All That's Forgotten by MXP

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Clubbin’

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So much sensory stimulation overwhelmed people entering the Red Rebirth club. The lighting treated the visual sense. Dark blue lights set the theme of the dance floor with the occasional white strobing lights that cut through the molasses thick hue. Grid pipes attached to the ceiling carried over 20 stage lights that were robotic and changed directions with the music. A disco ball made of white LEDs acted as a techno moon that hung over the center of the dance floor and twinkled like starlight. Paneling made of ping-pong-sized lightbulbs decorated the backdrop of the stage that overlooked the dance floor.

From the second-floor balcony, which surrounded the dance floor in a horseshoe shape, the club goers could see that the dance floor resembled a screen with dancing lights that pulsed and moved to the music.

The club owners reconverted an old theater by taking out the seats, adding some lights, booths, and several bars. In less than a year, the club became a smash hit, with arguably the most exclusive attendance list in New York City. The renovation sounded simple enough, but the owners spared no expense in renovating and modernizing the building to lure celebrities, models, and trendsetters.

“See that?” Clark showed his date his smartphone.

“A yacht?” Rebecca asked. “You own a yacht?” Her eyes beamed while her jaws dropped.

“Timeshare.” He shut off his phone and slipped inside his sports coat pocket. “For the next three days!” he said, holding up three fingers. “That baby is mine. Want to go out this weekend, babe?”

Clark and Rebecca were at the second-floor bar sitting on stools next to the counter. The wall behind the bar glowed red, backlighting rows of bottles that sat on glass shelves. The entire bar had a red motif, from the counter to the stools. Lighting from the bar clashed with the deep blue in the center of the club.

“Sure! What the hell? Amirite?” Rebecca slammed back her gin and tonic.

Atmospheric fog billowed inside the club, which gave the lighting an ethereal quality. It also made the club feel a tad humid and carried a musky odor that mixed with the sweat of the hundreds of club goers inside.

Though Rebecca and Clark sat next to each other at the bar, they had to talk loudly over the music and chatter of other people. During a lull in their conversation, they took time to appreciate each other’s outfit. He wore a dark gray sports coat and pants with a black shirt. She had a deep purple dress that showed off a lot of skin. The dress code at the club was strict and encouraged their patrons to wear expensive tailored threads versus anything they’d find at a department store.

“Well, are you two having fun?” a mysterious blonde with red lipstick asked. “I couldn’t help but notice you from across the way. My, you look delicious.” The tall blonde looked down at Clark.

“Excuse you!” Rebecca snarled. “He’s with me!”

The tall blonde ignored her. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “When I see someone as yummy as you, I can’t help but imagine our life together for eternity.”

“Whoa,” Clark said. “Psycho alert.”

“Perhaps.”

“Let go of him,” Rebecca shouted.

“This will only last a second.” The blonde opened her mouth and made a sharp, hissing sound as she did a hot inhale.

“The fuck are you doing?” As soon as the words left Clark, he knew something was wrong.

His body heat dissolved through his extremities like a leaking faucet. A bitter cold spread from his chest, causing him to become hyper-aware of his heart. It sat motionless and felt absent. He sat on the bar stool, paralyzed, as the blonde drew closer.

A white mist exited the pores of his skin and drifted towards the mysterious woman. It was him. He was looking at himself in a phantasmal form being drawn to her. The blonde devil woman was robbing his soul without resistance. 

Clark sat still, witnessing the woman harvest his spirit, dooming it for eternity and there was nothing he could do about it. Slowly, his soul shrank and slipped into her mouth. Before he could think of reacting, he saw his soul give him a sheer look of terror with pleading eyes. It extended its arm like it was reaching for a life preserver.

The small, screaming head of his soul had just cleared the blonde’s pearl-white teeth when she snapped it shut. The phantasmal arm was still sticking out and became severed, fading away into the air like smoke from a gunpowder cannon.

