Читать книгу Film About the Demon. Daughter of the Dawn - Natalie Yacobson - Страница 9

Usually reporters rush to the scene of hot events: terrorist attacks, hostage-taking, fires, robberies, events of political and social significance. The paparazzi besieging the stars is a myth invented by the stars themselves to fuel popularity. None of the paid press and television workers will run after famous actors and actresses of which there are innumerable. Many journalists give free tickets to movie premieres to friends because they don’t want to go to them after working day. If only there is no additional payment from the film studio, then no one will write positively about the filmmakers. Usually the actors themselves besiege the press, not the other way around. But this time it turned out differently. No one paid Rik any extra money. Nevertheless, he began to run after the star, and he himself could not understand why. He despised movie actors with their cheap morals (what a decent person would be for money to stand naked in front of the camera and act in erotic scenes), but Rick fell in love with Athenais at first sight. Now he walked through the forest, looking for her and cursing his own stupidity. He took it into his head to do work that the authorities would not pay. After all, no one ordered a report about a movie star. This can only be assigned to novices and journalists of the lowest standard, and it was usually sent only to the place of especially important events. He talked with politicians, with the military, with representatives of the secret services. Stars are just pawns. So his boss loved to repeat. A decent journalist should not stoop to pass off the flaws of stars as merit, unless paid for it at the highest rate. Film studios’ money often changes attitudes towards their offspring.

After crashing his car on the freeway and nearly drowning in a muddy swamp, Rick began to wonder if something unique had happened. One of the pawns from the film studios suddenly turned out to be for him at the price of a queen. In any case, for her sake, he made his way through the thickets, sparing neither new trousers, nor a jacket, nor even his own skin, scarred by branches. And he almost did not regret that he had wandered into the thicket after her.

The only question that haunted him was: why did she come here herself, and all alone. They said in this very forest, there is a section where people most often commit suicide. Probably, the site was fenced off here for shooting the next horror film with Athenais. In such a wilderness, you can neither pay rent for a place, nor get a special permit. There is no one to control it anyway. The nearest police stations are miles away. The place has too bad a reputation for anyone from the surrounding settlements to wander here.

Didn’t it seem to him that Athenais was heading here? Her golden head had long since disappeared from sight, and he wandered at random. The brushwood crunched underfoot. How many fallen branches all around!

“It would be nice to make a grand fire here to cleanse everything with fire,” someone whispered over his ear, and immediately there was a long dull sigh. “Although not worth it, the first time he fire did not clear anything, only infuriated.”

Rick glanced at the screen of the extinct iPhone. He did not vibrate. The sounds are definitely not from an audio device inside the phone. They rang out from above. Above, only the crowns of trees and a glimpse of the sky, illuminated by a crescent. There are not even birds. Did he hear only a whisper in the rustle of leaves? There are also auditory hallucinations. True, he still did not suffer from them, but fatigue could provoke them. You can’t go that long. He rubbed his feet with blood and calluses. How did Athenais not get tired on the way? A couple of hours ago, he saw from afar her silhouette and how easily she varied between the trees, as if she were flying.

The flashlight in the iPhone went out. Probably out of charge. The total darkness scared him a little. Rick groped forward. A faint light flickered somewhere far away. It feels like roaming lights have settled there. It’s good if they don’t lead to the next swamp.

The shimmer led to a huge, spreading tree that must have taken up tens of meters. Probably, this is a whole group of intertwined trees, and somewhere inside the interlocking crowns, a ghostly light seems to flicker. Carved faces, horned heads and groups of angelic figures stand out along the perimeter of the huge trunk. So this is not a tree, but a dummy for shooting! And the star is here! Rick noticed from afar the curly back of Athenais’s head. The curls of her hair sparkled like solar threads. It couldn’t have all the flicker come from them.

Why is he surprised? There is nothing natural about movie stars. False eyelashes, dyed hair, skillful makeup instead of a beautiful face. So the thicket, where the star mysteriously sneaked into, actually turned out to be a film set. Where are the filming cameras? There is a backlight. But where does it come from? Not from above, as it should be when shooting such scenes. From somewhere inside. Really from the inside of a tree. Or does it just seem so?

“I still love you.”

Athenais was caressing someone who was hidden by a dense century-old trunk. So she has a secret love date here? Who would have thought? It’s a pity he doesn’t have a camera with him. Although the iPhone has a camera. Quality, not very good, but worth a try. The iPhone cracked right in his hand. Why did he become so fragile? He must have touched something sharp with his jacket pocket, and the protective glass on the screen shattered to smithereens. How fragile expensive things are!

Athenais was in no hurry. There were no bodyguards or escorts with her. She’s not scared here alone? And who is this with her? How to consider it and not attract attention to yourself? A branch snapped so inappropriately underfoot, but Athenais did not even turn around. She was too carried away by her lover. Or lovers? A whispering, polyphonic choir was heard behind the tree. Probably an echo. Although where does it come from among the dense branches? Maybe someone has Internet connection on their cell phone in their pocket, and voices come from some audio program. This can explain the fact that they are somehow unnatural.

