Annalena hardly slept that night. She was too occupied with the ideas of vampires being real and leaving Margarete in the forest. As time passed, Annalena realized that she cared less and less about the home for her in Stuttgart. No one was waiting for her, and she didn't have a job. She would have to start from scratch, and that was going to be a lot of hard work. 

After she got dressed in one of her summer dresses, she went downstairs to see if she could find Margarete. Annalena was going to suggest to stay for a few days to calm her nerves before going back out into the forest. This was the closest thing she had to an adventure, and she wasn't going to get another chance to experience something incredible.

A half hour passed before Annalena found Margarete down in the dungeon area. Annalena knocked on the wall in an effort to catch her attention without startling her. Margarete turned around, surprised to hear anything so far down, and she smiled warmly at Annalena. Down in the dark, Annalena found that Margarete looked like a vampire. She looked incredibly pale except for her lips with her hair blending in with the shadows behind her. She looked terrifying, but Annalena was comforted when she found her.

"What brings you all the way down here? I thought you would have slept in longer, given the day you had yesterday," Margarete mentioned as she walked closer to Annalena.

"I just wanted to talk to you about something," Annalena answered, noticing that Margarete was almost a foot taller than herself. She noticed yesterday, but seemed to forget how tall she actually was. "I was wondering if I would be able to stay."

"To... stay?" Margarete repeated, stopping in her tracks. Annalena nodded.

"I don't have any family or friends in Stuttgart, and it's going to be hard to start up another bakery in such a large town. I know it's a strange request, and I would understand if you wouldn't want me around," Annalena explained before starting to back pedal. 

"No, it's not a strange request. Well, it is a little strange, but it's not unreasonable," Margarete replied, a little awkward. "If you really want to stay with us for a little while, I don't think that anyone would be apposed."

"Really?" Annalena smiled as Margarete nodded, leading her back upstairs.

"Of course. It'll be refreshing to have a woman around. I don't think I've had any female interaction in a few decades," Margarete laughed, shaking her head. 

"In decades? I guess that's not outlandish," Annalena replied while in thought. Margarete bit her lip mid smile.

As they went up the stairs and walked into the main area of the castle, Ottomar and Reinhold were talking. The two men looked over as Margarete put her hand on Annalena's shoulder.

"Annalena is going to be staying with us for a while," Margarete informed as Reinhold smiled widely and Ottomar groaned inwardly. "Ottomar!"

"I don't think you've thought this through. What is she going to eat? What if she catches us eating? And you know how Gunter gets around humans," Ottomar argued, gesturing toward Annalena. She glanced at Margarete, who was unfazed. 

"That was over twelve years ago," Margarete reminded in a harsh tone.

"I don't want us to be responsible for her safety, or her death," Ottomar warned before his brother elbowed him.

"That's not very nice. I'm sure Annalena will be fine in here, and Gunter can handle himself. If I can deal with her standing right there, then he'll be fine," Reinhold argued as Ottomar glared.

"I'm just warning her. The last time Gunter interacted with a human, other than last night, that human died," Ottomar rebutted. 

"Then following that line of logic, he should have immediately attacked Annalena last night, but he didn't," Reinhold argued just as Gunter came around the corner.

"Did you call me?" Gunter asked, glancing around.

"Gunter, come here," Margarete beckoned as Gunter approached. "What are you feeling right now?"

"Mostly confused," Gunter replied nearly immediately.

"Do you want to hurt Annalena here? Any animosity at all?" Margarete asked, holding Annalena by the shoulders. She felt a little uncomfortable under the grip, but stood relatively still. Gunter glanced between the women.

"No. Should I?" he replied as Reinhold smiled knowingly. Ottomar covered his mouth his hand, covering his look of defeat.

"Ottomar thought you would want to shred her to pieces after what happened last time," Reinhold informed pointedly.

"Excuse me?" Gunter exclaimed, staring at Ottomar, who just shrugged in response.