That night, Thomas lied in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Not feeling tired—his mind was racing. He was consumed with thoughts of what he could do. He wants to come out with his secret. He knows it could make him feel better. It's just the thought of everyone judging him. "No one evens likes trains..."he muttered to himself. "And they'll probably freak out at seeing a locomotive with a face." He remembers there was one kid in his class, years ago when he moved to The United States—before he had moved to Canada, who loved all things trains, and the poor boy got bullied and harassed for it. Thomas is worried that'll happen to more than that, he feared the possibility of hurting someone. He seriously was never great at keeping his engine in at times of stress. He's so scared that when he finally releases his power, he'll never be able to regain control again.

"Maybe I'm over thinking it..." He thought, and he rolled on his side. He hugged his pillow up to him. "Even if I do turn into an engine, what would I do? There is no tracks here... just the streetcar tracks." He sighed. "It's probably not even my wheel gauge." He was about to live in a place that had all sorts of railway lines. An island. It was abandoned, with old tracks. It was a island for old steam engines to get repaired and sent back to work back in the day, or so he heard. Thomas's father was going to buy the island, so Thomas could be free to be in his engine form, anytime he could want. But the prices went up, and he couldn't afford it.

Thomas actually got to chance to visit it. Just for one day, just before his dad planned to purchase it. Riding up and down the tracks as the tank engine, he felt so free. He felt... happy. Not a single soul to see him. Just the thought of him secretly being a steam engine by day, to help out on this island, then by night a human. But that fantasy never happened.

But now, back to reality, he has to keep his engine form a secret. Thomas was now getting tired, so, he shut his eyes.

"Thomas..."

"Thomas... wake up..."

Thomas opened his eyes. "Huh?" He looked around. He was pretty shocked to see that he was not in his bed. Nor was he even in his bedroom.

"Thomas..."

Thomas looked around. "Who... Who's that?" Thomas called out. It was pitch black all around him. He couldn't see anything five feet away from him. He barely could see his own hands. "W-Who's there?" He called out again. There was now, no answer. Thomas was getting worried. Where was he? He felt uncomfortable. This didn't feel right. Thomas, started to walk forward. And right in front of him—

Was a dark looking figure. "W-what?!" Thomas gasped. In the shape of a human, covered in what seemed to be dark mist.

"Why, hello you silly tank engine." It said. You could see what seemed to be a face in the dark mist, and it was smirking.

Thomas felt even more uncomfortable. This dark looking figure, somehow knows about his secret. "Get away from me!" Thomas yelled.

"I'm not even near you; I'm literally twenty feet away," it replied coolly. Thomas blinked, stunned. "But… if you insist…" And then, it vanished.

Thomas stood in place, terrified. He looked around frantically. This dark creature was no where to be seen. It was so dark, it could pop out of nowhere. Then... Thomas heard a whisper in his ears...

"I'm your new threat..."

Thomas jolted awake with a gasp, heart pounding. He leaped out of bed, panting as he surveyed his room. Rubbing his face with shaking hands, he muttered, "Okay, that's it. No more thinking about my problems before bed."

Flopping back onto his bed, he was jolted upright by the blaring alarm. "Ugh, are you kidding me?!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the snooze button. Anger surged through him, and his hands began to tremble, turning a light shade of metallic gray. "Nonononono!" he yelled, gripping his hands. "Okay… calm down… calm down!" He closed his eyes and focused on deep, slow breaths. In… and out… calm and steady.

One last deep breath.

"Cinders and ashes!" he declared, reopening his eyes. "That hasn't happened in years…" He had almost let the engine out.

"That bloody dream mate... I haven't had a nightmare like that in forever." He buried his head into his hands."I might as well get up for the day. I don't want to risk falling asleep again and facing that horrid nightmare." Thomas got up, and changed into his other clothes. That where the same as the ones he wore yesterday. After he put the salmon pink undershirt on, then his blue coat, he got his school bag, and went out to the living , he was up even before his father—something new. "I'll just head to school early. At least I'll be able to get breakfast there being this early," He said as he walked out the door.

As he was walking, he saw Carter, walking down the sidewalk. Carter was surprised to see Thomas out so early. "Thomas? Is that you? How are you out so early? You never make it to school in time for breakfast!"

"Bad dream." Thomas said bluntly as he walked over to his friend.

Carter's brow furrowed. "What?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Had… a nightmare last night. Scared the life out of me, couldn't go back to sleep," Thomas explained.

