The creature, nestled imposingly on top ofВ him, descended as if from the ceiling. It was heavy, clawed, and seemingly winged. Something like wings fluttered precisely behind its back.
Something crumbled on Nikita’s cheek. It tasted like ash! Where would ashes come from in a room with no candles, no matches and no lighters? It’s not like an old palace with a fireplace and something was burnt recently. The ashes must have fallen from an unknown creature.
The computer screen, long ago switched toВ economy mode, suddenly lit up, as if someone had moved the mouse. InВ the glare from the glowing screen, Nikita saw aВ hunchbacked or winged creature pressed against the sofa.
It was a demon with wings, burnt and crumbling with ash. At least, that’s how demons are depicted in scary trial paintings and horror movies. Several more of the same creatures wandered around the room. Somehow there was enough room for them. Two of the demons sat on top of the closet, clawing at the teddy bear that had been left as a memento of their childhood. The other demons were tearing off the wallpaper with their claws, as if they were looking for something underneath it. They did not speak, only hissed. One demon’s claws scratched at a keyboard. It looked as if it and its companions had emerged from inside the computer.
How was it that the demons came after the angel? Nikita had been waiting for Athenais, and here they were.
“Young, handsome, not burnt…” the demon’s voice suddenly hissed above him.
Could the creature really be talking?
It ran its claws across Nikita’s chest, leaving holes in his pajamas.
“I was like you, and then I met her,” the demon whispered, leaning very low over Nikita.
Hell was breaking loose in the demon’s eyes. His eyes were red as coal in a furnace and creepy, but there was a modicum of intelligence in them. Somehow that was what made the demon so frightening. If he were just a monster, dumb as an animal, he wouldn’t be so scary. The very fact that an ancient mind was trapped in a mutilated, burnt body was frightening.
The demon’s claws gripped Nikita’s throat again, but for some reason they couldn’t strangle him, only briefly rendering him unconscious.
Nikita woke up quickly, but the words, hoarse from the ashes, were still ringing inВ his ears.
“I believed in angels. I fought the devil, but the devil became a movie star, and I loved him.”
How strange that sounds! Nikita looked around. There was no one inВ the room again. The uninterrupted power unit was beeping alarmingly, which meant that the power had been cut again. He should get up and turn off the computer, but he had no strength.
Nikita felt as if he had been put through aВ meat grinder. There are scratches on his body, scratches on the walls and closet, too. Overall, the room looked normal without the nocturnal guests, but the scraps ofВ gutted bear crumbled from the closet. And why would anyone want toВ destroy Winnie the Pooh. That, he thought, was the name ofВ the toy when he was aВ kid.
The room was full ofВ stacks ofВ discs inВ plastic cases and old-fashioned videotapes. No one had touched them, and for nothing. He had nowhere toВ put the tapes, but it was aВ shame toВ throw them away, too. They had interesting covers on them. Even though the video player had been out ofВ order for aВ long time, he kept the tapes at home as souvenirs. They are the memory ofВ aВ bygoneВ era.
His parents had gramophone-type records and players, Nikita accumulated video cassettes as a child, DVDs came to replace them, and they will probably be replaced by something in the future. What else is needed, though, if there’s the Internet. It’s easier to find everything on the Internet than on store shelves. You don’t have to buy cassettes or disks, you just have to click the keys and you’re done.
Nikita downloaded Athenais photos. He is lucky that his girlfriend is an actress. Otherwise her beautiful photos might have disappeared with the deleted account. Any Internet user can delete his account at any time, along with all his photos, but photos ofВ the actress will stay online forever.
“They can change and burn like her servants?” Someone whispered in Nikita’s ear. There was no one behind him, but there was the sensation of a sharp claw pulling his hair away from his ear.
He probably had wax plugs in his ears. They’re the only reason whispers and whistles can be heard. We’ll have to go to the doctor.
For aВ moment, Nikita thought the downloaded pictures were blackening as if they were burnt.
“What if she’s already burnt and blackened like us? Then would you admire her so much?”
“Yes, I would!” Nikita replied, like a lunatic, to the emptiness.
“And if you find out that the contemplation of fallen angels makes people blind?”
Someone laughed deafeningly above his ear. And that was it! There was no more whistling or noise in my ears. So he didn’t have to go to the doctor. But that didn’t save him from the demons.
Ominous hobby
Demons live inВ the computer? Or they live inВ his head?
Nikita examined the scratches on the closet and the wallpaper as carefully as if that would make them disappear. It looked like we’d have to make repairs. The plaster was beginning to chip away, the telephone wires appeared to be chewed up.
Someone had spilled flour in the kitchen. Cracks appeared in his mother’s china that hadn’t been there before. A distillery pot, a thermos, and a set of silver spoons had disappeared. Mom will be very angry about the missing turkey. The arabesque-engraved turkey was a gift from someone important.
The salt-cellar and sugar bowl were cracked, the crystal irons were shattered, and the pots and pans were shattered, as if aВ giant had stepped on them.
Could it be that the devil had arranged aВ coven inВ the kitchen?