“Hmm,” the blonde moaned as she savored the harvested soul. “There are other ways of doing this.” She grabbed the vodka drink from his paralyzed hands and chased down his soul with his drink. “But there’s nothing like watching a mortal become separated from his soul. Now, when you die, there will be nothing but darkness. And your soul, like the millions before it, will experience a hollow eternity, as the shell that gave them life, personality, and emotions is forever destroyed. Truly poetry when you think of it.”

Clark looked dumbfounded. He felt robbed, but his emotions weren’t able to link or morph into anything else. He was locked in a perpetual state of shock.

“What did you do to him?” Rebecca asked, before cringing as a headache overpowered her.

“Pleasant appetizer,” the blonde said while locking eyes with Clark’s husk of a body. “But I’m ready for the main course.”

Clark watched the blonde grab him by his neck and pull him towards her face. As he came closer to her, he noticed her surroundings growing further apart as he drew closer to her face. A cascade of visionary illusions fractured his mind as her face became as large as an IMAX screen. The club became louder, bigger. He felt words trapped in the back of his throat, but before he could let any of them out, he found himself in the back of her throat.

“Did you just—ugh!” Rebecca pressed into her temples with the heel of both hands.

The blonde swallowed the shrunken mortal. She pulled out a compact from her dark, acidic green dress and admired the reflection in the mirror. She applied another coat of her satin red lipstick, puckering her lips a few times.

“Buy me a drink,” the blonde said.

“I … Yes. Yes, okay,” Rebecca said. “Who are you?”

“Katarzyna.”

“That’s right. Katarzyna … Can I call you, Kat?”

“Call me ‘Kat’ once more and I’ll rip your tongue out,” Katarzyna said with a stern look.

Rebecca stiffened her body and nodded. “Yes, Katarzyna. Your drink is the Red Devil, right?”

“Yes.” Katarzyna nodded and accidentally let out a burp. She patted her tight stomach and said, “Someone wants out suddenly!”

Rebecca returned from the bar and handed the red drink to Katarzyna. The goddess took the glass and drank half the contents in one gulp, dousing Clark in her stomach with a syrupy cold drink.

“Kat, Kat, Kat!” a young woman shouted with exuberance, grabbing the goddess by the arm. Rebecca looked on, horrified, because this didn’t seem like a bright move. “Come back, I just met this cool dude, and I want you to meet him.”

“Calm down, Aleksandra. I’m coming.” Katarzyna looked down at the exuberant mortal tugging on her arm. She looked back at Rebecca but immediately lost interest with her.

Aleksandra clasped her fingers between Katarzyna’s and pulled her through the throngs of club goers. A thin champagne glass in her opposite hand sloshed and spilled over the rim. Katarzyna looked at Aleksandra’s hand that was yanking on hers and spotted the mortal’s favorite vintage Rolex on her wrists. The mortal’s tailored, silky white dress draped around her lovely figure, accentuating her rear and highlighting her legs.

“Here! sit down here, Kat.”

In the booth was a man with two other women. Katarzyna slid in until she sat next to the man wearing a black suit with a thin tie. He had his arms around the redhead next to him, while the black woman seated at the edge of the booth went through her phone with a confused look on her face.

“Who the fuck is this man?” the black woman asked, showing the redhead a photo on her phone. “I have so many selfies with him, but I’ve never seen him in my life!”

“Kat!” Aleksandra said in a loud whisper as she sat next to the goddess. “Did you really take Ty?”

Katarzyna took a sip of her red drink and shrugged her shoulders. “Quite possible. This club is like an endless buffet—one can hardly keep up with every insignificant meal they consume.”

“Sheesh!” Aleksandra hooked a brown locket of hair behind her ear as she drank. Under the table, she kicked off her Louboutin heels to let her feet air out. Aleksandra pulled out her own phone and swiped away notifications about her stock portfolio. She read a message from her accountant about acquiring an extravagant home in Rhode Island that she had her eye on. “I liked Ty.” She opened her photo app and cycled through photos of him and began deleting him. “I hope he’s in a better place.”

Katarzyna suppressed a burp.

