Chapter Four: Unravelling the Past

For the past week, all the engines became more on edge as they kept constantly worried about Spite coming for them as they kept thinking that something terrible was going to happen to them. It even took its toll on The Steam Team, including Edward, Thomas, and Rebecca. The Fat Controller took notice of all the engines' behaviour, and he grew massively concerned about them. Most of the engines remained quiet as a mouse or something even refused to do jobs that they weren't usually afraid of, such as shunting trucks or delivering fragile items.

He would always attempt to ask what's wrong, but they simply replied that nothing was wrong, but The Fat Controller begged to differ as he knew too well that something was awfully wrong. It wasn't just him that took notice, the drivers and firemen also took notes, and they did everything they could to comfort and control them, but most of them failed. All the engines at this point were sleep-deprived, that some had difficult times focusing on work, but whenever they made a minor mistake, they began to panic as they were all convinced that they were going to get a terrible punishment or be scrapped. They were all living in a nightmare while being awake.

The worst part for the engines was when it was time to get some sleep, as no matter how they tried to stay awake, they all ended up falling asleep, but only to be awoken by reliving their trauma or facing their biggest fear. It was too much to bear, and many tried to comfort one another, but they couldn't get that feeling of fear away. They also noticed that Spite seemed to get much more threatening every night and caused more damage than ever. However, only three engines stayed resilient as they knew that this was their chance to gather more information, solve the case, and hopefully end Spite's reign of terror. Every night, Edward, Thomas, and Rebecca would sleep to experience the nightmare so they could put pieces of puzzles together when they were awake. Sometimes they puff away from Knapford Station to discuss their dreams and their new theories.

Despite working as a team, they ended up experiencing more and more paranormal experiences both in their mind and reality as it seemed like Spite was listening to their scheme, and she wanted to put their plan in jeopardy. She would do anything to make them fall into submission and accept their fate of suffering through her terror. Edward's experience with her was the most intense of all as he was the one to lead the trio. He would often be whispered with negative words or horrible nicknames to his ears, like an insect that wouldn't buzz off. He would also keep seeing a shadowy figure of an engine lurking around every corner, especially at night-time. What's worse, as days went by, there seemed to be minor accidents following him, even though it was created by force.

One time, it was nearly a late afternoon, and he had just finished shunting trucks at Brendam Docks when suddenly he felt a massive force behind him as he ended up derailing some of the trucks. This horrified him, and nobody witnessed someone shunting Edward violently, and The Fat Controller just couldn't believe it, yet he didn't get mad at Edward. What's worse, he would often feel like he was followed the most, and Spite would appear then vanish into thin air, proving the theory that she was either a ghost or an evil spirit. Whatever she was, she was threatening, and she seemed to get more and more aggressive and unpredictable that sometimes she wouldn't appear until hours later.

Edward tried to remain resilient and strong, but days went by with her tormenting him, and his friends made him feel mentally drained as just adding new information was too much for him. Yet, he knew that Spite would potentially take over all engines and make them fear for their lives if he gave up. With that, he would always keep his head up and play the leader and supporter role for others, especially to Thomas and Rebecca, as not only were they getting more experience, but they were willing to aid him.

As for Thomas and Rebecca, they were more easy targets, especially Rebecca. Every attempt she made to stay bold, Spite would easily beat her down by saying nasty stuff about her and show images of her friends belittling her to manipulate her. It would work most of the time as Rebecca would doubt herself, but Edward would always remind her to be vigilant and not allow Spite to win. It was difficult for her, yet with her optimism coming in hand, it sometimes helped her pull through.

For Thomas, he was usually the one to either lead or be an important engine to help others in need. Still, ever since Spite invaded his mind, he felt like he was weak and pathetic and kept believing he wasn't useful as Spite would remind him of some traumatic experience he had been through. Still, luckily, Edward supported him, and slowly but surely, Thomas gained his confidence.

No matter how hard they tried, they felt like they were going in circles as there was no direct lead or answer about Spite and her origin. They felt like it was impossible, yet they kept trying. On the sixth day, Thomas decided to ask The Fat Controller if he knew an engine named Spite. He was surprised about this question as he kept hearing her name, but he shook his head sadly as he had no recollection about her and that he and the others should focus on work, which left the tank engine defeated. However, what the three engines didn't expect was that they would find something vital in the most unexpected way. This object would be something that remained inside Edward, Thomas, and Rebecca's minds. Something they would need to use.

…

It was on the seventh spooky evening on the Island of Sodor. Edward, Thomas, and Rebecca decided that perhaps they should find more clues in one place that nobody dared to enter unless they were tough and strong. The Smelter's Yard. Many of the engines dread that place as it was full of negative vibes, and it smelled like rusty irons and burnt tires. However, they thought that if they needed more clues, this would be the only place as it seemed like every time they dreamt about her, they always ended up in The Smelter's Yard. Perhaps this was her residing area, or maybe there's something vital that can solve the problem. Whatever the answer was, they had to be there.

