It's dark.
Too dark.
The dim shine coming from the street lights up above barely lights up a foot of the long road. And just as I'm about to tell Chester we should have packed a flash light, he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a small blue one. He flicks it on to light the rest of the way, then re-closes his backpack. We left the house at about 7:30, and have been walking for about ten minutes. I can tell Chester is getting a little anxious as we make our way into the small town.
Tiny, run down shops line the narrow streets. The faded road almost looks like that from a movie, or old timey book. This part of town seems to have lost all color. Lost all happiness. Lost all life, really. No, it's not the best part of town, but it's not the worst either. I remember a few years ago when my father took me too the real bad part of town. We were innocently looking for a cute little cupcake shop we had seen pictures of online for a small father- daughter- date. Well, turns out, the pictures we saw were either way out of date, or a plane fib.
I feel Chester tense from beside me and I look to his face to see his eyes locked on something in front of us. Chester's eyes are filled with caution, and most likely regret, about this whole situation. But I have no regrets at all. Im going to find April. I have to. A different worry fills my head as I race through the different scenarios April could be going through. Is she moving back to North Carolina? Maybe her moms leaving Ben after all? Or what if all the kids at school hate April despite what I thought? I almost forget about looking for the reason to Chester's discomfort as, once again, my mind won't slow down with all these worried thoughts.
"Chester?" I question as I look towards the direction he's looking.
My eyes meet a dirty, filth covered face with dark eyes. His gaze meets mine and his expression is sly. His eerie smile is enough to send shivers down my spine. (And not the good kind) He is propped up against a brick wall of a small bakery. Ratted and torn clothes covered his body along with a grey beanie, that has a whole smack in the center of the tattered material. A scraggly beard covers his face, but not a inch of hair is seen on his head.
Chester grabs my hand and pulls me as close to him as he can. He tries to give the old bum a un-phased look, but I think the man sees straight through his little act.
"What you got there kid?" The creepy guy sneers, gesturing to my huge back pack that is filled to the max.
"Just keep walking Chester, we're fine." I whisper to Chester as we continue on.
Chester nods and locks our fingers to keep me close. We stroll past him and pretend to be unaffected. I say a silent prayer that he lays off and doesn't jump us or something.
"Hey! Where you going?" I hear the rough, husky voice say from behind us.
Footsteps sound from behind and I'm frozen in place. My mind tells me to pull Chester along and run as fast as I can, but my feet are stuck like cement to the black pavement.
"Lesley! Run!" Chester tries to pull me along but I won't budge.
"Stuck like glue are ya?" The old man cackles from behind. He yanks at my arm and I turn quick on my heels, my body finally loosing it's frozen trance.
Without thinking, I slap the man across the face. Hard. So hard a smack echoes in the empty streets.
"We can run now!" I yell to Chester and pull his hand as I begin to sprint down the road, Chester shadowing by my side.
The old man curses me out as he begins to run after us. I want to turn around and see how close he is, but I don't dare slow down my pace. Instead, I quicken it. The bus station comes into view and I run even faster. The old mans yells and loud stomps get closer and closer and I'm by far out of breath. The flashing yellow light that reads, "Bus Station" seems so close but still so far. My legs want so desperately to stop but I egg them on further. I know Chester is close to giving up too but I pull him along.
