An excited Millie paced back
and forth at a bus stop in the Pride Ring. An advertisement on the side of the
bench showed a smiling posing Verosika Mayday with “Verosika Pride Tour” in
pink and white on the bottom. Millie wore her usual torn long black pants and
shirt, her hair messy and black, her face red and eyes yellow. Her horns were
black with thin white stripes on them. With a smile, she got out her red cell
phone, noticing the time: 11:59. Her phone background showed her husband Moxxie
getting an affectionate punch to the head from her father Joe. The time moved
to 12:00 and she squealed with glee, pacing faster.
Millie pulled out her
phone again just as a red bus pulled to a stop. An elderly grumpy female imp
with curly thick black horns was the driver. The rearview mirrors had black pentagrams
on them. On the screen sign on the top surrounded by twenty-eight sharp teeth
read “WRATH,” the Ring where Millie and her family lived.
The double doors opened,
and Millie squealed again, racing forward. Millie closed her eyes and hugged
another imp.
“Mils, over here!”
called a familiar voice.
Millie then paused in embarrassment
and looked up. She screamed and flinched back from a white-haired teenage imp
male wearing a lime green t-shirt, a red backpack, torn black pants and a pair
of red headphones. He had a spiky red and white pointed tail. “Get off of me!”
Millie yelled, shoving the imp backwards. She then spotted her sister, Sallie
May and they both embraced.
Sallie May was Millie’s
transgender sister. She had male imp horns, black and white stripes and had a
masculine voice. She wore a short black crop top, a belt, torn short white
shorts and long torn black pants underneath. On her feet were white boots and
in her hand was a worn brown suitcase. She wore a red bandana with holes in it,
and her hair was pulled into a thick black messy ponytail with a white spot at
the top. On her red face, a white scar was over her right eye with thick
eyelashes.
They “awed” in delight
and briefly spun around in their hug.
“You finally made it
out!” Millie exclaimed as the bus drove away. “After I asked you like a billion
times.”
“Lucky for you, a
billion and one was the sweet spot to visit this trash heap,” Sallie May
replied. They looked around the city and spotted an “Impoo” nail store and an advertisement
sign showing Loopty Goopty and Lyle Lipton reading “Injured? Good.”
“You ain’t even been
here before!” Millie countered. She tugged on her sister’s arm. “Come on! I got
the whole day planned out!”
Sallie May let out an
exaggerated sigh. “Wow, the whole day?!” She ran to catch up with Millie. “You
ain’t gotta run off with your princess to off some Earth fella?” They stopped
at a crosswalk.
“Nah. Business has been
slow lately, so…” she bowed slightly, “…boys say they have it covered.”
“Damn, ain’t I special?”
Sallie May folded her arms behind her head. The “don’t walk” red stop hand had
three claws. She looked around. “Where do we start?”
Millie leaned in and
reeled back in disgust at her sister’s stinky scent. “Well, uh…start with a day
spa and some shoppin.’ No offence, Sal, but you smell like hog ass.”
“I do not, Miss Probably
Bathes Irregular!” She then sniffed herself and wrinkled her nose. “Oh. Wait.
No, no, yep, you’re right. That’s-that’s definitely hog ass.”
“Come on! Let’s tear
this town to shreds!” Millie grinned with sharp teeth, swinging a fist. Sallie
May did the same as she raced after Millie. “Yee-fucking haw!”
They first went to a pink
building with a diamond pattern in the window and the name in fancy purple
font: “BATHORY’S DAY SPA.” It was named after Elizabeth Bathory, a noblewoman who
killed and tortured many women and girls on Earth. Legend said that she bathed in
the blood of her victims to retain her youth. Three white candles with purple
flames served as a decoration at the front of the building.
Inside, Sallie May lay
in a bubbling mud bath as a female imp with black curly hair, teal eye shadow
and a pink shirt filed her nails. Sallie May held a thin glass of champagne in
her other hand. Several more candles floated around the room. Millie relaxed in
her own mud tub, holding her glass of champagne as another imp filed one of her
horns. Nearby was a willow plant with purple leaves and eyes on it. A waterfall
fell smoothly against a wall of rocks in the background.
Sallie May looked
confused and uncomfortable.
“So y’all pay to…soak in
mud here?”
