It was night. The mist had risen in Transverse, as it did every night. The Midnight Sons were out patrolling.

Some of them, anyway.

Blade had joined Torrance and Sedona for the evening, partly because he was starting to hear rumblings from the underground, and partly to keep an eye on the boy.

"It's just been rough since she left," Torrance was saying. "All over false pretenses."

"Yeah, love stinks all right," Sedona replied. "But all of your blubbering isn't really helping our patrol."

"Huh? Oh, sorry," Torrance said, sheepishly.

Blade rolled his eyes, and continued looking around, hoping that something would jump out of the mist.

The trio continued walking for a couple of minutes. Suddenly, Sedona stopped in her tracks and turned to face Torrance.

"Look, here's how I see it," she said. "She thought that either you or her brother would kill the other. Eventually, she'll have to figure out that both of you are still alive, and if she still cares, then she'll come back. Until then, you have to forget about her and stay focused on our mission. In case you haven't noticed, the shit is about to hit the fan here."

Torrance took a moment to ponder the idea. "I suppose you have a point." He turned to Blade. "What do you think?"

Blade stepped forward, as if to continue the patrol. "I'm with the girl on this one. Forget about getting your little cute piece of ass and worry more about saving your own." He walked over to a tree, which he noticed had a broken branch.

"See, even Blade's tired of your whining," Sedona said. "Don't make me bitchslap your senses back into you."

Torrance held his hands up in surrender. "Been there, done that," he said as Sedona walked over to where Blade was kneeling. "Find something?"

Blade reached down and picked up a handful of dust, sniffing it. "Hmm. Vampire all right. Must have been clumsy."

"I thought they were more conscious of sharp protruding wooden things," Torrance said.

"It's just as well," Sedona added. "This one is way too close to my house. I'd hate to explain to my dad why I'm out fighting vampire on a school night."

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Torrance asked. "At least, as far as he knows."

"Study date. And Blade's the tutor, if he asks."

"As long as it's not math, we're good to go," Blade said, standing up.

"It's not." Sedona looked around the block and sighed. "Look, tonight's just been a bust. All we've found is a pile of dust and Torrance's lack of man parts. I'm just going to head on home. You guys can keep patrolling if you like."

"That's fine. I think the boy and I can handle it," Blade said.

"Night, Sedona," Torrance added.

"Hey, dad, I'm home," Sedona said. "You okay?"

"Oh, yes, honey."

"Uh huh . . . I'm gonna go shower and then go to bed."

"Of course. Good night."

Sedona started walking up the stairs, not at all sure what exactly was wrong with her father. He was not the only thing out of place in this house. She could feel a tingling in her chest, and her eyes were burning again. With each step, the tingling got stronger.

We're not alone.

Suddenly, she could feel a tingle on her neck. She sat straight up in excitement. "She's here!"

Slowly, the door knob started turning, and Sedona came in.

"Who the f–" she started to yell, but Mother Mai held up her hand to silence the girl. Mother Mai then stood up and walked to the door, back into the hallway.

"Follow me," she said.

Without a word, Sedona turned and followed the Asian woman.

Mother Mai was smiling.

Except for the revving of a motorcycle engine as it came roaring into the city. This was no ordinary motorcycle. Fire roared out of its wheels, cutting through the heaviness of the mist. The rider was just as intimidating, with his leather outfit and flaming skull.

Ghost Rider had finally arrived in Transverse.

"I told you, Blaze, that it was no use fighting me," Ghost Rider said as he sped along the streets.

Unbeknownst to Ghost Rider, there was someone in Transverse who was anticipating his arrival. Silas Androvich had been able to sense the spirt of vengeance's movement all across the county. He watched patiently from the bushes as Ghost Rider rode ride over a large pentagram he had painted on the street only hours earlier.

"Wait a minute," Ghost Rider said, noticing the pentagram. But it was too late, for as he rode over it, a spell was activated, throwing him off of his bike.

"Oh, shit," Johnny Blaze said, standing up. He realized what the pentagram was designed for. It was to suppress Ghost Rider and bring out his human host. And Blaze knew the only reason anyone ever tried to summon the human host of Ghost Rider was to exploit it as a weakness. He turned to try to run, but was instead greeted by Silas standing before him, holding a gem. The last thing Blaze noticed was that the gem was glowing.

"Too late, Blaze," Silas said. "I got you. Now, follow me."

"Of course," Blaze replied, in a trance.

"I'm on a case," Frank Drake replied, taking another swig of his drink. He set the glass down and motioned to the bartender for a refill.

"I'll have what he's having," Hannibal added. He turned to Frank. "You've been well?"

Frank nodded.

"How's Rachel?"

"I don't know. Haven't talked to her in months now."

"That doesn't sound like the happy couple I knew."

Frank stayed quiet, instead concentrating on his drink.

"I'm sorry," Hannibal apologized and tried to change the subject. "So, you said you had a case. I suppose that's why you called me here."

"I trust you know of the Midnight Sons?"

"Group of kids trying to save the world, but more often than not find themselves getting killed?"

