Betha had been watching Apollo's every move since she saw him a month ago. She'd been looking for a new place to live in and didn't have any luck in finding one, until she got sidetracked by Apollo's visuals while he was jogging. At that time, she was riding her silver Hyundai Tucson, a small SUV that she had stolen from a reporter in his early 30s. His name was Ken. She took his car right after wailing for him. It's been a year since he passed away and Betha loved every bit of her sophisticated vehicle with such refined fluidic design. She had been taking things that she wanted from every person who died after her wailing. She just loved taking things for free.
Betha wanted to take Apollo for herself and it was the first time she had wanted a human. She normally had a strong affection for material things and now, Apollo had been added to the list.
He had the most alluring scent, almost like a scent of a virgin except that he wasn't. His entire body smelled so youthful and sinful that it was hard for her to act normal around him. She had one goal - to make him fall in love with her despite the disgusting Banshee form. When this happens, Betha could absorb his youth to get rid of the ugly transformation.
In discreetly following Apollo, there was a vacant house in front of his place so everything was of perfect timing. It was as if she was meant to see him and her boring secret life could finally come to its halt; she was craving so much for a change. A big change. When she moved to the new house, the plan to lure him was an easy task. She was 100% sure it would work because anyone would've fallen for her beautiful form. The challenge was to make him fall in love with her despite her form. After Apollo and Gab had accidentally seen her, she did her best to make Gab believe she was nothing but a normal being cursed to be a Banshee. It took about 15 long minutes to finally get his trust and she knew that Apollo would believe anything that Gab said. She had helped him come down from the old treehouse with Apollo and had shown him nothing but her sweetest voice in her beautiful form.
She wasn't expecting for them to show up at the pharmacy though, so she was taken aback when they did. For the first time in her life, she was nervous to be found out as a Banshee, so she quickly hid her nametag the minute she saw them. Apollo had noticed that and she lied that she couldn't find it but he asked for her name so that lie was useless. Then, she came to her senses and remembered that seeing her nametag was not an issue at all. Hearing it from herself was. People who heard her real name would acquire the ability to see her ugly form and hear her wailing. It was the main reason why she couldn't have a social life. The less people who knew and heard her name, the less she was at risk of being seen as a Banshee. She couldn't lie about her name to Apollo when he asked. She was willing to risk being found as a Banshee because he needed to see his true form.
At nine in the morning, she got a call from the pharmacy and got flustered when she realized she was late. It was Mr. Park. "Yes." She responded politely. "I'm sorry, there was an emergency last night, so I didn't wake up on time today. I'll be there in an hour."
That was a lie. She had been spying on Apollo since 5am but he didn't get up to go jogging by that time. She levitated and peeked through his room's window only to see him sound asleep and even smiling. He was probably dreaming of her, she thought. At seven, he was finally doing his daily routine, so she creeped quietly on every big tree to hide herself. She realized she could've just pretended to jog but then none of her outfits were sporty.
Stalking Apollo was easy with such a solemn neighborhood; no one was in her way. There was really no reason for her to spy on him. She just wanted to see him and maybe smell a bit of his youth. It was weird but for Betha, it was a nice way to start her day. After a quick 30-minute preparation, she was done showering and dressing up. When she opened her garage, she could smell food and wondered if maybe Apollo and Mrs. Rodriguez were having breakfast and maybe, just maybe, they were talking about her. She tiptoed her way towards their backdoor, slightly opening it to eavesdrop. Apollo was telling his mom in a firm tone that Betha was a normal human being. He was about to wash the dishes when Betha closed the door and tiptoed her way back to her garage. She realized that wearing heels wasn't a good idea so she promised herself to add flat shoes to her shopping list. By 10am, she was already at the pharmacy.
By lunch time, she was wondering why Apollo had not texted her. He might not be as drawn to her as she thought and that made her anxious. Betha accumulated every bit of control she had not to send him a message first but by 1pm, she was already fidgety.
"You didn't take your lunch?" Hannah asked as Betha stocked bottles of vitamin capsules near the counter.
"I'm not hungry." She answered. And she wasn't lying. She was more worried to even think about fending for her stomach. She didn't have her breakfast as well. Despite the lack of appetite, her tummy highly disagreed as it growled loud enough for Hannah to hear.
"Girl, you need to eat. The peak hour is done so I can handle this with Ralph. He's just doing the inventory. "
"It's okay. I'm not in the mood to eat."
Hannah surrendered in convincing Betha and went back to the counter to assist a young man whose neck was about to break from looking in between shelves. "How may I help you? Can I have your prescription?"
"Oh no. I'm not here to buy anything. I'm looking for Betha."
Betha was hidden just behind the first aisle of medicine shelves fronting the counter. She was still stocking vitamins when she instantly recognized Apollo's voice. She smiled before showing her beautiful self to Apollo.