“Oh, Kat, this is a professor. Um, Hubbard, right?”

“Please to meet you,” he said, extending a hand that Katarzyna ignored. The professor pulled his hand back, feeling awkward. “Um, Stanley is fine. No need to bring up titles or anything.”

“Professor Stanley knows stuff, Kat. Check this shit out, he says there used to be 12 gods!” Aleksandra laughed.

Katarzyna shot a look at the man. “What makes you say such a thing?”

“Oh, if we had all night, I’d go over the evidence with you,” he said, placing his whiskey on the table.

“Evidence?”

“‘Fragments’ is probably a better word for it. Tiny clues that point towards one conclusion: ancient people used to worship 12 gods. Not like today where we worship—”

“One.” Katarzyna said sternly.

“Uh, yeah, one. Goddess Catherine.”

“That’s the Anglicized way of saying it.”

“Right you are. Few people can pronounce Katarzyna,” he said flawlessly.

Katarzyna gave him a slight smile laced with intrigue. “That’s my name, by the way.”

“Oh, really?” Stanley asked. “Your parents named you after our goddess? I hope you don’t mind me asking, but that’s risky for your parents and yourself, being named that, right?”

Aleksandra covered her mouth with her hand as she stifled a giggle.

“Hasn’t been an issue,” Katarzyna said. She drank the rest of her drink. “And who are you here with tonight?”

“This is my fiancée, Daphne,” he said, lifting their clasped hands from beneath the table to show they'd been together all along. “And that’s Aaliyah at the end.”

They all extended pleasantries. Aleksandra explained to Katarzyna that she already knew Daphne and Aaliyah, and this was her first time meeting Stanley. She heard Stanley talking about god myths and thought Katarzyna would get a kick out of his theories. Aleksandra flagged down a server and ordered drinks for the entire table.

“Evidence,” Katarzyna said. “Explain to me the best evidence you have that supports your theory, professor.”

Stanley finished his drink and set the empty glass on the far end of the table, so when the server came by, she could grab it. Looking at Katarzyna was incredibly distracting for him. She was gorgeous and carried about this aura that seemed to make heads turn, making people forget where they were. Aleksandra carried herself just as beautifully. She came from old money and had been best friends with Daphne since they were kids. She had helped Daphne from financial ruin so many times in the past, like making medical bills disappear and paying for her tuition.

“The archeological community has been hunting for Atlantis for the past 1,500 years. Except, this real-life lost kingdom wasn’t called Atlantis—it was called the Krasomor Kingdom, and it’s believed to be somewhere in modern day Poland in the Tatry Mountains.”

Katarzyna leaned back in her seat. “I’ve never heard of it,” she lied.

“Only a few scholars are tracking or even talking about Krasomor. As soon as anyone academic brings it up, they get ridiculed and shunned.”

The server came by with a tray of five drinks and set them on the table.

“Excuse me, miss,” Stanley said. “You brought one too many drinks. There’s only four of us.”

“Oops. I could’ve sworn you ordered five. Well, have that one on the house!”

Stanley divided the drinks up while Katarzyna picked something between her teeth. She flicked a grain-size object on the table in front of Aleksandra. Upon focusing on the object, Aleksandra saw it was a black stiletto, not more than a couple millimeters long. She shook her head and then flicked the tiny shoe off the table.

“Are you not afraid of being ridiculed for talking about a mythical kingdom as an actual place?” Katarzyna asked. She grabbed both her drink and the extra drink left by the server and set them neatly in front of her.

“Archeologists are picking up physical evidence as we speak. They’ve found evidence of a city buried under the earth. Leading theory involves a meteorite and landside, but it doesn’t hold up because we’re not finding leftovers of a meteorite. But what we have found, and why I told Aleksandra that ancient people worshiped more than one god, are statues and plaques with the names of these other gods.”

Katarzyna let out a frustrated sigh as she leaned back in the booth. “Oh, Oleńka … After all these years, you still find ways to disappoint me.”