Nikita had toВ take up aВ broom and dustpan. Only after half an hour ofВ cleaning the kitchen began toВ become more or less clean.
You can’t let any more bad things into the apartment, or the place will turn into a garbage dump!
Can’t he let anything else in? The demons didn’t ask permission before entering.
“Throw away the computer, then there’s no place for them to come in,” the thought suggested. “Until you got into a chat room with an angel, there were no demons in your life, either. Where there are angels, there are demons. It’s a law of being.”
Throwing the computer away was a reasonable clue, but Nikita wouldn’t dare do such a thing. After all, getting rid of the computer meant getting rid of contact with Athenais. You could only chat with her, after all.
Nikita hid the broom and dustpan, ignored the need to write essays, and returned to his favorite pastime – watching horror movies. He had enjoyed it as a child, then he became weaned on horror, and now Athenais brought him back to his usual hobby.
How had she succeeded? Nikita naively assumed that he had grown up and would never go back toВ it again.
“Girls do what they want with guys,” he wailed, going through old cassettes and DVDs. The assortment was old-fashioned. He had bought his last CDs about seven years ago.
Wait! He had something much better. Athenais had sent links toВ his movies, afterВ all.
The first film was called “Mistress of the Pharaohs.” It began with a grand war in the heavens and the fall of the angels into the sands of the Sahara. The very scene of the battle of the winged beings was already the embodiment of horror. How much worse could it get? Already in the battle, the furious angels turned into monsters. Their eyes darted sparks, their lips breathed out flames. Athenais, as Dennitsa, led the legion of rebellious angels. She breathed fire like a dragon. The pegasus beneath her also exhaled flame from its nostrils. Dennitsa’s visor and shield were riddled with runes, the sight of which made him dizzy for some reason. Nikita even wanted to take a pill for a headache. The film’s prologue was filmed in some unfamiliar language. Was it Arabic? It was hardly ancient Egyptian. No one speaks it now. Or do they still teach it in some universities? They still study Latin, even though it’s a dead language.
There were no titles in the film. Nikita didn’t understand what it was about. If you remember the Bible, the blond, handsome man who fought against Dennitsa was supposed to be the Archangel Michael. The movie was designed so that the opponents seemed to be former lovers. Dennitsa could win. Michael was giving up his position. It was noticeable that he was in pain to look at the leader of the rebellious angels. Anger kept him from concentrating. Michael wore the same armor mottled with runes and shield as Dennitsa. Only Michael wasn’t as handsome.
He would have lost, but an unarmed, dark-haired angel was suddenly thrust into the battle. The name Gabriel could be well understood in an unfamiliar language. He tried to separate the warring men. Dennitsa’s sword suddenly pierced his shoulder. From the wound instead of blood grew a lush lily, like a living parasite. The flower took root directly in the wounded angel’s flesh.
Athenais feigned horror. She herself was stunned that she had struck an unarmed man. And she’s a good actress! She plays it so naturally! It’s like it’s really not an act.
The special effects are over the top. The angels grow claws. Their wings turn black. Angels fight inВ flight like birds ofВ prey. Angels transform, becoming monsters.
Nikita’s eyes dawned on him. The sounds of an unfamiliar language somehow made his ears hurt. He watched Dennitsa’s legions fall, but the torture scenes had to be replayed later. The angelic bodies writhing on the stakes were shocking.
InВ the following shots, the bloody desert was replaced byВ aВ valley ofВ ashes. The sands absorbed the ashes. The angels were recovering. Centuries ofВ torture must have passed before they rose from the sand already monsters. There was nothing beautiful or graceful left inВ them.
But Athénaïs is still beautiful. She’s a maiden, no matter how you look at it. And according to the Bible, Dennitsa was male, like all the angels. Athenais must have been aiming for a strong female role.
Nikita once watched an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “Metzergenstein.” There, too, the main male role was turned into a female role to make the story more expressive. But there it did not look sacrilege. Using his meager knowledge of the Bible, Nikita remembered that all the angels, even though they had maiden beauty, but for some inexplicable reason, people appeared in the guise of boys. Are there any exceptions? Or is religion adjusted to the patriarchy? Strange, then, why angels are ascribed feminine beauty.
Making Lucifer aВ girl turned out toВ be aВ very successful plot move. And for Athenais, it was aВ sensational role. Such aВ role is worthy ofВ all the awards. The actress underwent aВ metamorphosis that not everyone could play. The haughty look ofВ the ringleader was replaced byВ an all-consuming sorrow. When the angels fought for her, Athenais disliked them, though they were beautiful, but now that they had become burnt monsters, she realized that she deeply sympathized with them.
Her name is now Alais. For Nikita, it was hard to pronounce. The “a” sound was unaccustomedly hard. He couldn’t twist his tongue to pronounce it that way. It sounded like the name of an Oriental genie. It meant something. Nikita missed that, although starting with Fall of Angels, the movie was dubbed into Russian. Underneath the dubbing, English phrases were guessed.
InВ English, Nikita knew only the most mundane lines, so he was glad that the film was dubbed. Reading the credits is quite tiresome, live dubbing is better.