"That's them. Ariana Helsington is the latest mentor," Frank replied.

"Ariana? I haven't seen her in ages. How's she doing?"

"So far, she's only lost one kid. But another one of them is getting a bit sidetracked."

Just then, the bartender returned with two drinks. Frank held up a dollar and stuck it in the tip jar. "Just put it on my tab," he told the bartender. The bartender nodded and walked over to the register.

"So, what does this have to do with your case?"

"Kid's name is Torrance Angus. Werewolf. But his girlfriend ran off a few weeks back. He wants me to track her down."

"Frank Drake tracking down a lost girlfriend?" Hannibal asked, throwing back his drink. "Business must be slow."

Frank laughed. "And I'm not getting paid."

"That's hard to believe."

"I didn't want the kid to get in my way, so I told him I couldn't take the case."

"So, why are you on it?"

"We decided that it was best to go after the girl to keep the boy focused."

"We? You're working with Blade again, aren't you?"

Frank nodded. "Need all the help you can get in that town."

"Well, you haven't come too far out of that town to find this girl."

"I can't figure out what she's doing," Frank replied, finishing his drink.

"You even sure she's here?" Hannibal asked.

"Gimme a sec," Frank said, pulling a picture out of his coat pocket. When the bartender came over to refill the drinks, he held the picture up. "Excuse me, but have you seen this girl?"

The bartender looked at the picture, and then he looked up, staring past Frank and Hannibal. "Yes, she's been a regular here for the last few nights. In fact, she's coming in now."

"Ah, thank you, kind sir," Frank said.

Frank and Hannibal watched as Julie walked around the room and found a table to sit at.

"We going over?" Hannibal asked.

Frank sighed. "Yeah. I just hope she doesn't think we're two creepy old men," he said, standing up from his bar stool.

"What are you talking about? We are two creepy old men."

As Frank and Hannibal approached the table, Julie looked up. "Frank Drake," she said. "I was wondering how long it would be before I found you tracking me."

The sound of quarterstaffs hitting each other echoed throughout the hallway. In the gym, Dan and Torrance were sparring, in an effort to boost Daniel's training.

With a swift movement, Torrance went to use the quarterstaff to take out Dan's legs, but Dan countered quickly and blocked the stick.

"Ah, getting faster, young padawan," Torrance said. "You will be able to make your way up to stronger opponents in no time."

Dan reached for a water bottle. "I just don't want to be always getting my ass kicked and putting the team in danger."

Torrance chuckled. "You just don't want to have to be saved by a girl. Especially if it's a girl you like."

"Hey!"

"Someone talking about me?" The boys turned to see Leslie standing in the doorway, her arms crossed. Torrance noticed Dan's face lighting up.

"Not exactly," Dan answered.

"He's just afraid of getting his ass kicked and you having to bail him out."

"Keep it up, and I'll be the one giving the ass kicking," Leslie said, walking over to the two boys. "Look, the reason I'm here . . . Was Sedona acting weird last night on patrol?"

Torrance shrugged. "Not really. She went home early, though. Blade and I finished up alone."

"Hmm," Leslie said. "Because I got a call from her father, and he hasn't seen her."

"That's not good," Dan suggested, not really sure what to say, but feeling like he had to say something.

Leslie pulled out her cell phone. "I'm calling Duane."

"Shouldn't we call Ariana?" Torrance asked.

"First, I'll check to see if Duane knows anything. It could just be a false alarm. No sense getting Ariana involved unless we have to."

"Good point," Torrance replied.

"Hello?" Duane said on the other end of the phone. "What's up?"

"It's Sedona. Her dad called me earlier and said he hasn't seen her since yesterday."

Duane was silent on the other end.

"Duane? You still there?"

"Yeah," came the reply. "Look, I think I have an idea of what might have happened. Get the gang together, meet at Ariana's. Have you told her?"

"I was going to call her next."

"Do it. Call her and then let her know I'm on the way over."

"I have Torrance and Dan here, should I send them out looking for her?"

Duane sighed. "No, I really don't think they would find her anyway."

"Damn it," Ariana whispered as she pushed the button to hang up the phone. Immediately, she was dialing Silas' number.

*click* "Hello, this is the voice mail of Silas Androvich, I'm not available - "

Ariana slammed the phone down. "Of course, you're not going to answer at a time like this, you sanctimonious son of a bitch."

She stood up and grabbed her purse. She stormed out of her office, flustered.

"It's not looking good," Duane explained. "Sedona asked me to research something call the Order of ‘N'. When I had breakfast with her yesterday, I explained everything that I learned." Duane continued, telling a condensed version of the story he had shared the morning before.

"So, Silas is probably involved," Ariana surmised. "Which is why I can't get ahold of him."

Duane nodded sorrowfully.

"Damn it!" Ariana exclaimed. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him."

"We were all uneasy," Leslie said. "But, how are we going to get Sedona back?"

"I think that mine is going to hold the answers," Duane said. "And when we find Silas, we beat the living shit out of him."