“Who’s that?” Aleksandra asked.

“Before your time. She’s long gone now.”

“Um, what happened to her?” Aleksandra’s lips looked for her straw without moving her eyes from the goddess.

“Don’t let me down like she did, and you’ll never find out.” Katarzyna patted Aleksandra’s legs under the table before turning her attention to the professor, who looked confused by their exchange. “Fascinating, professor. I want to learn everything you know about that kingdom. Perhaps you can take me home tonight? Show me some books and notes?” Her hand found its way onto his thigh. She slowly edged it closer to his crotch. “Tell me, professor, are you seeing anyone?”

Stanley almost forgot to breathe. The captivating woman could’ve asked for his kidney, and he would’ve given it to her. Her creamy scent reminded him of a cozy florist he visited in the past that sold bouquets and chocolates. Beautiful as a fashion magazine model, she regarded him with rapt attention, like he was the most captivating person in the world. It got to his head.

“I’m single,” Stanley said. “And yes, I have loads of research papers at my apartment. You’re really interested in that stuff?”

“Very.”

“Whoa. That’s just cool! Most women I talk to about ancient—well, anyway, that’s just great to hear. Hey, I got to hit the head. I’ll be right back. Excuse me, ladies.” Stanley slid out from his empty side of the booth and disappeared into the crowd as he headed for the restroom.

Katarzyna leaned over and grabbed the spare drink that was at the other end of the table. She handed it to Aleksandra, who had a discontented look on her face.

“What is it?” the goddess asked.

“Well … Daphne, Kat. She was about to get married to Stanley. She’s been my best friend since we were kids.”

“Oh, pish-posh. I’m the Supreme Goddess of the Universe and the only friend you’ll ever need. Who cares about Daphne what’s-her-name?”

Aleksandra bit her lip. She knew better than to upset the goddess, despite being her favorite mortal on Earth.

“I see I’ve irritated you again. Here, I took it off before consuming her. You can have it as a memento of your friend.”

Katarzyna handed Aleksandra a one-inch dress. The mortal woman held the tiny dress up to her eyes and rubbed it between her index finger and thumb. Her poor friend. Her entire existence no longer existed in anyone’s memory, except for Aleksandra.

“Do you know why I can remember things and others can’t?”

“You have a gift.”

“Gift from who, though?” Aleksandra asked. She placed the dress in her Louis Vuitton purse. “You said you found me like this—with this immunity from your memory wiping. It’s not like another god could’ve given me this gift. You’d already absorbed the other 11.”

“11?”

“I meant two. Domira and Yarovit. Of course, no one knows that except me. You and the other two made up the Pantheon of the Trinity. I think I was like five when you defeated Yarovit, so I don’t think he blessed me. And Domira had never struck me as a power sharing god. She was lazy and didn’t interact with mortals, so she couldn’t have given me this gift.”

“Perhaps you were just born with it?” Katarzyna drank from her glass. “I don’t think this gift is as interesting as you make it out to be. You should just drop it.”

“You mentioned someone … Oleńka? Did she have the gift?”

Katarzyna sighed. “She did.”

“And she was your companion? Your mortal companion?”

“Aleksandra … drop it.”

The mortal felt a pain in the center of her head that caused her to shut her eyes and bow her head. She shook it off before looking back at the goddess. “You had her destroy the kingdom—didn’t you?”

Katarzyna turned to Aleksandra and gave her a stern look.

“The kingdom Stanley was talking about, right? You grew her into a giant and made her wipe out all those people.” Aleksandra closed her eyes and tried to suppress her migraine. “You … you made me do it. I didn’t want to kill them—but you made me do it, otherwise you were going to send me to your hell.”

“Aleksandra—let it go.” She placed a hand on her companion, but Aleksandra pushed it back with a look of disgust on her face.

“I remember.”

“And what is it you think you remember?”

A tear ran down Aleksandra’s face. “You killed my parents … our parents.”

