Anything For You
Chapter 181

RECOMMENDED SONG:

**Stuck With You By Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande**

"Honey, you are already home! We thought you might be staying at Chris' or Eva's for assignments." Mrs. Lozenge asked suspiciously finding first the locked door, and then Scarlet opening it.

"Yeah, I was supposed to be. But then all of them came here. So..." Scarlet said standing in the door frame with one hand over the handle and the other doing certain gesture-y movements while talking. She was leaning towards the couple stalling time for Emerald to get dressed properly, and sneak out if he could by any chance.

"You are still in the same shorts! Did you not go to the university? You look a bit different today. Are you alright, sweetie!" Mrs. Lozenge stepped inside caressing Scarlet's hair and hugging her daughter. She wasn't certain about Scarlet being scared or not so fine, but she wasn't now after what happened at Mrs. Ginevra Marcelline's house.

"You ladies, aren't you taking these old men inside the house, ha?" There came another voice; a stranger's who had been standing behind Mr. Lozenge trying to peek into the house as if looking for something. The old man looked in his late eighties and had been draped in white clothes; all white. His hair was shiny white as if the threads of pure Silver and his eyes were blue; complimenting the aura he carried.

He smiled looking at Scarlet. The old couple invited him inside without Scarlet understanding what had been happening around him. She had never met this man or seen him, yet he seemed familiar. The moment that old man set food inside, his brows scrunched and eyes narrowed suspiciously. His gaze started wandering all over the house and stopped when he spotted Emerald standing over the corner of the dining table with a soft and warm smile. The old man sneered whispering, 'once a demon, always a demon. Demon.'

Scarlet glanced at his facial expressions that we're changing like the colors of fairy lights on Christmas and followed his line of sight only to notice Emerald standing there. The old couple got startled witnessing Emerald in the house and Mrs. Lozenge approached him, hugged him tightly asking,

"Son, how are you? You are here, suddenly! Everything okay!"

"Yes, everything is fine. Scarlet was alone here and she needed some help with the assignments. So, Jack called me and here I am." Emerald replied breaking the hug and planting a soft kiss over Mrs. Lozenge's temples.

Mr. Lozenge too hugged him and patted his back asking about the family members and work. The old man continued staring oat Emerald, and Scarlet... at the old man. She was running every person's facial map in her brain to find out who this man was and where she had been acquainted with him.

Mr. Lozenge looked at Emerald's face and noticed the cut over his lower lip. Some blood was still there; perhaps the clotted one. Then his eyes roamed over his shirt the iron of which had long gone and was replaced by fresh wrinkles and the upper button was still undone. Leaning close to Emerald, he inhaled the scent and found the same perfume that Scarlet used.

Grinning widely, Bob (Mr. Lozenge), whispered near Emerald's ears, "I don't think you guys were doing the assignments. But some workout is a good option." Emerald's face paled and he scratched his head smiling sheepishly. Mr. Lozenge backed off and suggested looking at Scarlet,

"Honey, Emerald has got a cut over his lips. Could you address his wound?" To which Scarlet nodded her head in agreement, but Mrs. Lozenge noticed her line of sight and slapped her temples.

"Oh God, I forgot to Introduce you. Uncle, she is my daughter, Scarlet, and he is her fiancé, Emerald Azure. And sweetie, he is my distant uncle.."

"Grandpa Shala.." Scarlet finished the sentence on her mother's behalf taking everyone by surprise. Emerald was the least bothered one and he was busy clutching Scarlet's waist. His hand was occasionally rubbed over her shoulders gesturing a sense of warmth. "You know Uncle Shala?" Mrs. Lozenge was surprised and Scarlet understood the sense of shock in her tone. She agreed to help her mother recollect the old memories with Shala grabbing her hand and rubbing it gently,

"Mom, you took me to Aunt Misca's house once. I met grandpa Shala there. We had cookies. He makes so delicious cookies. How can you forget it, mom?" Suddenly Mrs. Lozenge's mind flashed with the memories Scarlet just mentioned about and she responded, "Oh, that...you were just four at that time. I thought maybe you don't remember that. But then...you certainly would. Emerald, I am telling you...this girl never forgets anything when food is involved." Everybody laughed and Shala joined too.

