A dark story.

Andrea Ferris had spent a quarter of her twenty-eight years as a flight attendant and she loved the job. While the passengers could be an issue from time to time (no job is perfect, after all) she did enjoy what she did, especially when she was on a new route with a day or two layover. That gave her a chance to explore a new city and see new things, something she knew she would not be able to do easily otherwise.

She made sure everything was in order with the airline before heading to her hotel, taking a cab there. She got out, putting her heels on the pavement, and walked to the doors. Just before she got inside, she stopped, seeing her reflection in a window.

She had taken care of herself and it showed. She was in good shape, thin but in shape. She was really proud of her stomach, but obvious she couldn't see that in the mirror due to her uniform, however her next best quality, her legs, could definitely be seen with the black skirt and tan pantyhose she was wearing. Those, along with the heels, really made her legs shine. While she was facially attractive, she put little stock in that. One could build up a body, one really couldn't build up a face.

She walked inside, checked in, and went immediately to her room to change. She had a lot she wanted to see and she only had until tomorrow morning to see any of it.

She never left her room that night. In fact, she never checked out at all. When someone was sent up to see if she had left, they found no luggage, and the room looked almost untouched. Security cameras showed no one had gone into her room and no one had used the keycard there aside from her.

However, by the point she had missed checkout, the airline she was working for realized what the hotel did, that she was nowhere to be found. She never came in, which was very much not like her, and they had to just run with a person short. While inconvenient, the head flight attendant was more concerned about the fate of her missing flight attendant than not having a full crew.

Carol, the head flight attendant, knew how to handle this and she noticed that none of them grumbled at the situation. They all knew that this was a rare thing and there was likely a reason for this, and that worried a couple of them. Serious was never a good thing in this situation.

The flight came and boarded and she put the new plan into action. It did go quite well, actually, the experienced crew able to handle things smoothly. They did have to deal with a late arrival, but it would not have affected the departure time at all. Flights aren't delayed for that. It did mean they had to have them come in just as the last passengers were being boarded, but this was allowed. Two minutes later, though, and they would have been left behind.

Strange case, that one. First class ticket, very well dressed with a designer dark purple dress, a silk black and white scarf, sheer black pantyhose and heels that were at least a thousand dollars, with just a carry-on similar to what flight attendants had. She had long black hair and a black surgical mask on, and her eyes and what Carol saw of her face seemed, well, off. It didn't seem to match her otherwise younger appearance, her hands well manicured with striking black nails and a softer appearance.

That mystery, Carol knew, would likely forever stay a mystery. As long as this woman didn't do anything worrisome, she could not find the time to care about that.

Seven hours later, when the flight landed, everyone was glad to be off of that plane. Carol went to use the restroom near where they disembarked and she then went to go grab her luggage, just one suitcase she had brought. She found herself near the woman from first class earlier who Carol noticed was a bit less steady in heels. She thought she was a little drunk, but then remembered that the woman had no drinks of any kind on the flight. Odd. Carol thought she saw her bag, but then realized it wasn't hers, but it was of a design frequently used by crew of her airline. The masked woman was the one to grab it, and as she did, Carol noticed something. It was a slot for an ID card like what fight attendants used and they had a flap on the front with a button to secure it so everyone didn't see their ID the whole way through the airport. The one had popped open and Carol pretended to not notice it.

Her blood ran cold. That was Andrea's picture on that ID. That was her luggage and this woman had it.

She sent a text alerting the time and location to airport security and decided to follow the woman. This was incredibly stupid, she knew, but she figured she had a very advantages. There was little chance she could have a weapon (probably, luggage claims wasn't in a protected area but still unlikely) and Carol figured that this woman didn't know that Carol suspected anything.

The woman went to the restroom nearby and Carol went in as well. She wanted to be sure of the ID, if she could. She saw that the woman was getting changed in a nearby stall and Carol wanted to be close to give a description of what she was wearing now.

The stall door opened and Carol froze. Even with pretending to wash her hands, it was obvious to anyone paying attention to Carol that she was caught off guard.

That woman was wearing a flight attendant uniform, the same one Carol was wearing, the same one that Andrea would have been wearing! Carol froze, suddenly realizing she had been seen and somehow no one else was in the restroom right now.

She saw in the mirror, hands frozen under the now off water faucet, as the person walked towards her. She thought person because that was not a woman's face or head! The black hair was gone, Carol realizing now it was a wig. Under all of that was the head of a man in his late sixties, very short gray hair, almost handsome if not for the situation. He adjusted a scarf in the airline's colors and Carol caught stitches at the base of his neck, seeing paler, feminine skin below that and tan, weather skin above it!

He walked over and smiled, standing beside her at the sink, his expression crystal clear in that mirror.

"I see you know now that Andrea's head didn't catch the flight, but everything else did." He said in a soft, even tone that unnerved her more than if he had an angry or combative tone. "If you're wondering her fate, she does not have my body. I think you can figure out the implications from there. So, I'm going to put this other wig and mask on and walk out. I wonder if you'll be able to even tell them a description before I'm gone."

With that, he put on a brunette wig and a plain white surgical facemask and then walked out calmly. He had even changed, she noticed, into the heels the flight attendants would normally wear.

Carol just stood there, looking at the mirror. Did she just see what she thought she did? How the hell would she even begin to explain this? Could she?

She stood there, not realizing that a couple of minutes had passed, two precious minutes that gave him a chance to get away. Once she did, she walked out. She got out her phone and texted the time she got in the restroom and the description of the person. She left out the part about the head. There was no way to explain that. No way at all.

He got into the back of the luxury SUV and smiled to himself. He doubted she would be an issue. She had her chance and she blew it.

He kept his new feminine legs close together, feeling with a soft hand nylon on his knee. He smiled as he did. He always did love a woman in hosiery. He watched as they left the airport, past the security checkpoint and Andrea's heart skipped a beat. He was past the last real hurdle. Now he could disappear with his new body and no one would ever know who he was or how he came to be. Very good, he thought. Very good.