Shadows In Durango
Chapter 43

*****Sofia's POV*****

Hearing the door bell ring, I glance over to Vincent who pulls his jacket on and heads towards the door with me trailing along behind him.

Peaking out from behind his back, he opens it to replace Emma as I smile at her - thankful that she had accepted the invitation to come over here to catch up with me.

"I'll be gone an hour or two, get comfortable and help yourselves to anything in the kitchen." Vincent tells us, passing Emma on his way out as they switch places and she walks inside.

He goes towards his car, before pausing and holding up his phone-

"Remember you have my number now, just phone if you need me." He states, as I smile and nod watching him climb inside the car.

Closing the door over, feeling strange being left alone in his home with Emma, I lock the door for safety measures and motion towards the living area to sit down.

Vincent had set up some snacks for us to have whilst he was away, chips, dips, chocolates and cookies along with a bottle of flavoured water each which was kind...

"My parents are shocked to see me out this much, but they are happy about it! Before you came to town I would go to school and go home - that was it!" Emma laughs and shakes her head at the memory as I smile, feeling anxious. "Ok so tell me? What the heck happened? I almost died when you asked me to come over here today! Why did you end up staying here last night again? How bad is it? Is it your brother?!" Emma states her questions immediately, looking around at Vincent's huge living space as she rabbles her concerns.

She wasn't one to hold back with me, feeling comfortable enough to not be judged for her endless rants whenever she was nervous or worried.

It was what I enjoyed most about her - she was an over sharer whereas I was the total opposite.

"Well I guess that's a pretty good place to start... the whole thing about me living with my brother, that's a lie." I admit with a defeated sigh, as Emma tilts her head and pulls a weird face.

"Sofia, in the nicest way possible... I need more than just that! Don't leave me on the edge of my seat here! What do you mean?" Emma's tone remains light and airy, providing me with some comfort to continue on. How far was I willing to go with this honesty? Let's just wait and see...

"Promise you won't tell anybody?" I lean towards her next, my voice growing quieter despite knowing that nobody was around to hear me.

"Who the heck do I even have to tell?! But yeah, I promise!" Emma confirms, as I somewhat laugh once at her admission.

I guess that was also a bonus to our friendship, we both only have each other to gossip with so our secrets can't really go far can they?

"I'm actually a runaway... I came to town looking for a new life... alone!" I breathe out the words, feeling my anxiety peak as I hear them spoken out loud for the first time.

I watch Emma carefully for a reaction, seeing her eyebrows perk up slightly before she returns to her normal expression.

"Really? Well are you ok now? I won't pry too much... but I won't judge if you want to tell me?" Emma try's her best to be supportive as my lip trembles slightly but I hold it together.

"I do have a brother, two actually, and like my father - they were cruel to me." I admit, as Emma nods and remains silent, allowing me the floor to speak.

"My mother died two years ago and after that, my whole life just fell apart. Something terrible was being planned against me, and so I had to leave before it was too late. Before now, I lived in two major cities, but they always caught up to me. They won't quit looking for me and so this time, I tried a small town instead. I had to lie to the school to say that I lived with my brother to avoid any questions." I tell her carefully, not wanting to get into the finer details of what my father had done.

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Emma stays quiet for a moment, processing over everything I had just said.

"I understand... but I must admit it wasn't at all what I expected to hear today when you invited me over... forgive me, but I would have never imagined you were going through all of that - I'm so sorry!" Emma tells me, her gaze sorrowful. "Please don't apologise! None of this is anybody but my families fault. I chose this path to attempt to build a better life for myself." I nod firmly at my own words, standing by the decisions I've made thus far.

At least I was free from them...

"Ok so what happened at the bar last night? I'm guessing there's more to this?" She questions, as I realise I hadn't even begun to tell her the half of it yet.

"Yeah that... well basically Reid set me up last night." I mumble, suddenly agitated by the memory of him.

He had been a total asshole to me last night and for what?

"Really? What did he do? He's been decent whenever I've spoke to him." Emma shakes her head in disbelief, looking disappointed as I grumble.

He clearly just has a problem with me it seems!

"Well I turned up for my shift as normal and Tito wasn't there. Turns out there's a flu going around and a lot of the staff called in sick. I went to my station to set up, and found Reid behind my bar working. Confused, I obviously went over to see what was going on and he told me things had changed for the night and that Vincent wanted me to stand in for one of the dancers!" I exclaim, as Emma gasps at my story.

"One of the strippers?! You didn't though did you?!" Emma's eyes are wide and horrified as I suddenly chuckle at her.

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"They aren't actually strippers, they only dance around the pole in revealing outfits but they don't actually take anything off... but yes, I did do that!" I tell her, still unable to process that I had gathered the confidence to stand up there in front of the customers like I did.

It all just felt like a terrible dream that had passed by in a quick blur.

"So was that the nightmare? Having to dance for the whole night!" Emma questions, thinking I was done as I shake my head quickly.

"God no! I wish that was the end of it! Basically Vincent came in, seen me up there and threw a fit! He first demanded that I got down and dragged me around the place demanding to know why I was told to dance in the first place!" I ramble, enjoying having someone to vent to about last night.

Each word helped to relieve me of some pressure...

"So Reid lied?! Vincent didn't want you to dance? Why the hell would he put you in that position?!" Emma suddenly shares my fury towards Reid as I feel supported by her wholeheartedly so far, giving me the courage to continue. "Exactly! But Vincent lost his temper because Reid had an attitude about it and next thing I know, he damn well punches him across the bar! I had to pull him away!" I share what happened as Emma slaps her hands over her mouth. "What the hell! Vincent obviously has feelings for you if he cares that much about it though Sofia!" She adds her opinion as I hum and think on her words.

I doubt that very much...

"So what happened after that?" Emma wants to know more as I prepare myself for the rest.

This was when things got way worse...