𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲❥•𝑀𝐽 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦•/𝒞ℴ𝓂𝓅𝓁ℯ𝓉ℯ𝒹/

🎀𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗢𝗻𝗲🎀

"Michael, over here!"

"This way!"

Michael kept lowered his head, not even wanting to gaze out of the already significantly tainted car window as the vehicle moved along. Outside, huge crowds of people flocked along the lengthy path that led up to the gates of his Neverland residence. The clamour was far too loud, even through the metal barrier of the car - it was much too overwhelming.

Camera clicks, and bright flashes were arife - creating an endless sea of pure chaos outside. For Michael, it felt as if he was on the outside looking in - ironically.

Even though the masses of people were just a door open away from his reach, but it felt like he was staring at a completely different world - a different world that he wished he could exist as a completely separate person in.

The driver of the vehicle, Bill - who happened to be one of Michael's trusted staff members as well - glanced at the young man's face through the rear-view mirror, seeing merely the shell of someone that once shone so brightly on the inside.

Outwardly, Michael was doing nothing but gaining more success in terms of his career, but inwardly it happened to be quite the contrary. Inside of himself, he felt as though he had burnt out, as if his light had dimmed and that there was nothing he was able to do to stop it from fading into complete darkness.

"You okay, Mike?" Frank - Michael's manager - spoke up from beside him.

All Michael could do was nod with a sigh, fiddling with his fingers on his lap. In the recent weeks, he had been doing nothing but working in the recording studio, where he tirelessly composed masterpiece over masterpiece - hoping to produce an album by the end of the year. He had been working on his recordings for quite some time, and it was a notable change in pace from the Bad World Tour that he had only just concluded.

Whether that change was a good thing or a bad thing was still undecided.

This particular night was intended to be exactly as any other of his nights in the recent months - returning home from the studio to be left alone in both the solace and terror of his thoughts.

Sometimes, being alone was therapeutic, because it allowed him the required space that gave him inspiration to write more music - but there were also far too many moments where his own company made him feel even worse. There were days where he wished to just....separate his soul from the vessel it occupied, or perhaps fall into another existence where he had the chance to be....somewhat normal.

"Mike!"

Michael shook his head, having been snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Frank's voice. The young man had been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed the vehicle had long pulled up to at the front of the house.

"Geez, kid, you're....a lot more distracted today," Frank frowned, an expression of genuine concern visible on his face. "Do you-"

But Michael simply opened his door to get out of the car, not bearing the mind to have a proper conversation at that point in time.

"Hey!" Frank called after him, rushing to get out of the car as well. "Mike! Don't walk-"

"Frank, I'm not in the mood for a lecture, alright?" Michael spun around just as he reached the front doors, throwing his hands in the air in a careless fashion. "You're my manager, not my dad,"

"Then what are you in the mood for? Because you've been acting up lately, and I'm just trying to understand you! If I'm your manager, then at least let me be a proper one!" he yelled back as Michael walked farther away from him.

The doors were pushed open, and just as Michael walked through them, he turned back to glance at Frank one more time - who appeared even more confounded that before.

"I just wish I could wake up tomorrow to a world that isn't the isolated existence I'm living in right now. I wish I could just fall into another world where no one even knew my name, and everything would be perfect. I wish I could at least pretend to be normal! I wish I could just find true happiness!" his voice cracked as he spoke the last few words, roughly pushing the doors shut.

Suddenly, he felt a dull searing sensation at the center of his palm, as if a tiny needle had pricked his skin. Before he could pull his hand back to examine it, all the lights in the house went out - pure darkness sweeping over at once.

"What the-" he whispered to himself, only to be cut off by the further unanticipated sound of thunder and rain - as if a storm had become unleashed outside without warning or push for alert.

Grabbing the door handles again, he pulled open the doors, the dull pain in the palm of his hand becoming the least of his worries.

Outside, it was raining heavily, confirming that he wasn't exactly imagining anything. The wind howled, and the rain fell in heavy sheets - the front parking-way now displaying no sign that Frank or his transport had been there. He held a hand up to shield his face as a gust of wind blew several streams of rain droplets in his direction, and motion that was quickly followed by the sound of the grand clock chiming from inside the house - indicating that it was now midnight.

Thinking quickly, he closed the doors again, proceeding to look around frantically, wondering where in the world his housekeeping staff had disappeared to. A sense of dread washed over him at the thought that perhaps something terrible had happened to them, but he hadn't trailed too far along with that thought before he began to feel very drowsy - almost as if he had been intoxicated.

Immediately, the room began to spin, and he started to stumble along as if he were being guided by something unseen - all whilst wrapped in the black sheet of darkness.

As if rehearsed, he found his way to the sofa, despite the fact that he was barely able to see straight at that point. As soon as he fell onto the soft surface, he instinctively laid down, the need to fall into slumber growing incredibly intense.

He desperately wanted to keep his eyes open, to fight off the effect of whatever had taken over him - but the more he tried to battle against it, the more it took control of his senses. Soon enough, he'd had no choice but to give in, closing his heavy eyelids as everything spun into a blur.

The only thing his half conscious mind could pick up on was the light, ethereal sound of an echoed female voice - the resonation seeming as if the voice were in his mind, but not a part of his mind.

The words it recited were the last sounds he heard before he lost consciousness completely.

"A good intention grants your greatest desire, but for every priceless gift allowed, there is a lesson to learn. Find your lesson, and you shall have what you truly want - fail to see the lesson, and you shall lose sight of what you almost had,"

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