…

As they puffed their way, they passed a creepy part of the railway where all the trees were withered and dying, and Rebecca swore they had faces that looked like they were screaming in horror. The fog was getting heavier and heavier as they got closer to their destination, and Thomas always found fog a nuisance, but with Spite lurking nearby, this made his boiler go cold as he whooshed steam in fear. However, Edward remained calm and composed as he narrowed his eyes in determination. Although the whisper from the winds did irritate him, he kept going, and he reminded the two younger engines as usual, "Whatever you do, ignore her tricks and stay strong.", he instructed them firmly yet like a father figure.

Thomas and Rebecca obeyed his order as they continued to puff to The Smelter's Yard. As they headed to their destination, the three felt a presence behind them as the voice whispered, "You think you're clever, huh? Well, I'll show you that you can never beat me!"

With that, presence made a brief appearance, which showed Spite grinning like a cat ready to hunt its mouse as she let out a banshee-like scream. As if by magic, thunder roared with the lightning strike as the three peeped their whistles in fear as they puffed faster to The Smelter's Yard. This was the biggest fight they had tonight, and it wasn't a great experience to have. The more they tried to get away, the louder the thunder went as it boomed to their ears if engines had visible ears, and Edward shouted, "Keep puffing! Don't look back! If she tries again, don't fall for it! Keep going! Keep moving!"

Even though the area seemed quiet and chilly, just having three engines fearing for their safety made the environment more unsettling as their silhouettes were shown from the fog as Rebecca cried, "Oh, this is bad! This is bad! This is bad!"

While puffing, they kept hearing whispers from her, "Give up already!", or, "You're useless!", or "You made a terrible mistake, or, "Now you're going to suffer!", or, "You shouldn't have done that!"

It was too much for them, and with them now suffering from paranoia, having a battle with the mind and something threatening was ten times worse than knights fighting and defending their kingdom. Again, they kept their resilience as much as possible to get through.

…

After what felt like forever, they managed to arrive at their destination, but by the time they tried to apply their brakes, Edward felt a clunk noise from his pony wheels. This startled the three, but when they looked back, the thunder and lightning had stopped altogether like magic and Spite's tactics had also stopped. It was like that sudden noise had stopped all the madness altogether. Just as they tried to regulate their emotion, Thomas looked down and spotted something rusty, gold, and crooked in front of Edward's pony wheels, "Cinders and ashes.", he gasped, "What is that?"

This got Edward puzzled at first, along with Rebecca, until the yellow tender engine also spotted it, "Is that… gold?", she asked in curiosity.

Since Edward couldn't see it, he knew it must be under his running plate, so he slowly reversed back, and to his surprise, he saw the object that Thomas and Rebecca described. However, this object looked familiar but severely damaged. It was indeed in gold colour, but it was so rusted that no humans would find it valuable to own, and it looked smashed like a sledgehammer was the cause of it. With that, Edward squinted his eyes as he analysed the odd object carefully. It looked familiar, but he wasn't so sure if it was the case or not. This made Thomas and Rebecca look at each other in curiosity and confusion as they looked back. What was the object? Was it one of the scraps that somehow got dropped there, or is there something more significant and potentially reliable that's related to Spite?

As Edward looked closely at the rusty object, something flashed inside the object in a split second before it vanished. The image showed an engine filled with anguish and sadness before it turned into a scary picture of an engine that Edward knew too well. Once the image showed and vanished quickly, this got Edward frightened as he reversed back a bit with an agape mouth and wide eyes. He thought it was all in his head, but it felt so real, "What's wrong?", Thomas stammered as he could tell that Edward looked scared.

"What did you see?", Rebecca asked as she shook a bit.

Edward was quiet for a moment before he approached the object slowly again. Once he got close to it, he examined it again, and as he did so, Thomas and Rebecca also came it as they wondered what was going on. With the three staring at the rusty mysterious object, they all saw an image that Edward saw before, but only it lasted a little bit longer. This startled them, but when Edward saw it again, he noticed something interesting. Before the engine's image changed into Spite, he saw that the engine had a golden dome, and when Spite came, she was domeless. What's more, he then remembered that Spite never had a dome.

This got Edward's pupils dilated with his mouth opened in surprise and realisation. Could this dome belong to Spite? Just before he could conclude and tell Thomas and Rebecca about it, something odd happened to the damaged dome. The dome began to glow bright luminous white that nearly blinded the engines' eyes as they all couldn't react with words as they all groaned in agony from the brightness as it was intense, as if the sun was so close to them. The three didn't know what would happen, but they all felt like this was going to be a wild ride. With that, they were all consumed by the light.

