Tweener in the House....shhhhhh!

Pssst! Hey, it's me, Astra. Sam doesn't know I'm here but I wanted to join the fun too. This blogging thing is a bit medieval actually, but Sam seems to enjoy it so I thought I'd give it a try. I don't have much time though. I'm currently in the process of saving the world...again, Emo's giving me all kinds of trouble, Dialle...well...Dialle is yummy but he's bad, bad, bad for me. Not that I wouldn't like to be bad for just a little bit if you know what I mean. har!

Anyway, I digress. I actually have a purpose for being here. I need your help with Sam. You see, I just heard that, in 'Tween a Devil and His Hard Place, she's planning on writing me into a scene with LOTS of rats. Now you know how I feel about rats...well actually you might not know just yet, 'Tween Heaven and Hell won't be released for 2 more weeks (Crashin'!) but let me just tell you I HATE rats. They're dirty, disgusting things and they always glare at me with their beady red eyes and spit at me. The thing is this, I'm thinking if I can give Sam an alternate ending to the dreaded rat scene maybe she would rethink writing it. What I need from you is help figuring out the new ending.

What? Oh shit! Wait a minute...

What is it, Myra? No, I'm not interested in going before the Council right now. No...I'm busy...huh? Well He'll just have to wait. I don't give a rats....oops....I don't care if he's the big HIM. Don't even think about trying to transport me against my will. Yeah...that's what I thought...damnable Angel.

Anyway, sorry, where was I? Oh yeah. I need your help. Here's what I'm gonna do, I'll give you the set up on the scene, then I need you to give me an alternate ending. You can send it to astra@samcheever.com and I'll pick the best one and give you something. I'm not sure what...hmmmm. How about a free copy of the book when it comes out? I'm pretty sure I can talk Sam into that.

Okay, here we go...

*****

I touched down in Angel City Cemetery and emerged from the Viper, looking around. This is such a cliche Dialle, you know that right?

I am aware of a certain Vampire in the cemetery aura to the location, but I didn’t want to take him back to the court until my father cools down, and Demonica was out of the question for this.

Which crypt are you in?

Diablo. It has a very large Angel on the door. From what I know of the Diablo clan that’s a sacrilege in itself.

I quickly found the Diablo crypt and pulled the heavy door outward. Of course it creaked like a bad horror movie set. Cobwebs hung in tatters down both sides of the door, giving evidence to the recent passage of several bodies through the door.

It was dim in the crypt and had an earthy smell, overlaid with mold. I squinted toward the back of the small building but saw nothing except stone shelves with skeletons on them. “Dialle?”

Below the earth, Astra.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

I don’t think that I am, no. There are caverns below this crypt. My people have used them for centuries to move about the city.

I noticed for the first time that there was a slight glow at the back of the crypt down toward the floor and started moving toward it. I stepped carefully through the cluttered space, praying that the cracking noise I was hearing under my soft leather boots was not somebody’s delicate finger bones.

I realized as I reached the back wall that there was an opening in the floor and a ladder connected the dirt floor of the crypt to a seemingly borderless cavern below. The light in the space below the crypt was only bright enough to illuminate the floor at the bottom of the ladder.

I peered carefully into the hole and thought I saw movement. I narrowed my eyes and looked for any auras that might be present on the cavern floor. Sure enough, several small, insidious looking shapes with scarlet auras scurried across the dimly lit space at the bottom of the ladder. My heart rate sped up and I started to pant.

Rats!

Dialle's voice in my head sounded confused, What is the matter, Astra?

Frunkin' damn rats that's what's the matter! I didn't even know my voice could shriek like that in a mental communication. I cannot come down there, Dialle!

There was a significant pause and then Dialle broke the silence with a suspiciously wobbly voice, Are you telling me the feisty, terrifying, devil conquering, demon vaporizing Tweener is afraid of a few scruffy, oversized bugs with long hairless tails?

I shuddered, clinging to the top rung of the ladder as I watched the horror inducing scurrying type activity on the floor below. That's what I'm telling you Dialle.

The stinkin' damn creature actually laughed at me. I tensed with indignation but still I couldn't make myself go down that ladder.

Stop toying with me, Astra and come down here.

No.

Astra! Just like that his voice changed from amused to scary. This demon knows something about Alcott's plans and we need to get it out of him before the fool starts a war. We don't have time for your phobias!

I have time for my phobias!

Astra. The warning note in his deep, husky voice was unmistakable.

I threw a mental pout at him. But I knew he was right. Sighing, I started down the ladder, keeping a stern eye on the slathering beasts below me. As I descended into the murky light of the cavern below I pulled my power forward...

*****

Okay people, here's the deal, you can't just make the rats disappear, Sam wants me to face some kind of danger at the bottom of that ladder. So you'll have to get creative. And remember, I'm counting on you....

Oh shit! Here comes Sam. I'm outa here.