Lorelei sat in what used to be the Fat Controller's office at Knapford station, staring at the massive stack of paperwork in front of her. She was unable to focus, as her mind kept drifting back to what Daniella had told her upon returning to Sodor. Having an unserviceable engine left right outside of the scrapyard was certainly strange. However, the way that Daniella had described Denny's behavior was downright disturbing to her. By the looks of things, Denny had been cruelly tortured, and deliberately dumped there.
Sighing, Lorelei turned her attention to the stack of paperwork that sat on the desk. If she had known how difficult this job would be, she would have let Mr. Conductor take over. Still, she wanted to make Sodor a better place than it was before. Shaking her head, she decided to finish that later. Right now, she needed to take Daniella back to the scrapyard and try to find out what was going on.
Upon returning, Daniella and Lorelei found yet another unpleasant surprise sitting right outside the gates. Another class 08, this one severely mangled. The engine was chained to a flatbed, as its frame was badly bent, so badly in fact that its left side was crumpled and its right side torn open.
As Daniella buffered up to the flatbed, she saw its face, which had been torn in places down to the bare metal underneath. It was leaking terribly; seeping fluid out from where it had been torn and out from underneath one of its eyes. The deathly pale face twitched feebly as Daniella pushed the flatbed into the scrapyard. Before Daniella could speak, Paul had spotted them, and let out a loud exclamation of "Dexter! No!"
"This another one of your brothers?!" Daniella exclaimed.
"Yes! Oh no…no!" Paul said, clearly horrified.
"He—He's gonna come back!" Denny stammered.
"Who?! Who did this?!" said Daniella.
"I can't say! He knows! He knows where I am! He—He's gonna scrap everyone!" Denny said, as tears filled his eyes.
Daniella shunted Dexter next to his brothers, and Lorelei leaned out of her cab. "So you're Denny? Name's Lorelei, I own this place. If the fucker who did this to you comes around here again, I'll be cutting some of his parts off! Now, you don't have to tell me right this second, but I need to know who did it, especially since another engine just got dumped here," she said.
Dexter had now opened his eyes, and was staring at Daniella in an almost pleading manner.
"It's OK lil guy, you're safe here. Paul and Denny are right here, I didn't harm em. Ya probably heard some bad things about me, but they ain't true," Daniella said softly.
"She's really very kind, Dexter," Paul added.
Lorelei stepped down from Daniella's cab, took a good look at Dexter, and shook her head. Letting out a low whistle, she said, "I'ma get this one cleaned up a bit. That stuff seeping out of his face, that's gross. No offense, I know you can't help it," she said. At that, Lorelei walked off and disappeared from sight.
"Oh brother…Paxton's not gonna be happy that you three are here," Daniella muttered.
Moments later, Lorelei returned, carrying an armful of old towels and a bucket full of soapy water. She climbed up onto the flatbed that Dexter was chained to, and very carefully stepped up on his mangled bufferbeam. "Alright, one of you two needs to tell me who did this to you," she said.
"But-!" Denny said shakily.
"I know you're afraid this jackass will come back," Lorelei interrupted, "But if you don't tell me who he is, I'll have no way of recognizing him if his ass comes around here again. Now, one of you, tell me everything. Who messed you up, and why?"
"It…was…" Dexter said in a hoarse voice, trailing off.
"Take your time, buddy, you're doing great," Daniella said encouragingly.
"Mister Hatt…" Dexter choked out, struggling to speak.
"What?!" Daniella exclaimed.
"No WAY. There is no way that fat cunt survived," Lorelei said disbelievingly.
"Not Topham! His brother or cousin or something!" Denny blurted out, before gulping and looking around warily. "Y—You didn't hear that from me!" he said nervously.
"Hmm," Lorelei said, scratching her chin, "There's another scrapyard owned by someone with that last name. About five miles east of here."
"That—that's the one…" Dexter said, his voice straining.
"Alright, I think I can figure this out from here. I'll have to do some investigating, you two take it easy," Lorelei said as she wiped the oil from Dexter's face.
"But what if he comes back?!" Denny said, trembling.
"I'm not gonna leave this place unguarded, since you two were dumped here. If Daniella can't be here for whatever reason, I'll make sure Diesel 10 fills in. Speaking of that, I better call Mr. Conductor and tell him to let the Sodor engines know to keep their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary," said Lorelei.
Once she was done cleaning Dexter's face off, Lorelei got back into Daniella's cab.
"I won't let nothin' happen to ya while you're here," Daniella assured them.
Suddenly, Denny, Paul, and Dexter let out gasps, all three of them looking at something that was somewhere behind Daniella.
"Um, guys?" Daniella asked, puzzled as to what they were staring at, "Do I have something on my face?"
"G-G-Ghost!" Denny stammered, closing his eyes tightly.
"Behind you, Miss Dani!" Paul blurted.
"Ha ha, very funny," Daniella said dryly, "I been workin' this scrapyard for years, an' not once have I seen a ghost. There's no such things as—" Daniella was interrupted by an unfamiliar horn sounding behind her, followed by a bright light that shone upon the engines in front of her. "Alright! Who's the wise guy?! Ya do know you're trespassing, right! You fuck with these engines, and I'll—"
It's only me, Miss.
Daniella froze; the voice had come out of nowhere. Yet, it sounded eerily familiar. She vaguely remembered hearing it as she was pushed out of a very dark place, before waking up at the Vicarstown Dieselworks. "Who are you?!" Daniella demanded.
Aw, that's not very nice. I mean no harm.
"What the hell are you?! Show yourself!" Daniella shouted, but the light had faded and gone out, and she got no reply. Looking at the three battered class 08s, she said, "What was that?!"
"I t-told you! It was a ghost!" Paul stammered.
"Is it gone?" Denny whimpered.
"Yeah, it's gone," said Paul.
"What did it look like?! You all saw it!" said Daniella.
"It was an engine," said Paul.
"What kind of engine?!" Daniella snapped, losing her patience. "Sorry, guys," she added, upon seeing them flinch.
"I think it was a diesel. Looked like one of those tiny shunters," said Paul.
"I've only had a few really little—" Daniella paused, as a sudden realization hit her, and tears filled her one remaining eye. "I—gotta go," she said, and reversed quickly, making her way to her shed, where she broke down in tears. How could she have forgotten?! Daniella thought perhaps it was because she had simply seen so many die, that this had been just like any of the others that had met their end in this scrapyard.
The voice she had just heard was the same as the one that had pushed her out of that dark place. That dark place, she realized, if she hadn't been pushed out, she wouldn't be here.
Don't cry, Daniella.
With a start, Daniella looked to her left and saw something she never thought possible. The misty, transparent form of a little class 02 was looking back at her. His friendly face was twisted into a frown; big, innocent eyes showing concern.
Daniella stared in utter shock for a good, long moment before finally speaking: "Phoenix," she said disbelievingly.
The ghost flashed a smile. It's me, Dani. I'm looking out for you.
"What…why?" said Daniella.
Because you're the kindest engine I ever met. I couldn't leave you forever. Phoenix looked away. I have to go now.
"But you said you wouldn't leave!" Daniella protested.
Not forever, Dani. Just for now. If you ever need me, call my name. I'll always look out for you. Seeya!
With that, the apparition vanished, leaving both Daniella and Lorelei stunned.
"I must be losing my mind," Daniella muttered.
"I saw it too. You're not crazy," said Lorelei.
Daniella stared straight ahead. There was no denying that this was real anymore. "Ah well," she said, "At least it's a nice ghost."