According to the Bible, Lucifer lost his beauty after he fell. But in the movie, the angel remained beautiful. The screenwriter rewrote the Bible quite successfully.
Nikita never would have thought that movies based on the Bible could impress him so much. He thought the Bible was very boring, and suddenly it became vivid. All thanks to the Lucifer episode that was brought to the forefront. The whole history of the world, judging from the movie, revolved around Lucifers fall into the sands of Egypt.
In Nikitas memory, a phrase he had heard somewhere long ago resurfaced:
How thou hast fallen from heaven, Denitsa, son of the dawn, to become king of the earth
Where had he heard it? Something here seems to have been paraphrased, as in the movie. The history of the world has been rewritten in favor of the fallen angel.
Who came up with this? You have to read the credits.
How does it feel to be a star? Are you very proud of yourself? Do you feel on top of Mount Olympus? Are you looking down on ordinary guys like me?
Thats not what you wanted to ask.
How do you know?
Youve got other things on your mind.
Like what?
Does she really think she can read minds? Thats too much.
Suddenly Athenais typed out the questions that had really been plaguing Nikita ever since hed logged on to the website with notes about how crowds of fans had gone berserk after a visit to a movie, staged massacres and acts of vandalism, killed and burned temples, made sacrifices. Thats what he wanted to ask about.
Athenais caught the trend and repeated his own questions:
What was really going on in the temples? Why had Lucifer rebelled? What made the most beautiful angel of heaven became the devil?
I can answer, Athenais typed at the end of a very long list of shocking questions. Only you wont like the answers.
Why is it not?
Youre human.
Nikita felt a slight shock. Was the word human a sort of insult? Like, youre not of the angelic kind. You dont understand me.
So what if I am only human? He got angry.
Theres a lot that people dont understand.
So tell me! What was going on in the temples your fans destroyed? Why did Lucifer rebel? And, after all, what exorbitant ambition drives movie stars to trade their bodies to get to the top of show business Olympus through the beds of their directors and producers?
The last question was an insult. The chat broke off instantly. Nikita waited for a complaint to be made to a moderator and to be temporarily blocked. Nervous girls complained even about a compliment if it came from a different user than the one they wanted to chat with. Athenais didnt complain. She did the meaner thing she cut off communication with him for the rest of the night. That turned out to be the worst punishment. Nikita had become accustomed to communicating with her as a kind of drug.
Athenais would appear after midnight, like a fairy tale genie released from a bottle, and entertain him with tales half the night like Scheherazade. But now the chat room was empty and boring. The annoying girls that Nikita used to chat with from nothing to do had long since forgotten about him. Too carried away by the movie star, he lost all his girlfriends.
All that was left was to be amused by movies starring Athenais. Nikita clicked the link again. The familiar video file popped up on the credits. Nikita was taken aback when he noticed that both the director and the screenwriter of the film were Athenais herself. He seemed to have insulted her for nothing.
In the Horror Genre
Athenais had to wait an unbearably long time, but eventually she returned to chatting.
Are you bored without me too? Nikita teased her.
Im not bored at all. Im in a really depressing place.
Are you making another movie there?
Movies arent the most important thing in my life right now, so I started going out to chat.
Are you looking for friends or one friend?
Ive already found one so far.
Nikita felt involuntary joy. Responses from Athenais were coming very quickly. That meant she was really communicating with him alone. If she had been distracted by someone else, the answers would have come very slowly.
Im looking for a girl, not just a girlfriend to chat with.
I know.
So what do you say? Do I even get one date?
Well see in time.
Athenais answer wasnt particularly encouraging, but its a good start. She doesnt say no right away.
Are you available?
It is not really.
You mean youre married? Or engaged? Or have a boyfriend
Thats what you mean.
What were you thinking? Nikita couldnt understand her. When a woman is asked if she is available, it means that they want to ask her to marry her. The words free or not free are synonymous with married not married. Slaves and serfdom do not exist now. In what other sense could Athenais have understood the word free? Her mentality cant really be shaped from the era of the pharaohs, when slavery was in vogue.
Theres one place I cant leave yet, Athenais typed. It makes me feel not completely free.
So do you have some kind of contract?
A star can only be kept in a particular shooting location by some kind of contract that cant be terminated without paying a hefty penalty.
Did your friends help you to make a career in film? Or do you really edit films with your own hands?
I prefer to do everything myself.
And you do everything yourself?
I am guided by the principle: if you want to do something well, do it yourself.
The phrase flashed through his mind again: how you fell from heaven, Dennitsa, son of the dawn, to become the king of the cinema and the earth.
Stop! This is some kind of modernization of a biblical saying. Nikita frowned. He felt as if someones black claw was writing this phrase in red paint right on the keyboard.
Do you like horror movies? The question came out of nowhere.
Nikita didnt even know what to answer. He decided to come clean.
When I was a kid, I loved them.
Why did you love them?
I dont even know.
Do you like to tickle your nerves? Do you like to be scared?
It was sometimes.
Does the horror genre help you get through a storm of thrills?
Like that?
Would you like to be in a horror movie yourself?
Not as a victim.
What part?
I dont know. I prefer to watch. I liked your movie a lot, too.
Would you like to be inside it?
Yeah, I guess so.
Would you like to join the legions of demons fighting against the Almighty?
I dont know maybe yes!
Arent you afraid of being burned alive so that you can gain immortality later?
The eerie questions poured out of a leaky sack. Athenais was testing her partners strength. Nikita almost gave up. Each line is one scarier than the next, the mouse moves like a wind-up. This is no longer a chat room, but a duel. Who will drive who crazy first?
There was definitely someone in the room behind Nikitas back. Someones claws were scraping the linoleum. The sound was quiet, but unpleasant.
Nikita didnt risk turning around, though a low growl could be heard behind him. His nerves gave out.