“Well, it’s ‘special’
mud,” Millie answered. “It’s relaxing.” Sallie Mays’ face fell, unimpressed.
The store next to the
spa was the “CRYPTIC COUTURE.” Imp mannequins dressed in a collared shirt and
one with glasses and a dress posed in the windows.
Sallie May came out of
the dressing room and looked at her outfit and sleeves in utter disgust. She
was wearing pink cowgirl getup: pink boots, long magenta pants with pink spots
and sparkles on them, a belt with a heart, a tied up light and dark pink short
top with dark lines on it and a light pink cowgirl hat. Her hair was braided
into two braids. Millie flinched from a nearby seat.
Later, Sallie May glared
as she posed in long white gloves, a sparkly frilly pink dress with bows on it.
She wore matching white shoes with bows, a pink heart apron and a large light
pink bow in her ponytailed hair. The ends of her hair were also pink. Millie
shook her head and flinched again.
The third outfit was the
charm: Sallie May posed in a short dark magenta skirt with dark pink lines on
it, making squares. She wore dark torn pants, pink boots, and a short black top
with a hole/eye design, showing part of her breasts. Her hair was hanging down
naturally to her waist.
“How ‘bout this one?”
Millie beamed and
clapped her hands in response.
The third place they
went to was “WACKY WALLY WACKFORD’S FUN TIME EMPORIUM – IT’S DEFINITELY NOT
GAMBLING.” A Walley Wackford icon grinned in between the giant orange and gold
letters lit up by theater lights. Two yellow smiley faces were on either side
of the building.
The two sisters grinned
with competitive looks as they sat in an arcade and played “GREED THEFT AUTO,”
a racing video game. Millie’s red car crashed Sallie May’s magenta car, causing
it to explode into the railing beside the highway. Sallie May gasped in disbelief
as Millie cheered.
Millie and Sallie May
grinned as they held pink blasters with small hearts on them. Sallie May fired
at carboard targets of cherubs: a blonde boy playing a trumpet, a praying deer
with a periwinkle dress, and a smiling lion with big eyes, purple hearts on his
ears and light purple overalls with a big pink bowtie. Millie gasped at Sallie
May’s sharp soothing; Sallie May proudly blew smoke from her gun.
The sisters then played
a Virtual Reality game called “CHAINSAW MAMA.” Sallie May’s character was a
lady with a white hocky mask over her face wearing fishnet stockings, a
tattered blue cape, a purple heart tattoo, and a purple dress with a low top. Millie’s
character was a zombie-like lady with orange hair, indigo leggings, a yellow
dress, and a bloodstained white apron. The characters slashed at each other
with their chainsaws as the sisters laughed, wearing teal blue VR goggles, and
holding stained chainsaws with rainbows on the handles. Millie leaped with a flip
and accidentally cut through a “KILL JAM” arcade game with her chainsaw. The
game exploded and the Wally Wackford logo grinned a fiery grin as the sign and
the arcade caught on fire.
The real Wally Wackford,
wearing an orange top hat and outfit wailed in despair and shock as Sallie May
and Millie laughed evilly as they raced out of the burning arcade with stuffed
prizes in their hands. An “EVIL EYE” store was nearby.
More pictures appeared
of the sisters: one showed them smiling with eyes closed, another showed them
making grumpy faces. A third showed them posing together in a selfie.
The last place they went
to was a dance club. A disco ball glittered and slowly spun around as lights
flashed in many colors. Millie happily danced as Sallie May moved with her eyes
closed in many poses.
The girls them glared as
a creep male demon wearing barbed wire on his arms and a purple baseball cap
grinned at them with sharp teeth, his clawed hands on their backs and chests.
He had long dark hair, blue pants, and a pink shirt on. Sallie May and Millie hissed
loudly, their tongues forking out like those of snakes. Millie then grinned at
her sister and swung her fist. Caching the message, Sallie May revealed a
murderous grin of her own. Millie punched the shark demon and Sallie May
grabbed him and slammed his face into a glass of wine on the bar table. His
face was soon bloody black, with glass shards stuck in his nose and chin and
head. Sallie May tossed him into the air and Millie landed a finishing kick.
The demon crashed into the glass wall behind the bar where he landed in a
bloody heap to the floor. Glasses and bottles shattered to the floor.
