inFAMOUS 3.5:

Festival of Blood

Prologue

"Where the hell'd Zeke go?" I muttered as I walked through the streets of New Marias. "Man, if he's not at the roof, then he's gotta be at the Bloody Mary." I sighed. "Alcoholics…"

I guess it's all been good now. I'm about to graduate at my high school, I'm dating, and I've got legal guardians, even though Lucy and Cole know I can handle myself. I guess Cole just thought it was another responsibility of his, given that Kessler was my father.

I walked to the Bloody Mary, taking my time. It was nice, now that New Marias had been fully repaired. Not just from the Beast's damage, but my own. A few months ago, it wasn't a fun time. Needless to say, I hate a few "issues" to deal with, and I was lucky to come out alive from it. Now, I just liked to take it slow. I liked fighting, definitely, but relaxing was great too.

I entered the Bloody Mary to see Zeke sitting and talking at the bar with a woman. As soon as he mentioned "Vampires", I knew he was weaving another tall tale. I sighed and sat beside Zeke at the bar.

"Hey Zeke," I greeted. "How's it going?"

Zeke saw me and started biting his lip because of the look I was giving him. "Good," he answered carefully. "I was just tellin' Cat here 'bout Pyre Night."

"One of our oldest traditions in New Marias history," I remarked, smiling. "Which one were you talking about?"

"The time when I saved Cole—and you—from eternal damnation," Zeke replied. I almost laughed out loud, but I kept my poker face on as he continued, "Y'know, when you and Cole were bein' controlled by Bloody Mary."

I scratched my head. "Enlighten me, Zeke. I forgot about it. It was probably the… stress, knowing that I could have been eternally damned."

I saw Cat smirk a bit, but Zeke just smiled. What could I say? I liked his tall tales. As long as they didn't involve me doing something I wouldn't do.

"Okay, Jo," Zeke said. "I'll start 'er up then. Now, Pyre Night was a time when the people of New Marias could relax and dress up as all sorts o' monsters, like Halloween, only there were more beers. Now, we—meaning Cole, Lucy and I—decided t' go t' this one too, since it was Joan's first. But Lucy couldn't make it, since she was actually called by the NSA to do a bit of work for 'em, even though she signed-off from 'em. So, Cole and I took Joan. And boy, was it ever one hell of an intro to Pyre Night. You could even call it, killer…"