Jasper's Deaf Mate (1) (Rewrite in Progress)

(8) RESTURANT

Before you get confused, when you see "...", it means the person is talking and when you see '...', it means the person is using sign language. If the words are in italics, then it means they wrote those words. If the words are underlined in between "...", it means someone is interpreting what they said, and if it is underlined in between '...', then the person is talking and signing.

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We walked along many streets for a while until we started passing a much of warehouses. This was a major sign that we were heading in the wrong direction. I think Bella realized this too, because she turned east at the next corner and then looped around after a few blocks going in the direction of the boardwalk.

A group of four men turned around the corner we was heading for, dressed too casually to be heading home from the office, but they were too grimy to be tourists. As they approached, I realized they were the same men from outside the store window and they were in possession of more beer. They were joking among themselves, laughing raucously and punching each other's arms. I scooted as far to the inside of the sidewalk as I could while grabbing Bella's arm to pull her with me. I walked swiftly to get away from them.

However, they didn't pass us like I hoped they would, instead they stopped while looking at us. One of the men came closer to us so I walked with Bella faster toward the corner. I found myself on a sidewalk leading past the backs of several somber-colored warehouses, each with large bay doors for unloading trucks, padlocked for the night. The south side of the street had no sidewalk, only a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire protecting some kind of engine parts storage yard. We'd wandered far past the part of Port Angeles that we, as guests, were indented to see. It was getting dark. The clouds were finally returning, piling up on the Western horizon, creating an early sunset. The eastern sky was still clear, but graying, shot through with streaks of pink and orange. A single car passed us, and then we were alone.

As we walked along the road, I looked above me at the sky which was slowly darkening. Bella grabbed my arm and quickened her pace attracting my attention. I realized with a shock that two men, who were from the same group we had passed at the corner, were walking quickly twenty feet behind us. I turned my head forward at once, quickening my pace behind Bella. A chill, which had nothing to do with the weather, made me shiver again.

I continued to walk as quickly as I could without actually running, focusing on the right-hand turn that was only a few yards away from me now. I trusted Bella to get us away from the men, so I just followed while periodically looking behind me at the men, who is still the same distance away from us.

We reached the corner, but a swift glance revealed that it was another deserted street. I could see in a distance, two intersections down, were street lamps, cars, and more people, but they were all too far away. Because lounging against the western building, midway down the street, were the other two men from the group and two new men, both watching with excited smiles as I froze like a deer caught in the headlights. I realized we weren't being followed. We were being herded.

Bella grabbed my arm and started running as fast as she could toward the busy street, while heading closer toward the four men waiting for us. As we got closer, Bella started to slow down to a stop, while taking off her purse gripping it in her hands. Bella nudged me behind her as she thought about an escape.

The six men surrounded us and kept coming closer. When one of them would come here, I would slap them or push them away. I kept doing that, but I know it was doing nothing to prevent the advancement of the men. Someone grabbed me from behind and threw me on the ground, accidentally scraping my left palm on the way down.