Sodor: Blacked Out

Chapter 2A: The Black Eyed Peace (Arthur's POV)

August 15th, 1984:

"Bill?" asked Ben. "How did you get here? Our drivers left hours ago. Y-you should still be at the quarry."

"It's ok Ben." replied Bill. "We're just going to shunt trucks and have some fun!"

Bill slowly crept forward towards Ben. His constant smile slowly turning into a frown.

"Do you.. not want to shunt trucks Ben?" asked Bill.

But Ben stayed silent. This wasn't the Bill he had known all his life. The face that was staring at him was another entity, someone nobody had ever known.

A whistle sounded out from the dark, and a long engine backed down towards the sheds, coupling up to Bill, and taking him away down the line. He was gone just as quickly as he arrived.

"That's what happened to Bill?!" Yelled Toby. "That's more that just weird, his eyes were all black!"

"We didn't know it was that serious!" answered Mavis. "He spent the whole day away from us and we didn't feel comfortable staying with him tonight!"

"We can't do anything now," he replied, "we've got to stay here the night. We won't know what's going to happen to him until we can see him."

The night was mostly uneventful for them. No more engines came up to the shed, and no more surprises were to be had.

August 16th, 1984:

 Arthur woke up earlier than the others, prepared to take a special service down the Norramby line for a scenic view. As he ran down the line he saw Neville stopped at Cronk, without a train or anyone else in sight. Arthur pulled up to the station next to Neville.

"Hey Neville. What are you doing down here? You don't take goods this fa-" started Arthur as he looked towards Neville.

He had black eyes as well. His smile scared Arthur, and he seemed to be silent. Neville started up and raced backwards towards Maron. Arthur wanted to do something to help, but he couldn't.

As Arthur approached Crovan's Gate for his final stop before the branch line, he saw Sir Handel in the shed. He was chained to the post of the outdoor shed, and he also had black eyes.

"Hey Stuart. Want to go help Granpuff take his train up the mountain?" asked Sir Handel, to no one in particular.

The Thin Controller was nearby on the platform talking to some workmen when he quickly ran over and scolded Sir Handel for acting out of line and not following orders once again. The guard blew his whistle, and Arthur left the little engine to be on his own once again.

Finally Arthur made it to the Norramby branch line. All day he couldn't stop thinking about Neville's eyes, or Sir Handel's uncanny speech at Crovan's gate. What was going on?

As he passed by Gordon's Hill, he saw Neville again, holding up Gordon on the hill with his return train from Vicarstown.

"Neville! Get out of the way! I need to get to Knapford!" yelled Gordon, in anger.

"Sorry Gordon," Neville said sadly, "I didn't mean to get in your way."

But Arthur couldn't stop to help them. When he arrived at Knapford, Toby, Mavis, and Ben were staying the night once again. He was glad to have the company, but confused as to why they were staying the night once more.

When dusk was falling upon the station, Gordon arrived at the sheds, tired and weary, looking a bit bruised. Neville was no where to be found with him.

"Fair warning to you all," Gordon said, panting, "Don't go near them."