Chapter 8: Rescue and Return to Hotel

The little girl didn't know how much time had passed, but she was still lying uncomfortably, hugging herself, inside the bag she had been stuffed into by her kidnappers.

She slowly began to cry, feeling guilty for not having listened to Dust's advice to not stray far from him. She began to imagine him disappointed that she had not listened to him and deciding to abandon her at that moment.

Anya shook her head, to dispel that thought. Angel Dust wouldn't abandon her, he would come and rescue her again. She was sure of it.

The child then wiped her face and her sadness was replaced by determination.

She then stood up from her previous position and decided to think about how she could try to escape from there.

Anya remembered that she was without the hat and her package of peanuts, which would allow Angel Dust to find clues to where she was and what happened, which was good. Because then, he would come and save her.

She began to hear the kidnappers' thoughts, and realized there were three of them. They planned to sell her to someone who wanted to have her as some sort of slave or something. The child might not know what it was for exactly, but given that she was in Hell, she could assume it was something horrible.

She decided to try to move the bag to get out of there, but she realized that they had thrown her inside a wooden box to prevent this. And when she tried to get out on top of the box, she realized that it was closed.

Anya then decided to try to throw her weight against the sides of the box, to try to free herself, but she only managed to anger the kidnappers.

"OH BRAT! STOP THAT NOW, OR ELSE YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

The girl instinctively flinched at the scream, and then let out a sigh and gave up. Apparently, she would have to wait until rescue or her final fate came.

The child's brief sleep was then interrupted by a loud bang that sounded like an explosion.

She could hear the kidnappers screaming in surprise and confusion as they questioned what the hell was going on and who was attacking them.

With that, Anya smiled as she realized that Angel Dust had come to save her. But her smile was replaced with confusion when she heard one of them shout that it was a girl attacking them.

She heard more sounds of explosions and kicks, until the voice of the aforementioned girl was heard. - "So, tell me, did you guys happen to catch a little girl with pink hair or something, huh?"

Anya heard the kidnappers giving lame and ridiculous excuses, such as "What are you talking about, cutie?", "We don't know about any girl." and "We didn't see any little girl."

Until the sound of a gun being cocked and an unmistakable voice was heard. - "TELL ME WHERE IS SHE NOW, YOU BASTARD?!" - Anya smiled. It was him, Angel Dust had come to save her. And it seems he wasn't alone, from what she could hear.

She heard one of the kidnappers say he didn't know what Angel was talking about, and he shouted that one of them had the package of peanuts he bought for her, indicating that they had kidnapped her.

Seeing that they had no choice, the kidnappers decided to reveal where she was. Anya heard footsteps heading towards where she was, but a thought struck her. One of the kidnappers had a knife hidden and was planning to stab Angel from behind.

Before Anya could try to alert him, she heard sounds of fighting and she heard more sounds of fighting blows, until it was finished by the sounds of gunshots.

After a few seconds of silence, the child heard sounds of objects being moved, while Dust's thoughts were heard. This was her chance.

She began to knock on the top of the wooden box, making a noise to signal where she was. Soon, she felt the box being dragged and then opened.

And in the end, she looked the bag being opened and looked up, seeing a relieved Angel Dust pulling her with his four pairs of arms and hugging her tightly, while crying.

"Oh my God, Anya! I was so worried about you. I thought I would never see you or that I wouldn't be able to find you in time!"

The little girl hugged him, also starting to cry. - "I... I'm sorry Mr. Dust! Anya shouldn't have stragglingfrom you! Anya was so scared, and... and... Anya thought that would never see you and Miss Charlie, Mr. Husk, Niffty and..."

The girl felt Angel trying to calm her down, as he whispered. - "Shhhhh, it's okay, now. You're safe, now. I'm here, now."

Anya began to calm down, as she allowed herself to relax into the spider's grip. She was safe, Angel Dust had really come to save her, he hadn't abandoned her, he was here with her and... wait, who was the other person with him?

At that moment, she felt Dust stand up with her and walk out of a... truck? Had she been inside a truck this whole time?!

Angel then got out of the truck and walked towards the person, who Anya realized was a girl. Possibly the same one who approached the kidnappers.

"Oh, so this was the little girl you mentioned, Angie?" - she asked with a smile.

Anya looked at her in surprise. Briefly reading her thoughts, she saw that the girl had indeed been the one who had used explosives earlier. Her mind reading was interrupted when Angel began to introduce them to each other.

