Film About the Demon. Daughter of the Dawn. Natalie Yacobson

button on his smartphone, but without recharging the phone turned off a long time ago. Here, in any case, is not the area where you can catch calls and Internet services. So where does the feeling come from that a movie is on an extinct smartphone screen?

      Somewhere nearby there was the rustle of film, as if an old-fashioned camera was filming, and reels were spinning.

      Has Leah brought her camera with her to capture the impressive finds she is counting on? If she took something more modern, miniature that can be put in a handbag. It is unlikely that Leah or anyone else from the archaeological group has at least a movie projector with them to show filmstrips. So why does he hear the rustle of film all the time and film footage flashes before his eyes? In the frames, again, the faces are burnt to a coal complexion. Only they don’t belong to people. People have no horns, no thorns on their skin, no wings, no temples that diverge in the form of axes.

      Sam still managed to find and turn on the hand torch, which ran out of battery. For an instant, a narrow beam of light snatched out from the darkness something like a working movie camera, over which monstrous winged shadows were brought down. Someone was sitting nearby, but not a monster. Some beautiful golden-haired creature with a girlish body, clawed hands and black wings. She gracefully brought the golden claw to her lips. Sam dropped his flashlight in fright. He was not afraid of the monsters, but the girls were afraid. Why? Because there is something frightening in her eyes, like on film?

      “We fell into the sands of Egypt!” hissed someone sneaking into the tent, and immediately the phrase was picked up by hundreds of voices from the desert. Yes, there is a whole army! Sam raised the flashlight, shook it until it started working again. There was no one in the tent. The black sands outside the tent also looked uninhabited.

      It’s dark outside, even if you gouge out your eye. Nevertheless, he wanted to walk. The need to warm up had nothing to do with it. It just became unpleasant to lie in a cramped tent alone with an impending psychosis. Ever since he came here, all sorts of devilry has come into his head. This is probably how the hot heat affects him. Even the desert is beginning to be associated with a place burned to ash, like the inside of a furnace.

      “We fell into the sands of Egypt,

      In the ashes! On fire! In blood!”

      A chorus of hysterical voices continued to whisper in their ears. Since the voices followed him relentlessly wherever he went, Sam assumed they were auditory hallucinations.

      Nothing, it’s too early to get scared. Tropical fever happens to those who move to a hot zone from a cool climate. And people also have sunstrokes. The heat affected his brain.

      The sand crunched unpleasantly under the soles of his sandals. There is nothing under it, although Leah thinks differently. It was she who inspired him that a whole army of ancient immortal pharaohs was sleeping in the sands. You should not communicate with a crazy girl, even if she is very cute. Leah is too fixated on her profession, which has already become something of a hobby for her. All her idols are relics wrapped in bandages, in a word, mummies. They will not rise from the tombs, but something alive in the deserts definitely dwells. Some force gathers here like a cloud. A sandstorm is probably approaching.

      Sam was extremely amazed that he had made his way to the structure, something resembling a small pyramid, the entrance to which had been opened. Soft orange light pours from inside the opening. Someone lit oil lamps there? What was happening was like a dream. Only a bird, headlong flying past, scratched his cheek with a claw. The pain was real. It means not a dream.

      “Exactly in time!” Someone in a long robe that covered the whole body appeared as if out of nowhere. A powerful figure blocked the passage, reminding of giants. Sam was glad he was boxing. It might come in handy now, but the stranger didn’t attack him. A hand with long, sharp claws, each the size of a razor, delicately beckoned to a pyramid in which something was moving.

      “The time for the night session has come. Do you want to watch a movie?”

      Movie?! Sam was dumbfounded. This is an opened pyramid, but inside it something similar to a movie projector really works, you can hear the rustle of film. The image is not visible, but obviously, both frightening and attractive sounds come from the soundtrack. And above all this, the ancient Egyptian images and stucco figures of the gods open their mouths.

      And this is a session! Inside the mausoleum! No comfy seats, no popcorn, and most importantly no tickets. Judging by the sounds that came, it was clearly not about an educational scientific film about an ancient civilization. There was a spectacular action movie about a grand war and demons. Sam remembered the golden vision in the tent. Will the film feature the same fairytale character? If so, it’s worth the risk.

      Just one soul

      Moscow city center

      “Come in, sit down!”

      Kiril’s legs were numb. It was hard to believe that the superstar herself invited him, a simple guy, to her hotel room. And the room did not look like a hotel room. There was a pyramid-shaped fountain at the door. Multicolored lotuses floated in the water. Incense smoked on the tripods, which made his head spin. In the wall alcoves were statues of the beast-like Egyptian gods. They seemed to be squinting at the guest. Probably, this effect is created by smoke and semi-darkness. It looks like it’s not a living room, but a temple.

      Only a bed under a thick canopy reminded of palace luxury. But the place for the guest was set aside on the couch. On a mahogany table was a tray of brandy and two rock crystal glasses.

      A first aid kit would be more useful to him now than alcohol. He nearly fainted outside the cinema from blood loss. There he was found by agent Athenais, gave him his business card and explained where and when to come. So you can get caught in the arms of the mafia. What if the star keeps drugs, collaborates with criminals and is looking for a fool among fans who can be framed? Instead, Kiril thought only about whether to buy roses and condoms before going up to the top floor of the skyscraper hotel. The hotel was called Akhetaton, like the cinema. The building was somewhat reminiscent of the pyramids. Inside, everything is in Egyptian style, except for amphorae with lush bouquets of red roses. They are more like Roman ones.

      “Go away!”

      Is it the flowers whispering? They are so deep red that they remind of blood. And he was still wondering whether to buy roses for her. There are more of them here than in the flower shop! And the hotel itself inside resembles an ancient temple.

      “It was like I got inside the film,” Kiril looked at Athenais. Live she was even more beautiful than on the screen. She didn’t change. A chic scarlet robe with wide, like a kimono, sleeves now replaced the dressing gown. The dragons embroidered on it with gold thread grinned menacingly. It seems that in some old film he had already seen a similar robe. And that movie was not with Athenais.

      “I know your brother,” she admitted suddenly.

      So that’s why she invited him here! Kiril felt uncomfortable. Everything is decided by connections! And he hoped that he liked her.

      “You’re different,” Athenais looked at him appraisingly. “Mikhail always pokes his nose into other things. One day he will run into it.”

      What to think and say now? Kiril was effaced. Athenais suddenly got up and walked around him. The dragons on her robes seemed to come to life. Is this some kind of visual effect? Or an optical illusion?

      What kind of lighting and effects can be applied in general to make an actress look like a real deity. Up close, there was no trace of makeup on Athenais’s face. She didn’t even have makeup. No mascara, no eyeliner, no brushstrokes of powder or foundation, and the impression is that she’s a statue coming to life! This was impossible to achieve without the efforts of the makeup artist and operator. But he is now not inside the film and not in a dream. His star is really close. This moment is worth enjoying.

      Why does he feel that not everything