…

"E-Edward? Where are we?", Thomas asked.

Edward opened his eyes slowly yet surely until his eyes were wide open. As his eyes were open, Rebecca spoke in fear and confusion, "It feels like we're not in Sodor anymore."

With that realisation, the three looked in front of them, and it looked like everything was peaceful and bright. The sun shines more radiant than ever, with the trees thriving with fresh green leaves and the railway. The railway wasn't as big, but it wasn't as small either. This got the three surprised as they tried to puff forward when suddenly their wheels felt rigid, like as if their wheels were rusted, "Why can't we move.", Thomas groaned as he attempted to move.

However, Edward seemed to know the answer, "I think we're supposed to witness it.", he replied with some confidence.

Just before Thomas could reply, Rebecca gasped, "Guys, look!"

The two looked at Rebecca with expressionless faces as Rebecca's mouth was agape with sad yet horrified eyes. This got them curious as they looked forwards. What they saw made their mouths drop, with their eyes dilated in awe and shock. "Hey! Willow! Why can't you shunt properly? You're so rough on the trucks! What are you, a bully?", snorted a red LNWR 317 class engine with the number sixty-five on the sides named Roger.

"Yeah, you seemed to always like to cause trouble by being so rough!", mocked a dark green BR Standard Class 5 engine with the number one hundred and ten named Evelyn.

These two bully engines were teasing a shiny silver LMS Compound 4-4-0 engine with polished black wheels, a golden dome that looked like it's been cleaned multiple times, and the number forty imprinted on the tenders. She looked frightened and timid for a large tender engine, "I-I didn't shunt them hard. Honest.", she whimpered, "T-the trucks were being stubborn, and when they let loose, I accidentally slipped my wheels and caused some to be derailed."

"Excuse, excuses.", Roger snickered, "It seems like you always cause an accident."

"I'm surprised our boss didn't send you to scraps!", Evelyn spat at the poor defenceless engine as she laughed.

With that, the two engines tooted with such cocky and cruel persona as Roger warned her, "If you cause an accident, you'll be scrapped."

There, the two engines puffed snootily away from her as Willow looked at the long-gone engines as she sighed to herself, "I'm not a bully. I'm not pathetic. I'm not bad. I'm a use…", she paused before tears escaped her eyes, "Oh what's the use. I'm a useless engine."

With that, Edward, Thomas, and Rebecca felt pity for the poor Willow as she made her back to her sheds. As they witnessed the whole event, they thought it was it and that it was just a short flashback, but it was far from over. There, the environment began to change every time a scenario was shown with Willow being relentlessly bullied by other engines, mainly from Roger and Evelyn, as they took sick pleasure to make her feel like she was useless and would find many ways to put her down when she makes a mistake or would talk nasty about her when she either gets derailed or hurt.

All the events were horrible, and with the three engines witnessing the misery that Willow has gone through, they whooshed steam in sadness as their firebox dimmed. They seemed to have forgotten about Spite as now they were focusing on Willow. With all the events unfolding, there were two final events that made them horrified. Right in front of them showed the event of Willow screaming as she was desperate to seek help. She was pushed by the trucks as they taunted her and called her names, but she was often called by the trucks and many "The Silver Sinister", which she was far from as she was a helpful, kind, yet timid large tender engine.

As she was a runaway train, she went past a few engines, but none of them attempted to alert their controller or feel concerned for her. They either continued their job or thought this was amusing. Everyone around Willow was wicked, selfish, and cruel that liked to cause harm, even against each other. With them witnessing the event, they then suddenly saw Willow start to derail as the rusty bridge, causing her to get all dented, scratches, and cuts. She screamed in horror until she was defeated by landing in the shallow lake. She felt helpless and alone until her controller arrived an hour later after her driver reported about the incident, "I'm sorry to see you like this.", he spoke sympathetically, "It's not your fault, and this is the tenth time you have been in a major accident. I honestly can't believe it. Now, I'm going to get you fixed tonight. I'll get Dominic to fetch you."

Not long after, two cranes lifted her to be placed back on the rail, and by then, it was about to get dark and foggy as the season was shown that it was late Autumn. Once she was settled, an ebony black 790 Hardwick tender engine with the number seventeen on the tender sides reversed as he got Willow coupled up behind him. Once they were secured, Dominic pulled with all his strength until he managed to carry her to their Steamworks so she could be examined and fixed up for her to be useful again on the railway. However, when Edward, Thomas, and Rebecca saw Willow's aftermath, they noticed that her appearance changed a lot, and her resemblance was eerily like an engine that's been terrorising others, "Could Willow be Spite?", Edward questioned himself before he went back to continue witnessing the past events.