"Yes. Cherri, this is Anya. Anya, this is Cherri Bomb. Or Sugar Tits, as I call her." - they both laughed at the last comment, while the child just looked between the two, confused.

"When Angie told me about you, I thought he was hallucinating or something. But admittedly he was right, you are really cute, girl." - Cherri commented, while rubbing Anya's hair.

Anya could see from Cherri Bomb's thoughts that she was a trustworthy person, especially since she was very close to Angel Dust. And then, the little girl asked. - "Are you friends with Mr. Dust or something?"

Cherri laughs lightly at the question and nods, confirming. And then Angel also explains to her. - "Cherri is a close friend of mine. If I hadn't met her on the way, I don't think I would have been able to find you in time, Anya."

The girl felt the grip on the second pair of arms beneath her, showing the inner fear he still felt at the thought of barely being able to save her.

"Oh, Anya understands. Thank you, Miss Cherri, for helping Mr. Dust save Anya." - Anya declared, smiling.

"Aww, you're welcome, kid. But there's no need to talk in the third person so much, you know?" - Cherri pointed out bluntly.

The child was stunned by the girl's blunt comment, until Angel Dust defended her. - "Oh, take it easy, Sugar Tits. She's just a to mention I think it's cute that she talks like that."

The little girl smiled slightly and looked at Cherri, who was rolling her eyes and smiling, and commented in a playful tone. - "If you say so, then okay. See you around, Angie. And it was nice meeting you, Anya." - she said goodbye, as she left.

They both also said goodbye to her, while they were alone. With that, Angel Dust walked towards a narrow alley and pulled out the red beach cart with the shopping hidden there.

As they walked, Anya noticed the slightly serious expression on Dust's face, and she lowered her head slightly, embarrassed to look at him at this moment.

"Is everything okay, Anya?" - she heard him ask, making her look back at him. The child thought for a moment and mumbled. - "Sorry again, Mr. Dust. Anya should have listened to you and stayed close to you. If it weren't for that, Anya wouldn't have gotten into trouble again."

Angel smiled sadly at her and replied. - "It's okay, Anya. It's quite normal for children your age to disobey. I speak from experience. It was my fault for taking my eyes off you for a moment. I confess that I had a breakdown when I realized you were gone."

Anya could read in his thoughts how distraught and desperate he had been when she disappeared. And once again, she felt bad about it.

Out of nowhere, she felt Dust place his hat on her head, and she looked at him. - "We're entering the public area again." - Angel explained.

The child looked ahead, and saw the area full of people again. And then, she heard a question from the spider. - "If you want, I can buy another package of peanuts for you, girl. What do you think?"

Anya smiled at the idea and nodded excitedly, since she couldn't finish her other package of peanuts early.

The two arrived at the hotel, receiving the attention of the others in the lobby.

"Oh, I'm glad you guys are here. I was getting worried about you two. Did something happen?" - Charlie asked, as she ran towards the two of them.

Anya and Angel Dust looked at each other and smiled as they shrugged. - "Nothing much, princess. We just bought a few things here and there, and we went through a lot." - "And Anya got a penguin!"

The princess just looked at them, not knowing whether to believe them or not.

"Knowing you, you must have gotten into trouble with Anya, right?" - Vaggie commented, crossing her arms.

"Actually, Anya was the one who..." - Anya was about to defend Dust, when he interrupted her. - "Think what you want, Vagina. But we're here, now. Aren't we?" - he commented in a mocking tone, causing Vaggie irritation.

"You know, I'm starting to regret making you her legal guardian, you know?!" - she growled. - "And you'd be better off being her legal guardian? You don't even have the patience to deal with others, Toots." - Angel retorted again.

Before they could continue, Charlie stepped between them. - "That's enough, you two. There's no need to fight. The important thing is that they're here, and Anya isn't even hurt, so that proves that Angel took good care of her, right?"

Vaggie just huffed and leaned back against the couch.

"Oh, what a shame. I was waiting to see how far those two would go." - Alastor commented, disappointed that the fight ended so soon, and then addressed the little girl. - "Oh, hello Anya. I haven't been able to see you since this morning. Are you okay?"

Anya hid behind Angel's legs, visibly afraid of the Radio Demon. Although confused, Angel replied. - "She's fine, Smiles. Besides, let's go to your room, Anya."