Time came to a winding halt. At first glance, it appeared as if everything was locked in place. Frozen in time. But upon closer inspection, everything and everyone was moving in ultra slow-motion. Like someone pressed pause on the dance floor. Drinks pouring into glasses looked more solid than liquid. Everyone except Katarzyna and Aleksandra were affected by the extreme slowdown of time.

“I said to let it go, Aleksandra.”

“Is that even my name?”

“If you want to keep living this life, it is.”

“Kat, what is going on? Why do I feel like a 30-year-old, but I have memories of living during medieval times? I remember going to kindergarten in the East Village, but I also remember working a farm in Eastern fucking Europe! I-I’m remembering a lot of things. Living through different ages and places. I remember being a farm girl, an artist, a doctor, a CEO. Why? Why is that?”

“Because I’ve gifted you with so many lives, sister.”

“Lives?”

Only when she said that word under her breath did she realize she was trembling. She looked at Katarzyna from a new perspective. The goddess had familial features that she somehow overlooked. They shared the same nose and eyes. The goddess had blonde hair, blue eyes, with light skin, while Aleksandra—

“No. Your name is Oleńka.”

While Oleńka was the opposite, with earthy brown hair and eyes and a darker skin tone. But putting those superficial features aside, they both looked like siblings and near the same age. But how was that possible?

“I am the goddess of the universe. The most supreme being that has ever existed. Yet even my powers have limitations over your mind, sister.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Kat—what the fuck? If I’m your sister … why …” She looked at her surroundings. The silence was deafening, and the frozen appearance on everyone made her feel like she was trapped in a wax museum. Oleńka felt an unsettling supernatural eeriness, like she was sitting alone with the devil. “You’ve been manipulating me? Making me live different lives? If you are my sister … why would you do that? Because sisters don’t fucking do that!”

Out from under the table, the goddess pulled out an ornate blade. The hilt and blunt end of the blade were encrusted with gems that exuded magic. She set the foot-long weapon on the table between glasses of alcoholic drinks. The sharpened blade was a cross between dark silver and scorched black metal, while the hilt was polished obsidian with titanium framing throughout. It looked extraordinarily heavy, but Katarzyna wielded the blade as if it were made of foam.

Oleńka pulled back in fear. … She recognized the blade from her nightmares. Each gem contained the essence of a god—11 gems—each a victim of Katarzyna’s quest to become the supreme goddess. They pounded for freedom and begged for release from the goddess. They would forgive her for stealing their powers if only she gave them relief by destroying them, instead of trapping them inside a gem that confined them into a microscopic space.

“I chose not to destroy you, sister. A privilege I didn’t extend to mother, father, and our three brothers. They were inconsequential and not worth remembering. But you, Oleńka, I love you. You were the best older sister I could’ve asked for. The only person I tolerated in my pre-celestial life.”

Oleńka looked at the blade and back at Katarzyna. “Love me?” she shouted. “How can you love me if you’ve been … I remember.” A moment of clarity struck Oleńka. “I was supposed to ascend. The astral elders chose me to be a goddess.”

“They were misguided and easily fooled. I overheard them talking to mom and dad when they entered our home. I couldn’t let you be a goddess. As much as I love you, sister, you’re too easily manipulated and influenced by stronger-willed people. I took a fire log and beat you with it until you stopped moving. When the elders reached our room in the back of our farmhouse, I told them I was you. I took the Empyrean Sphere from them and absorbed it before they could question me any further. That’s when mom and dad came from behind and started yelling. Then everyone saw your blood seeping from under your bed.”

“Katarzyna …?”

“Kat!” The building quaked to match the goddess’s anger. “Call me, Kat. That name is reserved for your tongue, and your tongue alone.”

Oleńka swallowed. “You killed me—so that you can become a goddess?”

“Only temporarily killed you!” Katarzyna grabbed the blade and swirled in the air as she spoke. “Incidentally, learning my newfound powers was quick. I severed the heads of the elders and set mom and dad ablaze while they yelled at me.” Katarzyna laughed. “The elders knew that you, sister, would’ve been a benevolent goddess and brought prosperity to humankind. Funny how siblings can be opposites sometimes. There’s my charming, kind sister and then there’s—well, me.”

