Miss Margret | Caroline Forbes

Chapter Two

 On the inside, the Salvatore Boardinghouse looked to be like very orderly place, despite having a grim look and feel to it. However, Margret noticed there did look to be something resembling a renovation going on around the place. 

 "So, what's going on here?" she asked. "It looks as if you've been doing some work. Is this place in bad need of any repairs?" 

 "No, it's not that," Caroline answered. "I mean, the place is old, but the Salvatores always took care of it. No, it's something else." 

 "Oh." Margret noticed that Caroline looked a little flustered. She wondered if she should try to talk about something else or just shut her mouth. 

 "You know, I can't really imagine Stefan living in a place as dreary-looking as this," Margret remarked, choosing to continue talking. "Or maybe it's just how I remember him. He was always a little grim himself; he had his fair share of deep dark struggles." 

 Caroline nodded. "Yeah, he did. Um, how did you meet Stefan?" 

 Margret was beginning to form an answer in her head when she heard "Mommy!" Two small girls came running up to stand behind Caroline and stare at Margret. 

 "Hello," Margret greeted the girls. "Um, are they yours?" she asked Caroline. 

 "Yeah, they are. Um, in a way," Caroline replied. "Come on, girls, let's have lunch. Um...would you mind waiting here for a few minutes?" 

 Margret shrugged. "I have time." 

 As Caroline went off with her daughters-in a way, as she put it-Margret sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace. It felt so strange being there, knowing Stefan used to call it his home. He was gone now, and she would never be able to visit him in this place he once called home. Why had she kept in better touch with him? Why not spend more time with him before his time was up? She still didn't even know the entire story of what happened to him; that was what she hoped Caroline could tell her. 

 "Who are you?" 

 The voice startled Margret, and she leapt off the sofa in an instant. The man standing in the doorway was no one she had ever met before, but she assumed he was with Caroline. 

 "I'm not here to hurt anyone," she said, holding her hands up. "Mrs. Salvatore invited me in. She took her daughter to have lunch. I'm assuming they're in the kitchen, but I don't know where it is. She asked me to wait here." 

 The explanation didn't seem to make the man any less sense. "But who are you?" 

 "My name's Margret Janssen. I knew Stefan Salvatore. We were friends. I only recently learned of his death, and I wanted to come to his hometown, to pay my last respects. Now, who are you?" 

 The man now seemed to relax the slightest bit. "Alaric Saltzman. I'm the father of those daughters Caroline took to the kitchen." 

 "Oh." Margret stared at him. Caroline couldn't have been a vampire for too long to have been able to have such young daughters with this man. On top of that, he looked to be much older than Caroline? What kind of relationship had they had? 

 "Are you and Mrs. Salvatore...together at the moment?" she asked, feeling strange asking the question. 

 "No, and I don't think we will be. We tried that once, and it didn't work out. Was Caroline going to show you the house?" Alaric asked. 

 "She offered to, yes. But I understand if she is too busy with her daughters at the moment." 

 "Hi, sorry about that." Caroline came hurrying back into the room. "Those girls do take up a lot of attention." 

 Margret nodded. "I understand. I just speaking to your, um...your daughters' father." 

 "Alaric, can you keep an eye on the girls for a bit?" Caroline asked him. 

 Alaric told her he would, and gave Margret another look before walking away. 

 "So, shall we?" Caroline asked. 

 Margret nodded again. "I suppose we shall."