Meanwhile, Eva's van had stopped in a truck stop for the time being. It was early dawn and the sun was still due to rise. Then a scream was heard in Eva's van, along with sobbing
"Hey hey...Anni, It's okay...I'm here…" Eva was cradling a mewling Anni in her arms
"No no, please don't take my fur…" Anni wailed.
"Shh...It's okay...Eva's here...Don't worry…" the young teen slowly rocked the cub back and forth. "It's just a bad dream...It's okay…It's time to wake up…"
"It was horrible...I don't wanna be captured…" Anni clung onto Eva's black shirt.
"I'm not going to let that happen to you…" Eva spoke.
"You should've seen it…"
"Seen what?"
"This...This okapi...He-He-he was wanted me to help him and Milan took him into that room...and...And I heard him scream for his life...and all that came back was skin…" Anni ended with a cry. "Eva, I don't wanna be skinned...I...I wanna go home…"
"I'm...I'm gonna make sure I get you home Anni…" Anni looked up at the teenager and smiled, wiping her tears. "If Furnapper wants to touch you, he's gonna have to get through me and my mom first…" then Anni sighed in doubt
"I don't know if they want me back…" Anni's ears lowered and Eva tilted her head in confusion
"I don't follow you, Ann…"
"Well...Before I was taken away I was an anxious mess and the animals in the circus didn't like me for it...Even my daddy...even thought that I was a freak…"
Eva's left fist clenched behind her. She hated it when people talked bad about anxiety.
"Hey...Look at me…" Eva lifted her friend's furry chin to get her to look into her blue eyes. "What's wrong with being anxious...It's a normal thing to be worried about something...I deal with it all the time…"
"Really…"
"Yeah...mainly in school and with my boyfriend….You know I think performing in a circus and being at school are kind of the same thing when it comes to anxiety...Overworrying can be a bit of a bad thing but anxiety is normal…"
"It is...I always worried if I were to be a good performer like my parents and I don't want to be a failure"
"You are not like your parents...You are your own person and you're just trying your best…"
"But what if I fail at performing…"
"Don't think about performing...take long walks, look at the scenery...meditate and soon enough...You'll have your performing knack…" Anni had her doubts and Eva saw them.
"You know what, let's get some breakfast...I know your starving…"
"Okay…."
Then the girls stopped at a diner and they were both laughing it up.
"Wait, you have how many brothers…" Eva asked jokingly
"Two older brothers...they're so funny and they cheer me up when I'm down….my best friend Maddy also cheers me up to...We wore clown frills as skirts…"
Eva then had orange juice spill out of her nose and the girls' laughter made a scene. Then the girls giggled at each other and finished their breakfast
"So how do you like the sausage and bacon I got you…"
"They're good, I especially like the eggs and pancakes….It's way different than what I usually eat
"Which is…"
"Fish…"
Then someone came from behind Eva and place their hands on her shoulders
"Hey, babe…" they said. Eva turned around a saw a boy around her age with blonde hair, green eyes, a bit of a muscular build and he was wearing a football jersey.
"Oh...Anthony...what are you doing here…" Eva asked.
"The team and I are having breakfast here and I just happened to see you…" he pointed at the far back of the diner and saw a large number of boys in the football team making a bigger ruse than Eva and Anni were. The young cub's eyes widened, seeing how big and how many there were.
"well...Haven't you heard…."
"Heard what...You guys win another game…."
"Well, that and there's this bounty for a liguar cub...said it's supposed to be 250 grand…"
Eva's worried eyes darted at Annita and back at him.
"And you're telling me this why?"
"Well duh I thought you would be interested...since your into animals and all…Hey who's the ugly kid over there your eating with…" Anthony glanced at Anni.
"Oh her...That's...that's...my cousin Gladys...Her mom said that she needs to spend some time with me so, you know I took her to get some breakfast." Eva lied.
"Well can I meet Gladys…"
"No you can't...She's not too kind when it comes to strangers...I don't mention you a lot with her"
"Well, an introduction won't hurt…" Anthony pushed Eva to the ground and stormed his way over to Anni, who was a little ticked off but she was still nervous.
"Nice to meet you, Gladys...I'm Anthony...Eva's boyfriend...We should really get to know each other…" Anthony held out his large hand for Anni to shake which she took reluctantly. When he shook the cub's hand, she felt his sweat and his hand almost crushing her paw.
"That hurts…" Anni thought.
"Okay...You guys had an introduction, now can we…"
"So Gladys, where are you from…" Anni didn't answer and just turned away from him, making him angry. "Answer me when I'm talking to you…"
"Come on Tony...Leave her alone...She just really-" then Anthony slapped Eva in the face.
"I wasn't talking to you...I was talking to the kid."
Then an angry Anni stood on top of the table, tapped Anthony on the shoulder and unshed her claws, and scratched him on the right eye.
