Trip of a lifetime (preview)

Chapter 2 - saying goodbye

Clothes and styling products were strewn haphazardly throughout the apartment. Saamia, Olivia, and Claire had each set up their own "basecamps" in the living room, ostensibly to organize their packing better. Still, it was four hours before their flight, and only Claire's suitcase actually contained anything yet.

"Liv, I'm borrowing that one pink dress!" Saamia yelled as she threw random clothes in her
suitcase.

"Your ass is like three sizes bigger than mine!" She protested.

"Uh-huh, and my ass is gonna look hot in it," Saamia glanced at the clock and then at her suitcase. "Shit, we probably should have packed earlier."

"I'm done; I can help you guys," Claire said, closing her bag.

As usual, Olivia primarily "supervised" as Claire and Saamia packed the remaining two suitcases, occasionally tossing something in to contribute.

The car service to the airport arrived, just pulling up as Claire yanked the last zipper on the overstuffed suitcase into place. They dragged them out to the front porch as the driver got out to help them. He was fairly young, late 20's perhaps, and he chuckled quietly when he noticed all three girls openly appreciating his looks.

"I'm Tom," he flashed a dazzling smile at them and sounded as friendly as he could. "I take it you're going to Vegas?"

"Hell yeah we are! I'm Saamia, that's Olivia, and that's our Claire-bear making sure we're responsible adults and all that."

He shook hands with each of them in turn, holding onto Claire's for just a beat longer than the other girls'. She flushed under his scrutiny, but he seemed to be the only one who noticed anything amiss. Claire suddenly felt like a specimen under a microscope, and quickly pulled her hand away.

"I'll take care of your bags, go ahead and make yourselves comfortable," Tom said as he opened the trunk. "Oh, and please enjoy the complimentary champagne. Only the best for our guests."

The girls piled into the backseat, trying to play it cool and casual, as if they always got to ride around in limos and weren't just poor college students. Olivia found three champagne flutes and poured them each a generous glass, holding hers up in a toast.

"Here's to the best summer ever with the best friends ever! We're going to remember this the rest of our lives."

"Hear hear!" Saamia chimed in as they clinked glasses and downed their drinks.
Tom finished loading the car and climbed back into the driver's seat, turning to look at the girls. His dark eyes seemed to glow and Claire thought of sharp teeth and too many claws. Then they were moving, the world outside the windows blurring. Her friends were laughing, but she was certain that was wrong, because they kept fading in and out.

Claire found herself laughing too, fighting to catch her breath between fits of hysterical laughter. This wasn't funny, why was this funny? She tried to look closer at her friends and saw the fear behind their eyes even as they laughed. Shadows were creeping in on the edges of her vision, and as she drifted off into the darkness she felt the car turning away from the airport.

Tom waited until all three girls were slumped in their seats before making the call.

"Yeah, I've got them. I'm about 20 minutes out. They'll need more sedatives if you don't want them to wake up on the plane."

He paused for the confirmation, tapping his fingers absent mindedly on the steering wheel. This had become routine by now, but he still didn't particularly enjoy this part. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Claire and felt a slight pang of regret before scolding himself for being ridiculous. Sure, she had great tits and seemed like a sweet girl, but a job's a job and there are plenty of tits in the world.

"Acknowledged, sir. Delivery on the way."