“So, with you assuming my identity, they accidentally made you a goddess. That means there were 12 gods total, with each one being chosen for a reason—but you were an accident.”

“And now I’m the only goddess. The universe is mine, and mine alone. Every soul that has ever existed and will ever exist … is mine.”

“Why am I here, Kat? Why keep me alive?”

“I told you! I love you!” The goddess smiled while pointing the end of the blade at Oleńka’s chest.

Oleńka shook her head. “No. There’s more.”

Katarzyna’s smile vanished.

“What are you going to do, Kat? Wipe my memory and start again with a new sister? Why do that? Why won’t you just let me live?” Oleńka pondered this for a moment and ignored the blade. “Is it because I know too much? But why would you care? I’m just a mortal and you’re a super goddess. Why do you have to reset my mind?”

“You have this wrong, sister. I’m not going to reset your mind. I’m going to kill you.”

Oleńka jumped out of the booth and stared back at her sister.

“Where do you think you’re going? You can’t run from me.”

“I won’t let you kill me!”

“Already forgot your place, insect?”

“Fuck you!”

Thunder struck outside the club. Oleńka took steps backwards, her bare soles adhering to the cold, sticky floor before peeling off like an adhesive. She walked between people locked in time while the goddess floated towards her with the blade.

“Just leave me the fuck alone, you psycho!”

“Language, Oleńka.” Katarzyna landed on her feet and walked towards her sister, who was becoming more terrified with each passing second. “I’m allowing you to stand at my side as I rule the universe, and yet every single version of you pushes back against this remarkable opportunity every mortal could only dream of.”

“You stole my rightful place as a god!” Oleńka yelled. “You kill people for fun and send them to hell for no reason. But worst of all—you killed our parents and brothers? Why would I want to be at your side? H-how could I be related to such a fucking demon?”

Katarzyna’s eyes blazed with fire. She swiped her blade through two frozen mortals beside her, slicing them as if they were gelatin. She screamed so loud, Oleńka's ears bled.

“Enough! Get on your knees, sister!”

Oleńka turned and ran, bumping into frozen people as she made it to an exit. During her escape, she could hear the goddess taunting her and commanding her to return.

Upon exiting the club, Oleńka found herself—back in the club. “Fuck.” She ran through the door and found that she kept teleporting into the entrance to the club. A cyclical portal.

“Don’t run, Oleńka,” Katarzyna said. “I don’t like it when you run.”

“Seriously? The door gag? Supreme Goddess powers, and that’s what you come up with!”

Katarzyna was a foot taller by the time she reached her sister, with the blade in her right hand. She grabbed her shorter sister by the neck and rammed her body against a wall. She then lifted Oleńka off the ground and held the tip of the blade to her stomach. Her sister grabbed her wrists and kicked the air.

“Wait, wait. What happens if you go through the door?” she asked while choking on her words. “Is it like a paradox or some shit?”

Katarzyna pressed the blade harder, puncturing the white dress.

“I figured it out, by the way. I’m sure all versions of me figure it out eventually, right? You can’t stand me seeing you the way I do.” Oleńka gasped as her Amazonian sister throttled her harder. “See you as a pathetic, selfish creature. I don’t give a fuck about your power or how nicely you try to treat me. You’re evil, Katarzyna. And I know you know that. I know you realize I would’ve been a perfect fit for the pantheon of 12, and we would’ve brought peace and prosperity to all humanity. You’re so fucking awful at who you are that you have to wipe people’s memories to even tolerate yourself.”

Oleńka could see that she struck a nerve in her goddess sister with that revelation. Oleńka laughed as her face turned blue from choking. Yet she continued to speak, despite the goddess’s rage.

“The Great Unwriter!” Oleńka coughed. “Nobody can hate you if nobody knows who you are!”

