River City was a large town, really, more than a city.  It had started as a small trading community surrounded by outlying farms, and had just slowly grown over the decades into a plesant, convenient sort of place for those who lived there, and a decent stopping point for those heading between big cities or heading out into the countryside.  The downtown area was an array of shops, a few antique stores and the like, marketing mostly to passerbyes, a movie theater, a few concrete boxes filled with goods as was the habit of most chain stores, and a barber shop, with a real barber rather than a 'hairstylist' working at a hair care chain.  There were a few small hotels further out, and overall, the city was a plesant blend of what people liked about the 'suburbs' without having to travel too far to get to a store.  It was mostly a warm, plesant sort of place to be, at least... Until recently.<br/><br/>There was something strange in the air, something... Peculiar about the town these days.  In one of the side streets just off the down town area a rather elaborate strip club had opened up, and it seemed to swarm with...  Clientel, but no one seemed to know anyone who worked there, or went there, or how it had even come into being, what with the city ordinances against such.  People had become... Nervous about going out at night, as small gangs seemed to have started to roam the streets, and peculiar howling had been heard around the park areas.  There were...  Other rumors, other small shifts too.  A long empty, dusty store had suddenly become clean, and occupied, a middle aged woman selling chemical remedies for all sorts of ailments had taken up residence, but no one could rememeber exactly when it had occured.  Some of the local teenage girls, and even young, single women were seen wandering the streets at night for no known purpose.  An...  Eerieness had set over the town, a discomfort only understood by those who had lived there.<br/><br/>There was trouble, trouble right here in River City.