Page 70 of Hate Notes
As she walked, kicking loose stones out of her way, she reflected on the past few weeks. After Arccoo and Carmen’s wedding, the four of them set off on an adventure to explore Thryal, the alien planet that Arccoo was the prince of. Arccoo had acted as the perfect tour guide. A few weeks had gone by of Arccoo showing the three sisters his home planet when Sofia and Elena called it.
They had seen the effect that Arccoo leaving Earth had had on Carmen, and they felt the two deserved a real honeymoon. So the two younger sisters had made excuses to go on their own adventures.
Sofia still wasn’t entirely sure what Elena was up to, but she knew her youngest sister would be blowing the local engineers away with her engineering brain.
A sudden wind whipped her ponytail into her face and she brushed it aside before pausing to peer around her. The entrance to the catacombs lay just ahead. A foreboding feeling ran through her. Instead of deterring her, she grinned excitedly and moved forward.
“Time to meet the old general,” she mumbled to herself. What would she even wish for if the rumors were true? “Probably something to do with my abysmal love life.” She laughed to herself.
Being a ghost hunter didn’t leave much time for dating. When that career option failed, her confidence had taken a huge hit, and she didn’t feel up to dating at all. Then her grandparents disappeared, and the sisters traveled to Thryal… It had been ages since she’d even felt an attraction to anyone, never mind getting involved with someone.
The catacombs were cold as she entered. Sofia paused for a second to grab her trench coat and flashlight from her trusty explorer’s backpack. She never went anywhere without it. After a moment’s deliberation, she pulled out her radiation meter as well. It couldn’t hurt, could it?
Sofia confidently strode forward, keeping an eye on the map. The warnings were clear. If you got lost here, you would never be found. Her adventurous spirit relished the risk.
The silence was absolute as she reached her first milestone. Her eyes widened at the sight of millions of glowing crystals adorning the cavern walls. She studied the map again.
“The structure and composition of the crystal cavern is so balanced that removing even one crystal will cause a complete collapse, killing all adventurers inside,” she read aloud. “Hm, death by a thousand cuts. Poetic.” She laughed at herself and then stopped to snap some pictures.
“Amazing,” she whispered.
“It really is,” a deep, husky voice sounded behind her.
She jumped, spinning around to direct her flashlight to the sound. Her light illuminated a muscled Thryal man with dark eyes that squinted in the sudden brightness.
“Who are you? Wait, are you the general? Do you really grant wishes?” Sofia stammered out, lowering her light to spare his eyes. His ethereal-looking skin shimmered in the light, making him seem almost translucent in the glow of the crystals. He laughed, and Sofia’s face grew warm at the seductive sound.
“Apologies, my lady. I am but an explorer, not an army genie,” he replied.
Sofia huffed. “You scared the shit out of me! And I’m not a lady,” she corrected. “Well, I guess technically I might be, now…” She frowned. “No, not a lady. I’m Sofia. Just another explorer looking for wishes.”
She forcefully closed her mouth, cursing herself for her rambling.Very suave, she thought.
“I’m pleased to meet you, my… Sofia.” Her name on his tongue made her flush. “I’m Zaraq.” He held out a large, callused hand to her. A tingle ran through her fingers as they shook hands.
“I thought shaking hands was a human thing,” Sofia mused as she studied him.
He smiled. It was a beautiful sight to behold, his dimples giving him a youthful visage.
“It is, yes. I guessed you were from Earth.” He seemed pleased with himself.
“Have you come across many people from Earth? I didn’t think many others had traveled through space before…”
Zaraq shook his head. “No, my father used to be a scholar. We traveled a lot growing up, and I used to sneak into his study to read his research. I read about Earth there.”
Sofia laughed. It sounded like something she would have done. “The research didn’t mention how beautiful humans could be, though,” he said with a smirk.
Sofia’s eyes widened, and she gave a startled laugh. “Okay, charmer,” she said, rolling her eyes. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at his answering grin, those dimples once again making an appearance.
She studied him as he did the same to her. His black hair was longer than she was used to, falling to his shoulders, and it was tied back with a leather band. A black polo shirt hugged his masculine figure, giving her a glimpse of his pecs and the outline of his abs. She smirked as she looked at his black cargo pants, which were a perfect match for hers. They had been a gift from Arccoo, and the fabric was strong but impossibly soft and comfortable—perfect for exploring. Upon closer inspection, she could see his eyes were a dark purple. The reflection of the glowing crystals made them look like the night sky.
Sofia grinned as she met his eyes. His brow was furrowed in confusion. He looked back down to her T-shirt, tilting his head slightly as he tried to make out the graphic on it. She held it away from her body to inspect it. It showed a classic outline of a ghost, with the text,Boo unto others as you would have others boo unto you.
“It’s an Earthly saying that’s been changed to, um, ghost-lingo, I guess.”
Zaraq shook his head, and Sofia remembered how she had to explain the concept of ghosts and human beings’ irrational fear of them to Arccoo.
“Never mind, it’s a long story. So, what brings you to the magical catacombs?” she asked.
