Page 1 of Alien in the Depths

Chapter 1

Sofia

The Thryal sun was beating down on Sofia as she crested a hill. She paused, taking in the sight before her. Her nose was slightly scrunched from the smell as she turned to her guide.

“Seriously, Blitto? This is what you’ve been raving about?”

The alien laughed, his typical ethereal-looking Thryal skin glimmering in the sunlight. Sofia offered the older man a hand up, and they stood staring at the swamplands in front of them.

“Tell me the story again,” Sofia demanded. Blitto groaned good-naturedly and sat down on a nearby rock.

“Let an old man catch his breath, yeah? Then I’ll tell you the story again. For the hundredth time.” Blitto winked at her and grabbed his water canteen. Sofia scoffed but obediently sat down on a patch of dry grass near him. She tilted her head back to feel the sun on her face.

When she was sitting like this, it was almost as if she was back on Earth, relaxing in her grandparents’ garden. She could pretend that her grandparents had never disappeared and that her grandma would be calling her in for lemonade at any moment.

Well, besides the stench of the wetland stretched out before them.

Reaching for her own canteen, Sofia smiled as she thought of the past few months. After discovering an alien in their inherited house, her and her two sisters’ lives were completely upturned.

Blitto caught her eye, raising a dark gray eyebrow to her strange expression. Her smile widened.

“I was just thinking how our lives have changed,” she told Blitto. “Finding Arccoo in the mansion was strange, to say the least.And we sure didn’t expect Carmen to fall for the alien prince! What a rush.”

Blitto smiled. “I’m sure it was a shock.”

Sofia sighed and leaned back on her arms. “Carmen’s always been the strongest of us. She took on the mantle like a champ when our parents died. When Arccoo left, she was a wreck. I’d never seen her like that.”

“That must have been hard for you and Elena,” Blitto replied thoughtfully.

Sofia shrugged.

“It was good for us, I think. It made us step up and made her understand that she doesn’t always have to be the strong older sister.” She smiled at the memory. “She had made her peace with him leaving, and then we found the crystal core that had burned out on his ship. Elena figured it all out, smart cookie that she is, and boom, here we are.”

“I sense a bit of abbreviation in the story, but I’ll allow it.” Blitto laughed when she rolled her eyes.

“Your turn. And no abbreviation!”

Blitto leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and staring out at the sun glinting on the puddles of purply greenwater. He squinted for a second and then pointed ahead to their left.

“See that column there? It’s covered in moss, but you should be able to see the tall shape between those yellow bushes.”

Sofia sat up, mirroring his expression. “I see it! Is that the memorial building?” she asked excitedly.

Blitto nodded.

“The old legends say that a celebrated war hero was buried here, thousands of years ago. The memorial marks where the catacombs start. Rumors say that the old general’s ghost still wanders around them. Explorers who come across him either get granted a wish, or they disappear, never to be seen again.”

An exhilarating thrill went through Sofia at the thought. She was obsessed with ghost stories—anything paranormal, really. Part of the reason she so easily agreed to travel through space with her sisters was because she was running from a failed paranormal investigation career. She smirked. Why is it that once you stop looking, things start happening?

Sofia jumped up, brushing off her black cargo pants. Blitto handed her a map of the catacombs, holding it fast when she tried to take it.

“You sure about this, lovely? Your brother-in-law would have my ass if something happened to you.”

Sofia laughed, pulling the map from his hand. “I’ve never been surer. Trust me, I’ve explored weirder, and smellier, places back on Earth.”

Blitto shrugged. “All right then. I’ll meet you back here in two days when the sun is highest.”

Sofia grinned and waved over her shoulder as she started descending into the marsh. A cobblestone path led between the puddles and steaming pits along with strange orange weeds threatening to trip her up. From what she’d read, the path was a relic from when Thryal soldiers would pay their respects to the fallen general. It was clear no one had been around clearing the path for centuries.