"AUGH…." Anthony screamed. Eva gasped, seeing what her new friend has done. "This little rat scratched my eye."
"Good, now you feel hurt like you did my friend…" Anni said with her chest puffed out, not holding back. "Say you're sorry to Eva…"
"That rat just spoke…" Anthony said in shock, holding onto his bleeding eye.
"Say it...SAY IT…." Anni screamed.
Anthony bounced back a little and turned to Eva. "I'm sorry for hitting you…"
"No...You know what, I'm sick of you hitting me and I'm sick of this...You and I are officially through...Come on…" Eva took out a few dollars, paid for her meal, and took Anni out with her while the football players tried to call 911 for their teammate's eye.
"That was unbelievable…" Eva and Anni walked to the van when the young cub then realized what she has done
"I'm so sorry about your boyfriend...I didn't mean to get so mad….I just don't want my friend getting hurt." Anni apologized.
"Are you kidding me...I wanted to break up with him for a long while, but I never have the chance...I guess today was the day-" Eva stopped as soon as she saw a familiar van pull up to the diner.
"Anni...Get in the van...Now..Dr. Furnapper is here." Anni did immediately what she was told and got in the van along with Eva.
Eva slowly started the van and then she saw Dr. Bont and the teammates pointing at her van. She quickly reversed the vehicle and took off.
"Anni you might wanna have your seat belt on...it's gonna be a wild ride."
"Uh, Eva we have a problem…" Anni pointed at the traffic ahead of them. Eva looked in the rearview mirror and saw Bont's van approaching fast.
"This is the worst time to have traffic…" then Eva took a turn to the freeway and began to speed up the engine.
"He's coming up right behind us…" Anni whimpered.
"Just stay down okay...don't move…" then the two vehicles were side by side and Dr. Bont began to ram at Eva's van.
"What are you doing?!" Eva screamed. Then another ram happened to the van. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"Give me the cub and I'll let you free, just hand her over…"
"Get away from my van…"
Anni held on for dear life as the two vans began to ram at each other back and forth.
"Please Eva" then the young teen saw a bunch of cars piling up on the freeway. She slowly made her way out as the police were there on the far right corner. Then Dr. Bont decided to ram her from behind
"Please make it stop...please make it go away…" Anni whispered to herself.
Then they hear police sirens from afar and the young teen witness The insane doctor getting pulled over. They slowly drove off from the scene
"Okay...Furnapper is gone...for now…" Eva whispered to her furry friend
"Oh thank you…" Anni sat back up in her seat.
A while later, Eva saw that she was low on gas and found an alley and pulled into reverse, and parked the car in the alleyway
"Why did we stop Eva…" Anni asked
"We're low on gas...good thing I have a gas can."
Eva made her way to the back of her van and found a red gas can and shook it a little bit but to find it almost empty.
"Oh great…" Eva rolled her eyes. Then she saw that she was across the street from a small store and a gas station not too far away from the alley. Then Eva got out of the van and took out her tarp and began to cover the van completely
"What are you doing?" Anni asked the teen.
"Can you please do me a favor...Don't leave this van.."
"What… you're leaving me!"
"Not for long...just to fill up some gas and I'll get us some food.."
"But I…"
"Do you want Furnapper to find you…" Anni shook her head. "Then please stay in the van...if you have to use the bathroom, do it now…" Anni quickly stepped out of the van and Eva helped her do her business. Then they heard a car approach the gas station and saw that it was Dr. Bont's van.
"Finish up...he's here…"
"Okay okay…" Anni quickly finished and ran inside the van and turned to her friend
"What if he sees me…"
"I have the tarp and tinted windows, you'll be fine...now stay in there…I won't be long okay…" Eva then shut the door and covered the rest of the van and quickly snuck to the gas station.
She went inside the small building and went up to the register.
"20 on pump 4…." Eva requested. Then Dr. Bont went into the store too and Eva tried to quickly slip away until he grabbed her arm.
"Now hold it there….I know you have that liguar cub with you...Where is she?"
"I don't know what you're talking about?" Eva tried her best to lie to him. Then the doctor pulled out a knife.
"Where is she?!"
"Now Bont...You leave her alone...Let the kid get some gas…" the man behind the register scolded.
"Thank you, sir...Now if you'll excuse me…" Eva pushed out of his way and ran to pump 4 to get gas.
Anni stayed in the van and heard thunder rumbling in the distance.
"Oh...Please hurry Eva…" Anni whimpered.
Eva quickly got her gas and then spotted something from afar. She went to the T.V. Store and saw that Anni was on the news
"This just in...There is a runaway cub from Fur Power Circus...Her disappearance is making people watchful eye as the owners try to find her. I'm here with a few bystanders that might've seen the cub around the Netherland Area." the blonde reporter made her way to a standing couple.
