as he held his fists tightly.
This made the boys gasp in shock before Trent got up and walked toward Darren threateningly, "Fine, Darren! Leave! See how much I care! But let me tell you something! If you dare snitch on us on the plan and report this to the police, I will pummel you! You got that?"
Darren gulped as he felt weak, and alone, but he decided to agree for the sake of his safety, "Yes, Trent…"
With that, Darren left the living room as one tear escaped his eye. Darren now felt awful for what he had done in the past, and now he realised his faults and managed to stand up for himself and leave the toxic group of boys who were willing to make Cara's life a living nightmare. What kind of sick people would target one person and make their lives miserable?
Once Darren shut the front door, he leaned at the door and sighed to himself, "I-I got to tell the police about this…"
…
At Knapford Station, twelve security guards were guarding the place as everyone felt slightly scared. What were they defending for? Whatever it was, it was serious. There, Darren arrived at Knapford Station as he saw Rebecca departing from the station with the express while witnessing Emily pulling her coaches and Edward pulling James' red coaches.
Once everything seemed less busy, Darren thought to himself, "S-should I tell or should I leave it for later?"
He thought carefully. He knew that if he told them the truth, he would get into serious trouble with the police and his parents. However, he knew that deep down, it was the right thing to do to tell them the truth. With that, the young twelve-year-old took a deep breath and went to a female security guard, "Excuse me, Miss?"
The female security guard was surprised about this as she asked him, "Yes? How can I help?"
With that, Darren began to explain everything about Trent, the other boys, and himself on what they did yesterday and Trent's plan to ruin Cara's day. There, he told every truth to the security guard as he began to cry and apologise for his mistakes, "I-I'm sorry… I-I'm sorry! I-I mean it!"
The security guard was shocked about this, but she remained professional as she told him what he did was wrong but reminded him that what he did was the right thing to do as telling the truth was important. The security guard reported this to both the police and The Fat Controller.
…
After the incident, Trent was punished by the police by doing community service, while the other boys were punished by their parents, including Darren. What's more, Darren was shocked that his mother and father were thinking of sending him to another school to give him a fresh start. Darren was both shocked and upset as he knew he couldn't tell Cara everything, but he knew that at least, hopefully, he could change for the better.
For Trent, he was fuming at Darren for "betraying" him, but he swore that if he saw Darren again, he would make his life a living nightmare. He also blamed Cara for landing him in trouble, even though she didn't snitch on him nor did anything wrong. With that, Trent swore that once his punishment was over, he would act again.
…
Meanwhile, at Cara's house, Cara was now sitting on the couch with Stella as she patted her dog sadly. Stella looked worried at her human friend as she gave him a slight whining noise. Just then, they heard a knock at the door. This startled them as Stella gave a subtle warning growl. Cara tried to calm her dog down as she approached the door. Once she opened it, she asked, "May I help you?"
"I would like to speak to your mother.", replied an older man.
"Who are you?", Cara asked nervously, for she can't see.
"Don't worry, Miss. I'm a police officer.", he replied.
Cara sighed in relief as she called for her mother. Her mother came to the door and was greeted by the police, "Can I help you, Sir?"
"I would like to speak to you about the incident privately.", the police replied.
With that, Rayne told her daughter to be in her room. Cara understood as she and Stella went to her bedroom. Once Cara shut the bedroom door, she sat on her bed and pondered. What were the police doing there? Was this about James' incident or something else? Whatever it was made Cara worried and curious at the same time as her dog sensed her emotion.
…
After waiting for what felt like hours, Cara's mother knocked at the door, "Sweetheart, can we talk?"
Cara was surprised, "Sure.", she replied as Cara's mother walked in.
There, Rayne sat on her bed and explained everything, "You know about James' incident?"
Cara nodded sadly, "Well, they found the culprits, and they are in trouble for what they have done. Also, a boy claimed that Trent was planning to frighten you with some cockroaches and mice."
This made Cara gasp in shock. Did Trent really go too far? As Cara tried to progress everything, Rayne then added, "Also, after two days from now, you can visit James."
With that, Rayne left the room as Cara thought to herself, "Finally… j-justice has been served, but James… is he okay? I sure hope so."
…
Back at The Steamworks, James was just finished being repaired when Thomas came to visit him, "Hey, James! How are you doing?"
"Not so great up here.", James replied sadly as he was hanging by some chains.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, but you wouldn't believe what happened to Gordon! He got stuck on the hill again, and Rebecca saw it for the first time! You shouldn't have seen his face!", Thomas laughed so hard.
When Thomas mentioned the word "seen", James only sighed, and he looked down, looking so glumly.
After Thomas laughed for a minute, he realised that James was upset, "I-I'm sorry about that… I was trying to make you laugh… I hope you understand, and I understand that you feel that way because you can't see."
James only sighed, "It's fine, Thomas… I'll get used to it, hopefully."
"You will, James, and I have every faith in you.", Thomas spoke optimistically.
"I sure hope so.", James sighed again.
Luckily, Thomas managed to cheer James up by explaining every event today, and James did chuckle a bit when Thomas told a story that Nia had to chase after a joey that escaped from the kangaroo section. However, Thomas couldn't stay forever as he was busy himself. Once he was done chatting with James, he explained he had to go.
James understood as the two exchanged a blown kiss before Thomas left his way to finish his task. This left James all alone as he wondered, "Will I be okay from being blind or not? Whatever the future has for me… I'm certainly not prepared… why me, though? Why?"
