inFAMOUS: Legacy of the Beast

Chapter 10

"Very often a change of self is needed more than a change of scene."
~Arthur Christopher Benson

Torin burst into the entrance of a sports bar, desperate to get out of the pouring rain and heavy winds. His police uniform had been completely soaked through, dripping water onto the black and red rug at the door. He shivered from the chill left from the storm, bringing dropping temperatures with it. It had blown in faster than he had anticipated, but he was happy to have found a living city to take refuge in.

He had parted ways with Cole and his troupe nearly two hours ago and in that time the sun had been lost behind the thunderheads and retired into the night. Madisonville was only about ten miles west of Mandeville but he felt that he had walked so much farther.

Hardly anyone inside seemed to notice his noisy entrance as they were too busy enjoying their alcoholic drinks, eight television screens and three pool tables. The cheers and commentary from the various sports channels drowned out most of the chatter and yelling.

He ran his shoes over the mat and made his way to the bar.

He quietly took a seat at the far end of the counter, leaving a single stool between himself and a clearly intoxicated gentleman. This man spoke loudly to his friend beside him, either about a dispute he had with his wife earlier in the day or something his dog had pissed on in the house; the details were garbled by drunken vocabulary.

"Hello," came running an under-dressed female bartender, nearly out of breath. "Welcome to the Riverside Bar. Would you like anything to drink tonight, sir?"

"Just a Coors, thank you," replied the officer with contrasting lack of energy.

"Hey!" The man beside him slammed his glass on the counter. "Where's my friggin' refill, toots?"

"I'll have it right out for you, sir," she said with a huff, taking his glass and rushing to the other side of the counter.

Torin lowered his eyes to the counter, keeping himself from glaring at the drunk. Somehow, he suspected that Eddy would not have been addressed so rudely at his own workplace.

Back in New Marais, it had been a full-time job keeping the partiers and drunkards under control. One Mardi Gras he had racked up seven arrests for disturbing the peace and another three for public indecency in a single night. He had only achieved two hours of sleep that night before getting back in his patrol car to start again the next day.

But those were the days he would never pass up. He had taken his job seriously with ample pride. There were never enough cops to handle all the booze in the city on any given day, much less all the murders, thefts and rapes happening behind closed doors. Had he managed to pull any of these criminals off the street, he knew his hard work had paid off.

His eyes drifted to the flat screen above him to the left. It was the only television without a sports channel showing and instead was replaced with the national news. His jaw dropped to seeing a helicopter's point of view of New Marais. The tagline below read "New Marais in ruins; Monster left with no opposition".

The woman returned and set a chilled bottle of Coors in front of him laced with salted ice crystals. He stopped her just before she continued down the line and asked for her to turn up the volume of the television.

She did so and paused seeing what had caught his interest so intently. Her eyes darted to the patch on his shoulder. A patron called for her farther down the counter and she said quickly, "I'm sorry for your loss."