It was a dark day at the Robinsons Inn for the couple that owned the establishment. In a room sitting in a chair sipping his morning coffee was a man that was at his wits end. He drank his coffee very dark these days and laced it with moonshine more often than not, but today was one of the latter. He had to make a conscious decision and it was a horrible decision to have to make. He had to decide what he was going to do about his wife who was in the worst of wretched states. His story truly was one of the darkest stories ever to befall Rainfall Hills.
***
Their names were Albert and Diane Robinson and they appeared to be the typical happy young couple living in the gloomy little town. They were simple people who owned a home that came with a small motel passed down from generation to generation. Albert spent most his time running the establishment while Diane the typical housewife was also a bit of a socialite with the locals. Albert had grown up in here and was a quiet man that preferred to stay out of the locals business and festivities. Diane on the other hand had married into the community seizing the opportunity for a life of social climbing and wealth.
Diane had grown up in a world where she valued status greatly; though she had come from a broken family that had very little. She was very calmly and had grown into a very attractive woman with long blond hair and big blue eyes that could make many a man turn his head. After marrying Albert the people in Rainfall Hills welcomed her into their social circle acceptingly enough. She loved being accepted here, so in her mind she was a success. She had married a well to do man who she could grow fat off the land with, and had been accepted by the other socialites. She had never had it so good and she was happy.
Albert on the other hand having grown up in Rainfall Hills was leery about how close she got to the locals. He knew that the locals all had dark secrets and skeletons in the closets that could fill a cemetery given a bad day. Growing up here he knew how jealous and vicious the social circles could be and genuinely worried for her constantly. Albert noticed how she was constantly in need of new cloths, purses, jewelry, which it had started to grow to be a burden on him financially. It was the way of life for most of the wives in the social circle to constantly out show each other with their new things and it was costly. He loved his wife but he had to be practical about things so he had quickly put a stop to it. He had given her a small allowance that would have been plenty for anyone with normal needs; but Diane being a woman needing constant material possessions in order to stay influential soon found herself miserable.
It wasn't long before Diane was a neurotic mess that constantly found something wrong with her social being. It wasn't long that she had lost most of her standing with the other socialites. She became increasingly desperate to cling to whatever she had left often looking foolish to her circle of friends. She still got invited to the parties but she was never the center of attention like she had fancied herself to be and this made her miserable.
One day the couple were home spending their evening together on a cold dark night sharing a sweet potent bottle of port wine. They had just finished their dinner by candle light prior to enjoying the intoxicating effects of the strong ruby colored liqueur. The shadows of the night played all over the room while the fire from the candles danced its fiery flame. Their small cat Grimfralcon had walked into the dining room and had jumped upon Albert's lap full of loving purrs happy to cuddle with him. Diane watched the cat as he was lavishly given love and affection from her husband with a deep feeling of self forlornness. Albert seemed not to notice while he stroked the cat's soft fur as it curled into a ball purring softly to itself.
Diane's eyes started to water as she watched at how happy and carefree the little animal was. She thought to herself, 'If only life were so easy'. The strong alcohol was affecting her thinking and emotions greatly as she entertained her own thoughts. What could the cat possibly have that she didn't? Suddenly the wetness in her eyes took over and tears were streaming down her face and she left out a sniff.
Albert looked at her suddenly alarmed and realized she had been crying. "Diane what is the matter?" he asked concerned.
Diane looked at him from across the table and said, "It's the cat... he is always so full of love... I almost wish that was me in your lap... not a care in the world... always so happy."
Albert starred at her incredulously for a moment then suddenly looked thoughtful about what she had said. "I know it's hard for you here with all the hub-bub," he said sympathetically. Albert had that look like he was really pondering something with his hand gripping upon his chin as if he had a possible solution though he was not sure as to whether he should suggest it.
Diane looked at her husband with hungry eyes obviously open to suggestion. "What is it Albert?" she asked in an eager tone.
Albert's face contorted thinking very hard then resigned to a more complacent look as he had made up his mind. He looked at her steadily, "Well there is this..." He paused for a moment still struggling with what he was about to say. "Well there is this..." he said again.
Diane eyed him suspiciously then said, "Go on, I'm listening."
Albert said, "Ok we have skin changers here, that role play the part of animals, through the methods of hypnosis."
Diane looked on at him with wide eyes thinking about such a thing. Then the effects of the wine having a profound effect on her reasoning; she looked to the cat who was happily purring in her husband's lap and realized she would do anything to be so content.
"Let's try it," Diane said hopefully. The thought of being so care free was just the fix that she needed and was eager to try it. "When can we try this?" she asked.
Albert shook his head with a nervous smile on his face. He was amused at how interested his loving wife was in such an unusual practice, so suddenly. "We can do it tonight if you would like," he said. "There are a few skin changers that practice this every night of the week."
No sooner than Albert had suggested a session with the skin changers to his wife had they decided to join them for a session. It was a relatively short trip for a regular to make that knew the area, and couldn't have been more than five miles up into the hills of the small town. A fire pit burned bright in a small clearing in front of three good sized cabins as they made their way. It was a beautiful night warmed with an enticing summer breeze and a radiantly lit full moon. As they parked and walked up to the burning fire the door to the middle cabin opened and two large wolves walked out slowly followed by an elegantly black haired beauty that Diane knew from her social circle as Elaine.
