In The Blackest Night
Richmond, Virginia - 5 years earlier.

Sean sat in Monroe park enjoying the sunlight. It was far too early for the dealers and other nocturnal denezines to be out. The park was filled mostly with students at this time of day. Sean sat with a small group of them, discussing PMJ (Psychic Mumbo Jumbo).

He was dressed mostly in green, right down to his Doc Martens. Green shorts and a green sleeveless t-shirt completed his attire. On his finger was the ring that DC comics had put out to promote the character, Green Lantern. It was made of green plastic, with a glow-in-the-dark center. The GL symbol had already broken off the base once, and Sean had super-glued it back together.

His friends often questioned him on his fascination with the comic book super-hero. Sean was heavy into ideas. When he found an idea that inspired him, he adopted it and through himself completley into the roll. No, he didn't think he was a GL, or that such a thing could even be possible, but he loved the idea of it, the idea of what GL stood for. The closest thing that he had found to those ideas in the real world was in the martial arts. So he had thrown himself into that as well. At that time he was studying Ving Tsun Kung Fu.

A broad smile crossed his face as Meg walked over. She was something of a mystery to his circle of friends. She had just shown up at the Village Cafe one day. She didn't seem to work or go to school but was never lacking for cash. For some reason she had taken a liking to Sean. And he had definitely taken a liking to her. She never talked about her past, saying she preferred to live in the present. Sean respected her privacy and avoided questioning her on it. She sat down next to him and kissed him full on the lips. She had red hair that fell in curls down to her waist and the deepest most passionate green eyes he had ever seen. Sometimes they positively glowed.

Later that evening, they left the Village Cafe in a bit of a rush, eager to get to party a friend was having. Meg thought it would be quickest to cut through Monroe Park, but Sean was nervous about doing so. He melted and gave in when she kissed him and did something only slightly naughty with her hands.

Everything happened very quickly as they walked through the park. Sean heard the footsteps behind them and turned to see the cold metal tube rising to point at him. Instinct and training took over he executed a quick Pak Sao before the weapon could be brought to bear. The gun flew from the attacker's hands and Sean delivered a rapid series of chain punches. As the attacker fell, Sean turned to check on Meg. In almost slow motion, he saw the gun, a revolver, strike the ground. It hit on the cocked hammer, causing it release and lunge forward. The firing pin found it's mark on the primer of the .38 caliber bullet and a small puff of smoke and flame issued from the barrel. Sean looked up and his reality shattered as a small red flower blossomed between Meg's breasts.

The police detained Sean as the ambulance pulled away. They bombarded him with questions about why they had been in the park, and even put Sean in cuffs under suspicion of being involved in a drug deal. Eventually, they accepted Sean's story.

"Meg Ferris"! Sean nearly shouted, "About 5'2", fair complexion, long red hair and green eyes! She would've been brought in last night with a gunshot wound".

"I'm sorry, Mr. Jordan, no one matching that description was admitted last night" replied the nurse.

It had been the same story for the past 18 hours. No one had seen her. No hospital had admitted her. Meg had simply.... vanished.