Katarzyna plunged the blade into her sister. Oleńka stiffened, feeling cold and scared. Her last memories were from the farm in Poland. She pictured herself as a young girl with her four siblings and loving parents. The goddess twisted the blade.

“I’ll rebuild you again, dear sister,” Katarzyna said with hate. “I will rebuild you and mold you until I find the perfect sister. A sister who loves me for who I am.”

Oleńka mustered what little strength she had to look up at the goddess. “Fuck off.”

Katarzyna snarled as she lifted the blade up her sister’s abdomen. With a shout, she swept the blade up and off to the side, slicing Oleńka’s heart in half. Bright blood stained the white dress and squirted all over Katarzyna’s dress. She let go of her sister’s neck and let the corpse fall in a pile on her feet. Katarzyna wasn’t done. She dropped to her knees and, with both hands gripping the weapon, stabbed the body eighteen additional times, mutilating it beyond recognition.

One-by-one, gods fell at Katarzyna’s feet, their powers becoming hers. Their godhood robbed and their spirit trapped in her blade. Her powers grew immense with each defeated god, yet it was never enough. She could never control her older sister’s freewill. Katarzyna always thought it would take just one more god to become powerful enough to control Oleńka. But with all the gods defeated and her as supreme goddess—it still wasn’t enough.

But Katarzyna was determined to find a way. She would continue destroying and rebuilding her sister until she found the right combination of backstory and connection to the goddess that would cause Oleńka to love her sister back.

Katarzyna really thought this version of her sister would work out. A rich socialite in New York who was personal friends with the goddess. Her life was an endless party. It almost worked. But like clockwork, Oleńka began to remember.

Katarzyna would have to try something radically different next time.

A situation that would cause her sister to love her back. A life situation in which Oleńka would be grateful to be graced by the goddess. Maybe then, her predictable sister would not remember—or choose not to remember. And then—only then, would Oleńka love her back.

Katarzyna tossed the blood-soaked blade to the side and shouted at the silence. Her sister’s blood was on her dress, on the floor, on the walls, on the frozen mortals beside her, and dripping from her face. Katarzyna rotated her trembling wrists to look at her red stained palms.

Katarzyna screamed in anguish.

Every mortal in the club vanished. Their clothes falling into piles onto the ground. In their wake, their semi-transparent souls stood confused. As the goddess hunched over, mourning her sister’s temporary death, the souls floated towards her. They diminished in size until they were inch-long phantasmal spirits. They cried in anguish, begging for release as if drowning in the open sea. As Katarzyna wept, the souls of hundreds slipped into her open mouth, inhaling a constant stream of shrieking souls between quivering lips. She couldn’t enjoy the reaping like she usually did.

None of them mattered as much as Oleńka.

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Endings and Beginnings

===

Naya loaded her serving tray with drinks from the bar and hefted it under her arms. She held the tray close to her chest, spilling alcohol onto her work apron. She grunted as she climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the club, where the VIP section was.  

She walked past a security guard who ensured only invited guests made it to the restricted area of the club. He waved Naya in, and she went straight for the table, setting the tray down. There was an even mix of men and women at the table, three and three. Naya handed the drinks from memory and was about to grab the tray to leave when one of the women spoke up.

“Hey, want to party with us?”

“I-I can’t. I’m on the clock,” Naya said, hooking a lock of brown hair behind her ear.

“Nonsense.” The woman then told her guests to leave. “Stanley, be sure to give me a call tonight.”

He nodded and left with the group, leaving behind Naya and the blonde.

“Come sit by me. There’s something I want to discuss.”

Naya looked around for staffers, afraid she might get caught sitting with the customers. She set the tray on the table and sat at the booth. The mystery woman slid a drink in front of Naya.

“I know you’ve been having it rough, Naya.”

“Excuse me, how did you know my na—”

“Behind on your credit card bills, working two jobs, and living with three roommates. Life must be hard.”

“How’d you know all that?” She had her guard up, fearful that this woman was some kind of stalker or criminal.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am your goddess.”

