• Derick was conceived by a simple act of passion; One of little distinction. But, it was this common act of lust that would change the world forever.


    Chapter 1


    tab That November morning was much like any other. The crowded streets of New York were teeming with pedestrians. Businessmen sped off to street corners to hail taxis, only to realize that walking would have been the better option. Schoolchildren chased one another, powered by nothing but the natural energy of youth. Elders “power-walked” through the avenues, trying to maintain that energy that is slowly shriveling away.

    tab The alarm clock-radio suddenly began to blare the guitar rift to an oldies rock song, involving a woman’s body and its paralyzing effect on men. Derick groaned, smacking his open palm against the snooze button. The rift stopped short, and all was quiet in the small studio apartment on the east side of Manhattan.
    The young twenty-something,(Derick had turned twenty-two last May), slugged out of bed, then gazed at the bright red numbers that gleamed from the clock’s electronic screen. A quarter past eight, the clock said, two full hours before Derick had to leave for work. He sighed, and wiped the sleep from his eyes, then began his morning routine: Brush your teeth; Comb your hair; Are you dressed? Check your underwear!

    tab The old rhyme his mother use to sing each morning still rung loudly in Derick’s ears. He donned on a red T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of classic Converse® high-tops. Afterward, Derick plopped onto his family-sized couch, and then turned his television onto the news.

    tab The weatherman predicted high winds, but sunny skies that day, with a low of thirty. Derick looked out the window, and couldn’t help but smile. The horizon was absolutely shrouded by pitch black cumulonimbus clouds, impregnated with rain that would soon be falling down upon the Earth. Derick was about to flip the channel, when the anchorwoman spoke,” Breaking news, three bodies were found just now at the intersection of Park Avenue South and thirty-fourth street East, near the local pizzeria, ‘Toni’s Pepperoni’, and were said to have been drained of their blood, then decapitated…NYPD have to current leads, nor a murder weapon”.