The Digimon Journey
Chapter 01: A New Year Begins
Author's notes: First chapter has nothing to do with Digimon, but the second will, so don't worry, you aren't reading the wrong story ;-) And NO, Michael is NOT based on my true personality :D

It was an ordinary night in England, London… Except that it was December 31, New Year's Eve. 2001 was about to end! Outside, fireworks were everywhere, but in one of many houses, a party was going on, filled with alcohol, rap music and youths who were too drunk to remember why they were there. It was your typical party for youths 15-16 years old. A lot of the people constantly screamed in fake laughter and did what they could to remind each other that they existed. The "50 Cent"-lyrics from the stereo analogue, however, were louder than anything else:

"I don't know what you heard about me
But a bitch can't get a dollar out of me
No Cadillac, no perms, you can't see
That I'm a motherfucking P-I-M-P"

However, one room was more silent than the rest of the house… In the bathroom, a 15 years old boy was in great depression. Being alone in the light bathroom, leaning over the wash, and looking silently into the mirror… That was what Michael was doing now.

"Ignored… No one cares about me. Even when I am the one behind this party and this is my house, no one notice me, listens to me…"

Those words repeated themselves inside of Michael's head. His tears of sadness turned into tears of anger as he aggressively punched the mirror and the glass shattered. Michael was always ignored at school, or bullied when he tried too hard to get noticed. Now, he had gone as far as to… Well, going too far. Last New Year's Eve, back at the end of 2000, he made a promise to himself… That before this year was over, he would be someone. Someone special, more than simply being completely ignored or at best bullied. Being his last opportunity, he had a few days prior to the party promised the popular boys and girls at his school that he held a party at his house New Year's Eve. He was threatened that it would better happen or he would regret, but although insecure, he simply answered:

"Of course it will happen, homie, what the hell do you take me for?"

Michael got himself into a bad situation when his parents said "No. Go to someone else's party"…

Having heard several of the typical teenage rumours of "this guy is insane, he has killed people" or "this guy's big brother is strong as hell" about some of the boys he had invited, Michael was afraid, fearing for his life… His insecurity was eating him up. What would the guys at school do once they found out there would be no party?

After pleading his parents and still getting no, Michael was driven into doing something he never thought he would do… At the night prior to New Year's Eve, the paranoia had driven Michael to a very desperate point.
With a knife, he had snuck into his parents' dark room. Being afraid and insecure, unable to do the job quick, he slowly touched his mom's throat with the blade. The cold steel woke her up, and the shock made her sit up, getting her throat slitted before Michael had a chance to regret. As his father woke up, Michael realized that there was no way back, and his father too died at the end of the knife's blade…

Michael had killed his own parents so that he could hold the party for sure, and thus not get in trouble and still live up to what he promised himself: to be important before 2001 was over. Having answered that his parents were on vacation to all the family calls the whole next day, the guests started coming, no one being allowed to go into the locked bedroom where the corpses of Michael's parents still lied… But had Michael achieved his goals? His party was active, after all. No. He would not get trouble with the smartasses, but he was a murderer and he was close to failing at keeping the promise he made to himself! Even through he held the party, no one cared about him and someone had even taunted him and laughed at him, ultimately breaking him down to where he now was… The clock was 10:30, meaning he only had 1 hour and 30 minutes to prove to everyone that he was someone special, as that would be the start of 2002. But could he make it? Nothing in our world would indicate that…