“And I’m the Sheriff of Dodge City. Nice to meet ya!” Naya extended a hand to shake.

The goddess giggled. “I love your personality, Naya. Want me to prove I’m the goddess of the universe?”

“Um, listen, um …”

“Call me Kat.”

“As in Goddess Katarzyna?”

“Yes, but you—and you alone—call me Kat.”

“Okay, whatever. Listen, Kat, I gotta head back to work before my boss—”

“That’s right! Your boss, Mr. Rundle, right?” Katarzyna waved her hands, materializing Naya’s boss on the table—except he was three inches tall. The goddess addressed the shrunken mortal. “Listen to me, little one. Your employee here no longer works for you. She’s been recruited by me, Supreme Goddess of the Universe. And if you have anything against that, please let me know, otherwise hold your tongue.”

Before Mr. Rundle could say anything, Katarzyna made a flourishing hand gesture, starting with a point at the shrunken man and ending with a wave at herself. Naya flinched when she saw a ghost of the shrunken man leave his body. The mortal held out his hands but made no real effort to grab his spirit. His soul cried and tried swimming back to his body to no avail. Katarzyna opened her mouth and inhaled his soul. She chased it down with her drink.

“Y-you’re the g-goddess?” she said with quivering lips. “W-what did you do to Mr. Rundle?”

“Oh, that?” Katarzyna sighed internally. She hated that fearful look she gave her. “Don’t worry, this is simply goddess business.” She picked up the two-inch man’s mortal body and tossed him between her lips. With a full mouth, she said, “I’ve seen the entirety of his life and have judged him.” After savoring him, she swallowed. “Good people like you have nothing to worry about.”

“You really are the goddess?” Naya asked with nervousness painted on her face.

“Need more proof?” Katarzyna gulped the rest of her vodka down. “Here, I wanted to give you a gift anyway.”

Naya felt something suddenly tug on her neck and bounce right above her cleavage. She looked down and saw a golden necklace with an odd spherical gem. The glass ball seemed to have a white and blue marble floating in the center. When Naya lifted it up to her eyes, she was astounded by what she saw. The white on the surface of the marble seemed to move on its own, as if floating on liquid.

“It’s a planet,” the goddess said. “Sentient, human-like beings, totaling eight billion. What do you think?”

“You … gave me a planet?” Naya lifted an eyebrow.

“Mhmm.” The goddess nodded. “I-if you don’t like it, I can give you something else! Mansion, servants, a new car. W-what do you want Naya? I know you don’t have much in this life. I can change that! With a goddess as your friend, I can give you whatever you want!”

“What do you want in return, Kat?”

“Your love.”

“But I already love you.” Naya set the planet jewelry back down above her breast. “You’re my goddess, and I’ve always loved and prayed to you.”

Katarzyna shook her head. “Naya, I want you to be my mortal—my personal companion. Would you stand at my side and aid me in ruling the universe?”

“Whoa, really?”

“Yes! Think about it. Power, wealth—all you have to do is love me!”

“Um,” Naya said, smiling and nearly out of breath. This was certainly too good to be true. “I don’t know what to say. Of course, I love you, Kat!”

Katarzyna covered her mouth and teared up. “Please say that again.”

Naya didn’t understand why a supreme goddess would show emotions like that. “I love you Kat …?”

Katarzyna looked at Oleńka and relished the moment. Her sister, with a fresh, unpolluted mind, would last maybe five years if the goddess played things right. But Katarzyna didn’t want to think of the future. She simply stared into her sister’s eyes who looked back with admiration. She thought she was the luckiest mortal alive to be chosen by the goddess. And Katarzyna would lean on that as long as she could.

The speakers in the club began playing Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds. The lyrics having more meaning than anyone in the club could ever know.

Katarzyna placed her hand on her sister's lap.

“Kat—”

“Shh!” the goddess said. “Let us enjoy this time.” A champagne glass materialized in both their hands. “To new beginnings and new friendships.” Her lips quivered. “May they last forever.”