Chapter 1

"All through the shadows, they come and they go. With only one thing in common, the fire down below." Fire Down Below—Bob Segar

My life completely changed on my thirteenth birthday during the time I was walking home from school. The following book is a biography of what happened and how I came into being one of the most powerful individuals that this world has ever seen. Those are the words of one of my slaves—Kelly to be precise. I never was much for bragging, but for some reason, all thirty-seven of my slaves like to tell people about me. They were the ones that bullied me into writing this little biography. Yes, I guess I am a little soft hearted when it comes to my slaves.

Well, I guess I should tell you my name first. It's a good and simple Irish name: Michael McCormick. Although, I grew up in south Oklahoma and that's quite a ways from the mother land, as my mother likes to call it. To be more specific, I grew up in Bristow, Oklahoma. It was a city that had about forty thousand people at the very most. It wasn't much, but it was home and I took pride in calling it my home. After all, a person should be proud of their roots and that is exactly what I am.

The area of Bristow we lived was a suburban, middle-class area that was almost purely crime free. It was very much unlike the poorer parts of the city—a place where a person could get shot for the few dollars in his or her pocket. I grew up my entire life in the six bedroom two-story house. Good times and bad times were both had in that house. But for as long as I live, I will always hold that house in my heart with more than a little fondness.

Growing up without a father was something that I never did fret about. My mother and three sisters were more than enough to keep me content. There were quite a few things to do in Bristow and there was even a community center that was only about a twenty minute bike ride away. It was in that place that I learned how to play pool and basketball.

I guess I should tell you a little about my family.

My mother's name was Tanya McCormick and she was a pretty awesome Mom, as far as mothers went. The lady most certainly provided for our family. She made pretty damn good money as a Jr. Partner at the only law firm in Bristow. Bringing home a couple of thousand dollars a week was more than enough to keep us going. It was her easy going personality and smile that got her cases and she won more cases than most of the lawyers in that firm.

As far as looks went, my Mom had flowing blond hair and the bluest eyes that I had ever seen on anyone. Take that and her hourglass figure and a person could bet money that she got drooled at wherever she went. Be it the park or a crowded court room, the woman always stood out. It would amuse me to no end that people would stop what they were doing just to listen to her or watch her walk.

Then there were my sisters. They were almost mini-copies of Mom. They had the same blue eyes and blonde hair, but they looked different in their face. I guess they got some of their looks from our father. They were all certainly beautiful however. They were 14 and 16 respectively. Yes, the ones that were 14 were identical twins.

I'll tell you about the 16 year old sister first.

The name of that particular sister was Karen Danielle McCormick. Her family and friends always called her KD however, for obvious reasons. At sixteen, she was probably the most beautiful girl in her college. That was my opinion anyway—as bias as it might be. However, I really don't think I am thinking unfairly. I have heard many a boy whisper about her and the perfect body and face that she had.

KD's personality was what I really loved though. Unlike most beautiful girls, KD was very much cool. She had the personality and temperament of a tomboy. She was a slow talkin', hard fightin', bad mouthed wildcat. There were many times that someone mouthed off at her in school and she would use curse words that would That girl could make a sailor blush. She loved to give scathing replies that held more than a few curse words to people that she wanted to be away from. If that didn't work, she would lead with her fists and they would soon be flat on their back with a busted lip or noise—being in martial arts since the age of four saw to that. My sister most certainly did not believe in the slapping game most girls played. She once told me that if she hit someone, she wanted them to feel it.

However, more than that, KD was one of my best friends and probably the most important person in my world at the time. She was never to busy to spare some time for her "kid brother". Whether it was playing billiards at the community center or playing catch with a football, she was always there to have fun with me. Mom tried to do those things, but her job kept her busier than hell.

KD liked to dress differently than most other girls as well. She liked to wear lose jeans and large t-shirts that hid her rather large breasts. It was like she did not want boys to ogle her and that was the plain truth of the matter. My sister wanted boys to respect her for her mind and not her body. I guess she really was like most girls in that area.

KD had the most beautiful mind I had ever heard of. What a mind that it was too. That girl was a tech-geek if there ever was one. She was the one that turned me onto computer programming and computer science. I got interested in it when I saw her putting an entire computer together after ordering the parts separately. Yeah, she was damn smart in that area and taught me most of what I know of computer programming and hardware. She was the one that made me believe that it wasn't pronounced Microsoft, it was properly pronounced Microshit.

I knew long before I was thirteen that she was the best friend a guy could have.

Then there were the twins—the annoying twins. Don't get me wrong, I love them dearly. However, they were the exact definition for the term airhead cheerleaders when they conversed with folks. They also took great pride in cutting those down that didn't fit into the word normal. If you were a nerd, loner or metal head, they would cut you down with scathing words in public. It didn't bother them a bit to do this.

Unfortunately, I fell into all three categories while I was at school. Did they cut me slack because I was family? Nope. They took delight in embarrassing me whenever they got a chance. Yet, I still loved them like sisters so I put up with it and ignored them when they did this. It is true about the saying that you can't pick your family.

I did love them though.

I guess I should tell you a little more about myself at this point.

At the age of thirteen, I was probably the definition of the word average—when it came to looks. I was not some ravishingly handsome rogue but I wasn't ugly either. Unlike the girls, I got the brown hair and green eyes that my father had before he died in a car crash. I dressed for school in plain blue jeans and rock band t-shirts—most of which were of the band Nickelback or Linkin Park.

When it came to school, however, I was a bit more than average. At the age thirteen, on my birthday, I entered my senior year of high school. Yeah, I skipped quite a few grades in my younger years. That most certainly didn't help people stop making fun of the "little nerd" throughout school. Even though I was in martial arts since I had been four (just like KD) and was in excellent physical condition, I still took a lot of ridiculous ribbing for my intelligence.

I usually just shrugged it off and ignored them though. My sensei always told me that walking away from a confrontation usually made you the bigger man. I took to that advice reluctantly. It was reluctantly because it made me look like a big puss. There had not been a confrontation that required me to use violence yet at school though. There was the time at the community center that I broke a boy's wrist that threw a punch at my face while wearing so brass knuckles. Other than the wrist, I only knocked out two of his teeth.

No, I didn't feel a lick of guilt over the incident. You will find out quickly in this biography that it takes an awful damn lot to make me feel guilty about doing something to someone that isn't family. I guess you could say I have a bit of sociopath in me when it came to strangers. There are some things in the future parts of this biography that will both shock and appall you. I warn you of this early and can only say in my defense that the only good enemy is a dead enemy. All I can say is that I took an awful lot of goddamn pleasure eliminating the fuckers that wanted to harm my family.

Don't get me wrong. At thirteen, I was not some sort of super fighter that could take on five or six guys and kick their ass. I had the belt that was below brown and I was just slightly better than average at the time when it came to martial arts. Still, it gave me an edge against those who were untrained bullies. Moreover, I never like those silly bastards who like picking on those they were fairly certain they could win against. Where was the challenge in that, I ask you?