Chapter 14: A Party for a Stranger
The Salvatore mansion was lit from every corner, candle flames dancing quietly, music flowing softly through the rooms, while faint laughter slipped into the night air from the open windows.
Caroline Forbes stood beside the long wooden table in the main hall, rearranging the flowers for the fifth time in a row. She looked at Stefan over her shoulder and said:
"Okay, seriously now... Aren't you going to tell me why this party is happening?"
He replied with a sideways smile as he handed her a glass:
"Just a simple celebration. We've had some rough weeks... it's time to breathe again."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously:
"You're hiding something."
He finally said, in a quieter voice:
"I'm celebrating my brother. The one we finally got back."
Caroline tilted her head:
"Damon?"
He shook his head.
"No... Alexander."
She blinked in surprise.
"You mean that guy with the sad eyes and the vibe that says 'don't talk to me'?"
Stefan chuckled lightly:
"That's the one."
She slowly shook her head:
"And this whole party is for him? Stefan... half the people in this room don't even know who he is."
Stefan sipped from his glass and said:
"That's the point. It's time they did."
Outside, the guests began to arrive. Elena, Bonnie, Matt, Jeremy, even Tyler and a few of the Lockwood family. None of them had the full picture. Some thought it was a Founders-style gathering, others figured it was just a quiet evening hosted by the Salvatores. No one expected the real reason behind it.
Except Damon.
He stood by the bar, a drink in hand, watching the mansion's entrance like a hawk.
"He'll be here any moment," he muttered to himself. "Either he'll walk in pretending not to care, or he'll burn the place down. I'm betting on the latter."
Bonnie arrived shortly after. She was dressed in black, as usual, but there was a different aura around her tonight... a dark calm laced with fatigue. The spell had drained her; its echo still trembled in her bones, but Alexander was free... and that meant something.
She saw Damon by the bar and walked toward him.
"You really threw a party for him?"
Damon shrugged:
"Stefan's idea. I just brought the whiskey."
She sipped from her glass and said:
"He's not going to like it."
He smirked:
"That's exactly why we did it."
Then the door opened.
Alexander stood on the threshold. He was dressed in black, his coat long and sharply cut, and his expression unreadable. He didn't move immediately. He simply looked.
So many faces. People laughing, drinking, dancing. Most had no idea what this night meant... or who he was.
His eyes found Stefan.
Stefan smiled and raised his glass.
Alexander stepped in.
He moved through the crowd like a silent shadow. Some glanced at him, puzzled, but no one stopped him. He ended up near a window, gazing into the darkness beyond, far from the lights and the music.
Elena approached him.
"Hi," she said gently.
He nodded once.
"Hi."
"You look uncomfortable."
"I am."
"Want to tell me why?"
He hesitated, then said:
"I don't like being celebrated. I don't know anyone here. And part of me... still wants to disappear."
She looked at him for a long moment before whispering:
"But you didn't disappear. You stayed. And that alone... means something."
Something flickered in his eyes—gratitude? Or maybe regret?
"You remind me of Katherine."
She froze for a moment.
"I've been told that before."
He spoke more softly:
"I don't hate you for it... but don't expect me to be kind."
"I wasn't planning on it."
A small, faint, sarcastic smile formed on his lips:
"You're stronger than you look."
"I hang out with Damon Salvatore... I didn't have much of a choice."
Across the hall, Klaus entered—an unexpected appearance, though not unwelcome. He moved with royal confidence, scanning the room for a familiar face. He stopped when he saw Alexander. Their eyes met.
Klaus raised his glass.
"You look sharp tonight."
Alexander nodded briefly.
"I thought you were busy reclaiming New Orleans."
Klaus approached him and said:
"I will be. But first... I owed someone a drink."
He ignored everyone else and handed Alexander a glass of bourbon.
"To surviving curses... and to you almost defeating me."
Alexander took the glass, clinked it against Klaus's, and drank.
The rest of the evening passed slowly, like a long dream.
People danced, shared stories. Damon sang badly at the piano. Stefan laughed. Caroline arranged another toast. Even Bonnie finally relaxed.
Alexander didn't smile much. But he stayed.
