as possible to certain areas. There were fairy tales about haunted houses, about damned ruins, and about cemeteries where evil spirits live. But he hadn’t heard about the damn cinema yet. This is really a really unconventional and purely modern invention. It does not breathe ashes of the Middle Ages and village fables about witchcraft.
“The cinema is a bad place. There, cinema technology was used as a means of causing harm to the audience,” the guide hired by the producers gave scant explanations. “There are a lot of things left in the building, including equipment that could be… hmm, a danger. In addition, the structure itself is dilapidated and, most likely, is about to collapse. It would have been demolished long ago if the government had no plans to open something like a museum there. But in any case, I do not advise you to go there. The risk of getting hurt is too high. Once upon a time such experiments were carried out there, which caused not only accidents, but also mass deaths. The place is creepy, old…”
In general, the guide dissuaded from going there as if he was an accomplice of a whole nest of criminals who are hiding there. He did not diversify his story with any ghost stories just because it is such a topic that attracts visitors. Although no one believes in ghosts, everyone becomes curious to look at the place in which they supposedly live.
But the local workers only talked about the curse of the old cinema. Apparently it was not that old. Yes, it was built a long time ago, but a few years ago it functioned. Daniel read about it in the local chronicle. The recordings were accompanied by beautiful photographs of the building more like an oriental palace than a cinema house. Now the road to it is overgrown with bushes.
Should you go there, sacrificing trendy jeans and a leather jacket? The branches have already scratched his temple. He hardly felt pain. Well, isn’t it funny? He came to the shooting. He’s a star, but the profits from past films have barely justified the cost of advertising. If there is no profit again, then you can put an end to his career. How to be here?
“Or maybe you’ll sell your soul to the devil, if you want success so much that you don’t regret anything for him?”
Who said that? A whispering voice came from the juniper bushes. He skinned his hands about them, pulling back the branches. There is no one behind them. The red flap and the flickering of a bright cape are just a play of sunset rays.
The Blue Lotus Cinema is almost lost in the thicket. Two sphinxes dozed at the entrance. And inside there are seven statues. No, he only imagined. The statues were far away. At home. Gone away in the days of the revolution. The great-grandfather’s story about them was just the delirium of a dying man. He saw only an illusion, then and now.
And yet the feeling that the angelic statues were standing here and waiting specifically for him was very intrusive.
The doors to the cinema were not boarded up. He entered easily. Inside it was gloomy, dark and empty. What did he expect? That the sophisticated audience gathered here for the premiere?
Desolation should reign here. And also, according to the guide, it is dangerous here. The entire structure can collapse at any moment. He didn’t care. Let it collapse, burying it under the rubble. At least he will die like the biblical Samson. He knew about this only because he once starred in his role. All of Daniel’s literacy proceeded, alas, only from scripts, which had to be read as needed and which did not always correspond to the book information. So in an interview, he went wrong a couple of times, not taking into account the fact that in the Bible and in novels everything happened somewhat differently than the scriptwriters described. The awkward situation was then hushed up. And now all life was going downhill. This cannot be fixed with a set of cunning phrases that create a stellar image.
Is there a bar in the cinema? Daniel wanted to drink again. Of course, it is foolish to hope that a bottle is lying somewhere in an abandoned building. But what if?
– You didn’t come to see the film?
Who is speaking? The voice is definitely female. And the laughter that follows him resembles a chorus of several voices. Daniel shuddered and began to blindly look around. There should be no one here. The cinema has long been abandoned. But this does not mean that someone could not enter here the same way he entered. Through an unlocked door. And why isn’t the door locked? Probably someone hacked it. Have any teenagers decided to set up a hangout here? It is good to. They can borrow a can of beer for an autograph.
Instead of teenagers, he noticed the pale glow of the figures on the pedestals in the hall. Mannequins or statues? It was impossible to distinguish exactly in the dark. Figures hung over the floor as if ready to fly.
“Come to us!”
The voices were not calling from the hall. He noticed something shiny in the distance. Some balls were spinning like tops. They are probably suspended by fishing lines. There was a quiet knock with which checkers are usually moved around the board.
“No ticket needed! Join us for free… while for free.”
And again the murmuring laughter. Now there were exactly two voices. Both are female. Daniel went to the sounds and stumbled in the darkness at the edge of a round fountain, which is located right in the hall. Naturally, there was no water in it. It seems that it has not worked for a long time, but the stone lotus in its center for a moment seemed like a living plant, stretching its roots behind the guest.
In the hallway leading to the closed doors of the cinema halls, there was an artificial tree with red hearts on the branches instead of the usual leaves and flowers. They were bleeding. Is this some kind of effect? Daniel wanted to touch them with his hand, but a ringing female voice distracted him.
“Do you want to play?”
How had he not noticed a tiny vestibule and a beauty sitting on a curbstone at a miniature table before? The table was no larger than a barrel, on which a board and figures vaguely resembling chess were laid out.
The girl beckoned him to sit on an empty curbstone on the other side of the table from her, and Daniel obediently sat down. He even joined the game, although he did not fully understand how to play it and why he was actually doing it. The pieces on the board were spinning by themselves like tops. He barely followed them. The girl’s old dress, clearly related to theatrical costumes, involuntarily admired, as did her intricate hairstyle.
Daniel thought it would be nice to introduce himself, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the girl outstripped him.
“I know who you are.”
Nevertheless, she did not ask him for an autograph, she did not even try to take a selfie.
“Who are you?” he was intrigued, and oddly enough, most of all he was attracted by the lack of any interest on her part in his star person.
“Call me Cordelia,” she said casually, almost singing. He had never heard such a strange melodious tone from anyone. It was as if some admiring creepy creatures crawled into her voice from the darkness. Probably all this is also an optical illusion. After all, cinema and cinemas are a world of illusion. Everything here is unnatural.
“Let ‘s play!”
“But we are already playing.”
“Let’s play charades. Only in unusual charades. I will assume, and you tell me what I assumed wrong, and at the end there will still be a surprise for both of us. This is what I think: you are a movie star, but
