ANGELS OF MARS_by Elisabetta Bellino

As they entered the cave they were out of breath for a few seconds. They didn't quite know if it was because they had to get used to the Martian atmosphere or for the wonder of what was in front of their eyes. It was a magnificent vision: there were several houses made of black stones and white wood, each surrounded by a fence. It looked like some kind of countryside, but this grass, so Alexander thought, was luminous and almost iridescent, and a river flowed so shiny that it looked like a mirror. They followed the river and arrived to a city.

The roads that ran through the city were of a pearly white, with  streaks and rays that almost glowed. As in a childhood dream, a building stood in the middle of the city and it took Alexander’s breath away because it reminded him of a Disney castle. His mind ran back to a trip to Disneyland he had made as a child, and his heart felt warm.

 Throughout the city around him the architecture was as if the Middle Ages met Futurism, given the towers made of the same material as the castle that dominated the city. Alexander suddenly realized that the ceiling of the cave was like a starry sky despite being below the ground, but the stars here seemed bigger, brighter. On a closer look through the visual devices, the stars proved to be hard stones, like diamonds, covering the black rock of the ceiling. Alexander and his companions couldn’t  believe what they were seeing on this supposedly dead planet. He couldn’t stop  gazing at this hidden treasure.

Then, a white flash made him look away. He  tried to understand what it was and when he focused, he saw that the lightning he had seen was actually a pair of wings of the purest white, and those wings were attached to a figure with a skin just as white. She had long flowing hair, red like the sunsets Alexander used see from his home in California. How beautiful she was! This girl had fair eyes with thick dark eyelashes and lovely rosy cheeks. Her figure was quite thin, and her tight pants and leather jacket, or whatever the material was, were of the deepest black, just like her boots. If the city was wonderful, she was even more so.

She moved slowly  towards the strangers. She was an angel who fought the demons to protect the Earth, but she had never seen humans on her planet, Mars. She looked at the three strangers. Standing in front of her were two young men and young woman. The woman was of medium height with slightly tanned complexion and green eyes, her auburn hair tied in two braids. One of the man was not very tall, with fair skin, black hair that pointed in every direction and hazel eyes. Both had American flags on their space suits. The last of the three drew her attention more than the others. He was tall, with amber complexion , blond sun-bleached hair, unkempt but falling on his face in gentle, defined locks, which made him beautiful. She understood all too well that his blue eyes were lost for a moment when he saw her.

When the girl talked her voice was sweet and gentle. She asked who they were  and what they were doing there. It took Alexander a few minutes to answer, as the sweet music of the girl’s voice had enthralled him. “We are explorers, NASA astronauts. I’m Alexander, and they are Diana and James. Who are you?”

She seemed surprised at his words and said, “I am an angel hunter and my name is Aline.”

Alexander was amazed, and the words came out before he could stop them: “A what?”. Aline answered: “An angel hunter, we are angels that kill demons from the world to protect you humans. This is a divine task, we often come to Earth to protect humans, but you don’t see us. This is our planet, where we live, grow and train to become warriors.” She didn’t know if she was allowed to give this information, but she couldn’t hide anything to those blue eyes that were locked with hers. She knew that what she felt would tie her life to his indissolubly... forever.