Something squeaked outside the window, as if someone hit a pigeon with a slingshot. Nikita was distracted from watching for a second. It seemed that some dead bird had actually crouched on the balcony. What an abomination! How many neighborhood boys could bully. If he were their father, he would have taken away their slingshots long ago and taught them decent behavior. It’s a shame that some parents are irresponsible about their children’s behavior and raise juvenile bullies.
He was spoiled for aВ romantic moment. Alais wandered across the barchans. Not flying, exactly walking. InВ the Sahara she realized for the first time that she could walk. Her wings had become aВ mere decoration. From her feet Alais left aВ path inВ the sand. Where she walked, the sand turned golden. Soon the entire desert glistened with gold, but aВ sad fate awaited the robbers who entered it. Hungry monsters tore them apart.
And then aВ wounded warrior wandered into the desert. His blood attracted the fallen angels, but Alais recognized him as the defeated Pharaoh, and something inВ her snapped. Before, she had watched emotionlessly as her monstrous legionnaires tormented men; now she felt pity. She seemed toВ see aВ reflection ofВ herself inВ the defeated ruler.
“Your troops are dead,” she said. “My troops are almost dead… or worse than dead.”
The monsters hissed unkindly. They swarmed across the desert. Never mind that the sand is full ofВ gold and jewels. Above all these riches roar the legions ofВ death.
“I will raise your armies from the dead, I can do it. Here on earth all is in my power. It’s a pity the enemy I want to get is left in heaven.”
She must have meant Michael. She ended up with him quite tragically. She was a split second away from victory. Maybe she didn’t need to win in heaven, though. Falling into the wilderness, Alais realized that she was now mistress of those sands. The place of exile became her kingdom. And then suddenly a human king was dying at her feet. Why had she decided to help him?
Could she love him? She didn’t seem to. Alais kissed Pharaoh on the forehead only to be branded a slave. Her kiss froze a red seal on his skin. Did Pharaohs only wear oureaus to conceal such a seal?
Alais had managed toВ raise entire armies from the dead. It had cost her nothing. All she had toВ do was recite aВ spell! Upper and Lower Egypt were united. Pharaoh Menos became aВ debtor toВ the demon. All his descendants became slaves ofВ Alais. An era ofВ terror began.
The movie lasted about two hours, and the action managed to go all the way through eternity. The screenwriter managed to cram an entire list of kings and queens into the script, running their stories through Dennitsa’s biography.
Back in the desert at the dawn of time, Alais heard someone dark and disembodied calling to her. The creature from the black mist assured her that it was the black part of Alais. Then a black statue appeared in the pharaoh’s palace. From it the same voice was calling. Only Alais could hear it.
Nikita missed the frightening scenes ofВ bloody rituals and sacrifices. Even for him, it was too much. And he still thought his nerves were strong.
The movie was slowly starting toВ drive him crazy. He should choose another hobby instead ofВ watching the horror movie, but Nikita could no longer tear himself away from the movie. The mysteries ofВ Ancient Egypt were fascinating.
After the first movie, “Mistress of the Pharaohs”, he started watching the next one, “And His Name Is Dennitsa.” The title was a little overwhelming. Why him and not her? Maybe it was the wrong translation? It turned out that the translation was correct. The plot drew a parallel between the sun god Aton, the black creature sleeping in the sands, the pharaoh Ehnaton, and Alais. But the main character was a handsome young man named Taor. It was around him that the intrigue was built. Taor became a warlord at a very early age. He quickly gained the status of a hero and made many influential enemies, who made intrigues at court to drive him out of the world. Taor had to fight tribes of savages who strongly resembled monsters. Somehow he won. It seems his patron was someone from heaven. Michael, Nikita thought. How strange!
A Christian archangel became the patron saint of a pagan Egyptian? Something didn’t add up. Taor had no intention of embracing Christianity, but he behaved according to Christian canons, that is, he was ready to sacrifice himself unselfishly, even for the enemy. Every Christian should be like that, but, alas, they are harder to find than a needle in a haystack. It was only on the screen that such a guy was easily found and began to beg Pharaoh to spare his enemies. Not a guy, a hero. If all people were like that, the world would be a kind and safe place where nothing bad would ever happen to anyone. Taor didn’t want to hurt anyone. He was perfect in the literal sense of the word. He was truly the chosen one of heaven.
And such aВ guy fell inВ love with the devil!
The epic drama was rapidly turning into a shocking horror movie. Taor spotted a beauty with wings behind the Pharaoh’s throne, and all his good intentions went to hell. Though he saw that Alais was cruel and made bloody sacrifices, he was willing to compromise all his principles for her sake.
Only Alaïs was not ready to accept the sincere feelings of the commander in love. It seems that Taor was so good-looking that it is simply impossible not to fall in love with him. He’s handsome, and a great warrior, too. Alais had made kings her slaves, branding them with the magic mark of submission. So what was it about Taor that displeased her? That he’d been chosen by the Archangel Michael? To win him over to her side would be a victory. Alais could have taken her revenge, but she was in no hurry.
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