The child didn't need to be told twice, and ran upstairs. The spider was confused, but shrugged and started following her, without before signaling again to Niffty, who understood the signal and quickly ran out of the lobby, leaving some of the people there confused.

Anya skipped into her room, while Angel followed right in. She saw him looking around her new room and then commented. -"I have to admit, girl. Your room is pretty cool. But when are you going to start decorating it?"

The little girl looked to the side and commented. - "Anya will see this later, Mr. Dust." - Angel nodded to her, and then he bent down and began collecting the shopping bags of clothes from the beach cart.

"Want to start sorting the groceries, Anya?" - he asked. Anya nodded with a smile and walked towards the beach cart.

Both separate not only the clothes, but also some toys that they bought in addition to the penguin remembered when she was surprised after Angel suggested buying other toys besides the plush.

At this moment, they both heard a knock on the door, and Dust quickly stood up and walked over. After a brief conversation with someone, he closed the door, walked towards Anya, and bent down.

"Look, Anya. I don't know how to say this, but I went out last night to get something. And that something was something you lost along the way, right?" - Anya was surprised by what he was saying. Did he really...?

"Well, I spent the night looking for it, and well... I found it for you." - He concluded, as he revealed the doll Anya had lost in the alley.

The surprised girl felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. Before she knew it, she threw herself forward and hugged Dust around the neck, catching him by surprise.

"Thank you... Thank you so much, Mr. Dust. Anya really thought that would never see it again." - She declared, in tears and sobs. Angel hugged her back as he declared. - "It was no big deal, Anya. I couldn't let you be sad. I believe it was very important to you, wasn't it?"

Anya let go of him and stepped back slightly, while still smiling and crying. - "Yes, Anya has had it since that was in the orphanage. It's very important to Anya."

She could see the spider's thoughts about how much she must have suffered while she was in the orphanage in the world of the living. As much as Anya wanted to, she couldn't tell him more about her past, as it would be too painful to remember, even though they both went through the same pain.

And then, Angel held out his hand for Anya to take the chimera doll. She took it and looked back at him, who was already standing up.

Before leaving, Dust remembered something. - "Ah, Anya. Just to let you know, I'll be leaving early in the morning, so you don't have to worry if you don't see me at the hotel tomorrow, okay?" - Anya was shocked by that information. - "Why..." - she began to question.

"Eh... it's complicated, Anya. But long story short, I have a job to do even though I'm here. But you don't need to worry about that, okay? I'll be back the day after tomorrow, so you don't need to worry about that. I promise to bring you something when I get back."

Anya could see from his thoughts that he didn't want to go to said job, but that he had no choice. But before she could explore further, she heard Dust declare something.

"But listen, I want you to know that you have my permission to come into my room whenever you want. You can be with Nuggsie even when I'm not there. And Charlie and the others will also take care of you in my absence. But my only condition is that you don't leave the hotel alone, okay?"

The child seemed a little worried about all of this, but she nodded so as not to make him more distressed than he already was. Angel smiled back at her, and before leaving, Anya declared.

"Hey, Mr. Dust. Thanks again."

Angel Dust smiled at her again and replied. - "You're welcome, girl." - and left the room, closing the door behind him.

The child looked back at her chimera doll for a few seconds, before smiling and wrapping it in a tight hug. - "Anya thought that would never see you again." - she murmured, overcome with emotion.

She started to introduce the doll to her new room and her new penguin friend. She also started to tell it about her arrival at the hotel and about the people she knows here.

"There is Miss Charlie, who is a princess of this world and the owner of this hotel. There is Miss Vaggie, who is very angry but Anya feels that she is a nice person. There's Niffty, who is Anya's friend and likes to draw and write and clean. There's Mr. Husk, who is grumpy but very sweet inside. There's Alastor, he gives Anya goosebumps and Anya doesn't know why. And Mr. Dust, well, he's the world's biggest liar. But... he's a cool liar."

After a while, Anya went to her bathroom to take a shower and get ready for dinner. Once she was done and put on some pajamas, she picked up the chimera doll that was on the bed and walked towards the door, getting ready to join the table for dinner.

01/25/2025: And here is the continuation of the previous chapter. Yes, I continue researching more about the characters, especially their personalities and known nicknames. Yes, some of the next chapters will have heavy themes implied, as I am not good at writing this kind of serious and painful subject. I hope you enjoyed reading it and wait for the next chapter.