From the side it seemed that Athenais was gently stroking the bark of a tree with her hand. The gestures were touching and seductive. What would he not give for her affection! But she was not caressing him. Some stranger.

“I love you very much. Do not consider yourself abandoned and forgotten,” she repeated, as if she was reciting the prayer by heart.

“Before you didn’t love anyone,” a handsome male voice was like the rustle of ash.

“Since the tragedy happened, I realized that I really love you,” Athenais pressed her clean forehead to the charred tree bark. Or to someone’s shoulder? Rick rubbed his eyes. He began to see poorly. It was getting darker all around. Only the curls and skin of the movie star, who wandered into the forest, continued to flicker, as if she was all illuminated from the inside.

“What a score! If you had not lost the war, I would not have understood the depth of my feelings. When you really love someone, you realize this, not when he shines in the sky or, for example, even on a modern screen, but when he, burnt and tormented, falls at your feet.”

Rick shuddered. What is she talking about? War? Burns? It seems like it was a long time ago. Her lover returned from Iran, from Chechnya? Where is the war going on now? Stop, lost war. Lost by whom?

What if the movie star is confused with terrorists? Then she and her friend pose a danger, and she herself has nothing to fear. This is probably why she behaves so freely in the thicket at night. Any normal person here would tremble with fear. And on love dates, no psycho will come here. You can expect anything from movie stars. They scurry around the world, communicate with politicians, build intrigues, can become someone’s political pawns.

The dialogue did not resemble a learned role. Every word trumpeted danger. In addition, Athenais spoke without any expression, as if she was remembering pain.

“You were tortured, you were burned, but you became more desirable to me as monsters than you would be angels. Monsters can protect, and they are true. But Michael and Gabriel were not faithful, but our era is coming. I will release you soon. Remember that my love is enough for all of you. And the sacrifice is already coming.”

Athenais leaned over and kissed either the bark of a tree, or someone who had been hidden from Rick by the branches.

“I’ll come again and bring you some stupid guys from the studio: cameramen or extras. Young and pretty. Old flesh is not healthy or tasty.”

Several voices seemed to laugh back at once. Laughter is like the rustle of leaves or the rustle of ash in a cold fire.

“Better bring your fans. The tastiest of all are those who imagine themselves to be the likeness of your first army.”

A knowing smile lit up Athenais’s beautiful face. She understood what it was about, but Rick did not. But no one invited him to participate in the conversation. He was listening because he accidentally wandered in here. He must leave before they find him. Suddenly, her guys will really be bandits or terrorists, armed to the teeth. Too often they talk about struggle and torture. The report would have come out excellent: “a star meets villains.” But life is more precious than a sensation.

It’s time to wash away, but Athenais was already leaving by herself, and oddly enough, no one followed her. Rick waited ten minutes. Not a sound, not a word, not a rustle, not a sigh. There is nobody in the thicket near the huge tree. Emboldened, he came out of hiding, took out a tiny flashlight attached to the key ring. There was definitely something engraved on the trunk of the tree, like on a memorial stone. Some kind of inscriptions, patterns, even images of faces. You need to come back here in the afternoon, and consider everything in detail, even take photos. This is not a tree, but a whole work of art. You might even think that it is not real, but stolen from the museum, if not for its size. Such a whopper cannot be stolen, and the powerful roots, even though partially stick out from the ground, have settled tightly in the soil.

Rick touched the prints with the faces of horned demons, monsters, and evil fairies. Sumptuously! Top class images. What genius carved them right in the bark? And why are they black? After all, the cut tree becomes light. The engravings seem to be sprinkled with ashes. So a dark mark remained on the hand.

Rick walked to where Athenais stood. Was she really talking to a statue made on the trunk in full growth? All movie stars are a little crazy, but not nearly as crazy. Although the statue was amazing. He wanted not only to talk to him, but also to get closer. What is it like to have sex with such a beautiful, albeit terrifying creature? Although you have to be ashamed of your thoughts. After all, in front of him is an angel carved in the bark. His wings and body are halfway into the tree, as if he were in captivity. The frozen face is striking in beauty.

So beloved AtHenais, but he is not alive. He cannot answer. And there are many wooden angels like him here. They are carved in the composition between the monsters, here and there. Rick grew bolder and ran his finger along the graceful lips of the angel he already liked. The bark of the tree at hand was suddenly hot, like red-hot coals. Rick didn’t even have time to be surprised, but he managed to scream at the top of his voice in pain. Woody lips closed on his hand, biting through the flesh and breaking all the bones. Blood spattered onto the roots, bright even in the dark. And they seem to have absorbed it greedily.