"The last time we've seen that poor baby, she was being chased by dogs... and she might've stumbled into Dr. Bont's fur place…"
Eva's eyes widened when the diner came up on the news.
"In other news, it appears that another runaway was seen here going by the name of Evermore Park...She was the daughter of Nature scientists and…" before more could be known, Eva raced to the store and got some food.
Anni paced around and would peek in a cracked opening of the van to keep a watchful eye. All Anni could think about was if Eva was going to return and if Dr. Bont was going to catch her or find the van. But she tried to put her worries to rest
"You're safe in this van Annita...You're safe in this van...Just breathe in and out…." Anni took a deep breath to calm herself down and her nerves began to tranquilize.
Then she heard the van unlock. Her nerves shot up briefly until she saw Eva coming in. Eva dropped the food and Anni raced to her arms
"I thought for a minute you took off and left me…" Anni said
"What...why would I do that...Listen Anni when I promise something...I never ever break it…" Eva replied. "Whenever you promise something...never break it…" Anni nodded at this
"Never break a promise…" Anni repeated.
"Mmhm...I hope you like pizza…"
As the two girls ate their food Eva remembered the news.
"Hey...I have some news...We're on the news now...Reporters said that we're both runaways and had a run-in with Dr. Bont...Left me alone after the guy in the register save my hide back there…" Eva
"So what do we do…" Anni questioned.
"Well, all I know is that we have to get out of here...I think it's best if we stay the night here…" Eva declared.
"In the alley…" Anni whimpered
"Yeah...I don't have a better idea…"
"The pizza is really good… what's in it…" Anni asked
"Well...Cheese, pepperoni, tomato sauce…" Anni smiled and devoured the pizza. Then the cub spotted a rectangular bar and began to eat it
"No no no Don't eat that...that's chocolate…" Eva called. Anni stopped and spat it out outside the van. "Chocolate is toxic for cats…"
This made Anni think of the last time she tried chocolate.
It was Valentine's Day at the circus and gifts were being spread about. Melman gave chocolates to Gloria and Alex gave some flowers to Gia. the kids were playing around the circus ground where the train stopped momentarily. Anni spotted one of Gloria's chocolates and licked her lips and placed it in her mouth.
Then later on she had a stomach ache and the penguins had to get it out of her by using ipecac. She later learned that chocolate was toxic to cats.
Then thunder took away the young cub's thought. She shrieked and ran into Eva's arms.
"Hey...You scared of thunder…" Anni nodded a little. "How about some music huh…" Eva turned on the radio and a familiar song came on and it rang into Anni's ears and the all too familiar lyrics
"Hey...that's my lullaby…"
"Love Always Comes as a Surprise…"
"My...My daddy used to sing this to me when I needed to sleep...this sounds nice…" Anni leaned on Eva as the song ran in the van, drowning out the storm from inside.
Meanwhile, the storm happened while the circus animals were searching for Anni. Maddy and Marty looked at Gia and Alex holding each other, still coping with the loss of their daughter.
Gio and AJ were concerned for their parents too. Then a walkie-talkie went off, making the two big cats jump, thinking that the penguins that went south had found her.
"Still no sign of the kid...Anything from your end…" Ala and Gia's hope descended once they said no.
"We already checked with the east...they haven't seen her either…" Gia replied
"Well if we don't find the kid, the show must go on without her…" Skipper said through the large device.
"No, we gotta keep trying to find her…"
"Alex...We haven't found her since last night...What if...what if…" Marty started. Alex turned to his best friend, knowing what he was about to say...the unthinkable for a parent for a lost child
"No… No, She...She has to be somewhere...I can't lose her...My dad lost me as a kid and...I'm not going to do the same with her...We have to keep trying…" Alex was on the brink of tears. He didn't want to know if his daughter was dead.
As the thunder rang he thought about Anni and how he would comfort her during storms like this
During the middle of the night, the train stopped because they couldn't ride during a storm. When thunder roared in the distance, a large cry was heard and it was coming from Alex and Gia's car.
"Annita...It's okay...Daddy's here now…" Alex gently shushed his baby cub, Anni, in his arms. He was gently bouncing her around, getting her to calm down. He sat down next to his mate who held her sons in her paws and gently rocked her slowly. Then thunder roared once more and Anni's cries increased only slightly. Alex placed her on his shoulder and hummed her a lullaby, rocking her back and forth. A sign of her calming down is that her cries only turned into whimpers. Alex then whispered some calming words to his cub
"Shh...There There...It's okay...Daddy's here..Daddy's got you...Daddy will protect you...I promise I won't let anything happen to you….Annita...I love you…"
As Alex thought about the memory, he felt like he failed her and he failed on his promise to protect Anni. He knew that he would fulfill his promise when he finds her
"Anni, I know you're out there...When I find you...I swear I'll protect you this time…" Alex thought.
Only time would tell if the search had ended yet.