A female imp bartender
looked on, wearing a white apron, her black hair in a ponytail. She turned
toward the girls and gave them a thumbs up. She tossed them bottles of “ALPHA
BITCH” wine, the sisters easily catching them.
Sallie May elbowed
Millie. “That was great!”
The sisters laughed
manically and clinked their bottles together.
They clinked their bottles
together again and laughed as they relaxed on the I.M.P. office roof as the sun
set.
“See? Best day ever,
right?” asked Millie. “I told you you’d enjoy yourself!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Sallie May
rolled her eyes. “I guess this place ain’t so bad.”
Millie scoffed. “Ain’t
so bad? It’s awesome!”
“Uh-huh.”
“One day isn’t enough!
There are so many more exciting things to show you!” said Millie.
Sallie May’s face then
fell as she twirled her bottle in her hand. “Yeah, I mean with so many exciting
things here, it’s no wonder you never make your way back home.”
Millie gulped and stared
at her. Sallie Mays’ eyes went wide, having said her thoughts out loud. “Shit,
that slipped out.” She took a breath.
“What?” asked Millie,
placing her bottle down.
“You know? The Wrath
Ring? All that dirt and rust and boring nothingness? Not much of a thriving
club scene down there. Why visit that, right?” She paced around and leaned
against the side.
“I was there at the last
Harvest Moon Festival,” said Millie, walking over to her.
Sallie May scoffed and
turned away. “I mean sure for your fancy job. You showed up with that blue-blooded
bird, your dick swinging boss, that cupcake husband of yours, and…I don’t know!”
Millie didn’t realize
that her sister had been so envious. Sallie May stared sadly into her bottle,
her reflection in the bubbly liquid. “I couldn’t really see how I’d fit into
this shiny new life you built.” Sallie May
gulped down her bottle. Millie nervously put her hand to her neck before
putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder.
“Sal,” she began, but
Sallie May elbowed her away.
“I’m sorry,” said
Millie. “Things get real crazy and busy over here…”
Sallie May’s voice
cracked as she turned to Millie. “And you think things didn’t get busier for me
back home when you decided to scooch? I’ve basically been running to play solo.”
Millie’s eyes filled
with sadness and regret. Sallie May took another deep breath and turned away,
leaning against the side. “Honestly Mils, today was great.” She laughed a bit. “Better
than great. It reminded me of how we used to be like this damn near every day
before you left.” Sadness crossed her face. “I hate to think that it’ll be even
longer before we see each other again.”
“Yeah…” Millie added. “I’ll
miss that, too.” She leaned her head on her sister’s shoulder. Sallie May
returned the gesture, both of them feeling better while their heads touched.
Millie smiled as she
moved to the side. “There’s always room in my life for my sister, Sallie May. I’m
sorry I ain’t been back home as much as I’d like.” She shrugged. “I’ll try
harder.” Millie sat on the ledge. “But you know, the boys are older now. Ma and
Daddy got plenty of extra hands at the ranch. You could come visit more often,
too.”
“I think I’d like that,”
Sallie May smiled as they both swung their legs and hung them over the edge.
They sat peacefully for
a while, watching the sun set, the neon lights, and the city go by. Millie gave
her sister a playful punch to her arm and laughed. In response, Sallie May
grinned and flipped Millie’s leg, causing her to fall backwards. They both
stood up, Sallie May breaking her bottle and racing forward. Soon, Sallie May
and Millie were laughing and engaging in a loud roughhousing wrestling match.
The night sky was filled
with stars and the sky was now pink, with pink heart clouds reflecting the
heartwarming scene.
Not long after, both
sisters were laughing together and sitting on the couch at Moxxie and Millie’s
apartment. Millie had bandages on her head and leg and Sallie had bandages on
her head and her arm in a cast. Moxxie came into the room and carried a blue
bag with yellow music notes on it. He spotted them watching TV and eating
popcorn. On the musical note wallpaper were Moxxie’s musical theater pictures
and various daggers on plaques.
Moxxie smiled warmly,
happy that his wife was having fun with her sister. He felt like his own family
of friends was growing. Smiling again, he went into his room and closed the
door. Sallie May and Millie laughed again, closed their eyes and held hands.
Even in Hell, the bonds
of family could never be broken.