"Aw…" Carter threw an arm around him. "Well, it was just a dream; it wasn't real."

Thomas sighed. "It sure felt real…" He couldn't shake the image of that ominous figure.

"Well, that's nearly all dreams." Carter said.

Thomas nodded. "No matter what they are, they always feel real to me. I could be riding a dragon flying through New York city on planet Mars, and I'd still say it felt real."

That made Carter snort. "Tell me about it. Ugh, you don't what to know the shit I've dreamed about." He said.

Thomas looked at him. "What did you dream about?" He asked.

Carter took his arm away from Thomas. "Oh, nothing..." He said. His face went a little red, and he looked away from Thomas.

Thomas looked confused, but then he noticed they where getting closer to the school. "Hey, where's almost there."

Carter glanced at the building, his stomach rumbling. "Good, because I'm starving," he admitted.

Thomas chuckled. "Lets go get something to eat then."

Thomas and Carter was in the breakfast line, with Carter behind him. "Man you're really hungry aren't you? Your stomach sounds like it's crying out for help." Thomas said.

Carter blushed as he placed a hand on his stomach. "I promise, it's almost always never this loud..." Thankfully, the line was moving, and it was moving pretty fast. "It's going pretty fast today." Carter said.

"Hmm? It is?" Thomas responded, glancing back. Carter smirked softly. "Not that you'd know—you're never here this early."

"Oh har-har." Thomas said rolling his eyes. They both got what they wanted from the breakfast line, and headed out to the lunchroom. "So, where you wanna sit? I usually sit by myself when I'm here, but since you're here today, I can sit alone with you."

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "You sit alone?" he asked.

Carter nodded. "I don't mind it, honestly. I choose to be by myself. Sometimes, Mei and her friends join me."

"Mei? The... panda girl?"

Carter nodded. "Hey... maybe we can sit with her and her friends. Have you get to know them better?" He asked. "Uh..." Thomas said.

"I know, your shy. But, I think it'll be cool for you to be friends with Mei, since both of you are similar."

Thomas did want to be friends with Mei, but he always been shy talking to people. Especially popular people. But, he wanted to go with Carter's plan. Carter was very happy that Thomas said yes. So, they walked over to the table they all where at.

As they approached, Miriam was the first to spot them. "Carter, hi!" she exclaimed, then did a double-take at Thomas. "Woah? Thomas? What are you doing here?"

They all turned around to look at Thomas. "Wow, how are you here so early?" Tyler asked.

"Why is everyone saying that..." He said as he crossed his arms, looking away. Thomas has never seen such bullshit before.

Carter shook his head with a small smile, then he looked at the group off friends. "He just wanted some breakfast." He said.

"You woke up that early for school breakfast?" Pryia inquired.

"Um.., well yeah! It's... to be honest it's good to me..." Thomas said.

"Then how you never came here for it before?"

Thomas blinked. "Ugh, okay. I had a nightmare, and I couldn't go back to sleep," he admitted. They all stared at him.

"Well, that's understandable." Abby said.

"Ugh.. I remember when I had that nightmare of Devon. Ugh, that was terrifying!" Mei yelled.

Miriam looked at her blinking. "...Mei, what?" She asked.

Mei looked at her. "Uh... never mind." She said as she started to eat her waffles awkwardly. "Soooo... uh, Carter, how you even decided to come here to us?"

"I just wanted to let you guys properly meet Thomas. I know he's in your class, but he's honestly shy to talk to people." Carter explained.

Thomas turned his eyes away, blushing. "Geez, what a way to let my secrets out." He said. "Well, why don't you be friends with us?" Abby asked. "Yeah!" Mei exclaimed. "We all can work on that steam experiment in class together!" She said. "Ugh, you mean the nerd experiment." Tyler said. Mei rolled her eyes.

That right there, what Tyler said, is once of the reasons Thomas never wants his secret to be known. "Um... yeah. Sure."

"You don't sound to happy about it..." Pirya said.

"Girls, he's just shy." Miriam said.

Thomas sat down at the table. "Actually, it'll be really cool to work with someone on the experiment," he said.

"That's the spirit! No more being alone," Mei said brightly. Thomas offered a shy smile in return. Just then, Carter stood up.

"Now where are you going?" Tyler asked.

"You know I always choose to be alone." Carter said.

Tyler laughed. "The only person you want to be with is Thomas~" he teased, making a kissy face.

Carter blushed. "Shut up Tyler." He said.

Miriam swatted Tyler on the head with her notebook. "Ow! What was that for?!" he complained.