And for a man like him... that was more powerful than any spell.
---
The sound of laughter from the floor below was faint, like ghosts from a distant memory—one Alexander knew well, but could no longer touch or reclaim.
He was now standing at the upstairs window, staring into the stretching darkness, the lights of the Salvatore mansion behind him—warm and welcoming, as if they belonged to another world.
His reflection in the glass barely resembled him anymore.
It was all over. The curse that had haunted his blood, torn his soul apart, and nearly devoured him completely... was gone. Bonnie had broken it. Or rather, they all had—together.
So why did he feel so empty?
"I figured I'd find you here," came Bonnie's voice—soft, steady—as she quietly approached the hallway.
He didn't turn to her.
"Everyone's celebrating downstairs."
"Yes, for you."
"For who I was," he said, his voice tinged with pain, "not for what I've become."
Bonnie leaned back against the wall and said:
"You don't get it, do you? They're celebrating because they're relieved. Because you're free. Because something finally ended without new bloodshed. Not because you turned perfect overnight."
He turned to her, his gaze sharp—but not cruel.
"I still feel it, Bonnie... the pieces... even though they came back together, they don't connect the way they used to."
She stepped closer.
"That's not the curse speaking... it just means you're human again. Not fully, of course—but yes."
A moment of silence passed. He almost smiled.
"Human... I didn't think I'd hear that word again."
She tilted her head gently and asked:
"And now what, Alexander?"
He looked back through the window.
"Now I have to figure out if I still have a place here... in a town full of ghosts... some of which I created."
She came closer, standing beside him.
"You don't owe anyone anything. You survived the impossible. You saved your brothers. You saved yourself too. And that... is not nothing."
He whispered, voice low:
"And yet, I feel like a stranger in my own body."
Bonnie reached out and took his hand, her voice still calm and reassuring:
"Let us help you remember how to live again."
He didn't move for a long time. Then finally, he nodded slowly.
"One day at a time."
---
Downstairs, the party was winding down. Stefan leaned against the bar, quietly sipping his drink, watching Caroline move swiftly among the guests, making sure everyone had eaten enough, smiled enough, and gotten confused just enough not to ask about the real reason behind the gathering.
Damon approached him, handing over another glass.
"You think he's starting to get it?"
Stefan sighed.
"Not yet... but he will."
Caroline arrived lightly, her heels clicking on the floor.
"Okay, everyone's convinced this is some fancy Salvatore charity event, no one asked why a stranger is brooding at the wall, and someone brought coffin-shaped cookies... if you ask me? I call that a win!"
Damon raised his glass:
"Here's to dramatic recovery."
Stefan added with a half-smile:
"And to drama-filled brothers."
Caroline sipped from her glass and said:
"And to the fact that no one died at this party. A Mystic Falls miracle!"
---
Later that night, after most of the guests had left, Alexander finally came downstairs. His sleeves were rolled up, his hair slightly tousled from the night breeze, and his eyes a little less dark than before.
Everyone looked up at him.
Damon stood and said:
"Well, well... Sleeping Beauty wakes."
Alexander stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm not used to parties that don't end in bloodbaths."
Caroline said casually:
"Hey, there was fruit punch... and someone spiked it, so I'd say close enough."
Bonnie approached, a calm smile on her face:
"You okay?"
He looked at her, then at his brothers.
"I will be."
Klaus stood nearby by the fireplace, raising his glass in silent salute to Alexander—a gesture carrying all the chaos they'd shared... and the survival they'd both achieved.
Alexander returned the nod.
A strange silence filled the room—not awkward, but thick with everything unspoken. Then Caroline clapped her hands.
"Enough brooding. Who wants to play charades?"
Damon groaned:
"Kill me now."
Alexander replied dryly:
"I tried once before."
Everyone froze for a moment—then Damon burst out laughing:
"Okay... he has a sense of humor now. I can live with that."
---
And as the night wore on, the group settled into something like peace. It wasn't perfect. It never would be. But for the first time in a very long time...
There was no curse. No enemy at the door. No ticking hourglass threatening to fall.
Just broken souls... trying to learn how to breathe again.
---