"I will cook food. Uncle, you can get settled in that room. Wash up and we will have dinner." Jessica said moving towards the kitchen. Scarlet interfered, "Mom, we had food already. Now, Emmy is leaving. Right, Emmy!?" Her questioning gaze that wasn't questioning but commanding landed on Emerald who was feeling out of the blue and denied immediately saying,

"What! I am not leaving, not right now. Mom, see this girl. She first called me, and now she is certainly kicking me out of the house. It's almost 7, and this is a jungle town. I hope you don't want me to end up in a bear or tiger's poop tomorrow." Emerald made a pleading face at Mrs. Lozenge who shrugged her shoulders and said,

"No, you won't. There are plenty of rooms in our house. You can stay if you wish." Emerald wiggled his eyebrows while he hugged Jessica and the lady just smiled getting busied in the kitchen when Scarlet mumbled,

"How can a wolf end up in Tiger's poop. I feel pity for that poor tiger." She scoffed and left for her room glaring at Emerald who had been dancing happily in his mind. Emerald busied helping Mrs. Lozenge. The old man, Shala had been witnessing everything from afar standing in the corner of the hall.

"I wish you won't cause her any harm this time." He said as if talking to himself and looked upstairs towards Scarlet's room. Deciding to talk to her, Shala made his way upstairs and knocked at the closely shut door of the room. Scarlet had changed her dress to a more comfy night one that reached up to her mid-thighs and covered her upper body leaving the arms, shoulder, and some of her neck lavishly bare.

Finding the old man standing in front of her door, she felt amused and let him inside asking,

"Grandpa Shala, Do you need anything?" The old man looked at her face reading her features. She was as she used to be when she was his little fairy. His nostrils caught the sweet fragrance of lavender and Jasmine mixed with mint and roses and he found the flowers bouquet that Scarlet had arranged neatly near her study table beside the night lamp.

"You still like Lavender!" He asked or announced; she wasn't sure of either but nodded her head. Shala read her face and found that she remembered him due to the heat of the moment. Besides that, she had no memories of him or her being any fairy, vampiress, or anything else. He had thought of confronting her about her involvement with Emerald again when he had done his best to settle everything in the past life and successfully ended the nasty 'Blood pact'

Approaching her, Shala felt a sudden surge of power from Scarlet's body. This was something new. He had felt it only once in his life and that was centuries ago. He looked straight into her eyes that had turned purple and started glowing. Shala understood Scarlet's behavior downstairs earlier. It wasn't her, but RAGNARA. Ragnara was trying to take over her.

Grabbing Scarlet's shoulders tightly, Shala darted his eyes into hers locking them without blinking, and found himself getting drowned into an endless abyss; no day, no night, no season, nothing. Everything was as calm as lifelessness. In just a moment, Shala felt himself getting drained and his hands that were grabbing Scarlet's shoulders were now retreating in his zone.

He understood. She had consumed Emerald's blood and the RAGNARA stone. He tried to stop Scarlet but the girl was under a strong spell, a kind of hypnosis. She was glued to her spot, numb. Just her glowing eyes were letting Shala assume that she was alive. He tried calling her, but she didn't respond.

Putting a lot of his energy, he grabbed her shoulders once again calling her loudly,

"RAGNARA..."

The girl regained her senses and the purple in her eyes vanished replacing them with ocean blue shades. The last thing she did was stare at Shala asking,

"Who are you...!?"

~DESTINY LAND~

"What is happening with Scarlet? She just recognized uncle Shala, but now again she looked at him like he was a stranger!" Choice asked her sister Destiny anxiously, who spared a silent glance to her and replied,

"It was not Scarlet. It was RAGNARA. She is taking over Scarlet."

Choice gasped, "What would happen if she took over Scarlet?"

"You, me...or anyone...no one could be of any help to her then. Only Scarlet can control it. She needs to remember everything soon before the inevitable happens." Destiny said and continued looking at Scarlet's strange gazes.