James' Secret

Aiden wondered if it was the bad lighting that caused James to look a little pale on the face.

Exhaustion was visible in his eyes, almost as if the young man had gotten older by a few years within a single night.

When Aiden came in, Grandma Thompson was in the middle of persuading James to drink some warm tea and eat some freshly baked pineapple cookies.

James' younger siblings required neither coercion nor persuasion. They happily ate their cookies while sitting in front of the television in the living room.

After putting out another plate of cookies for her grandson, Grandma Thompson went to sit with the children.

Aiden and James decided to sit on the verandah to enjoy the last rays of the afternoon sun before sunset.

"Where did you go?" James asked while munching a warm pineapple cookie.

"Oh, um. The hospital," Aiden answered with a lowered voice. Although he said nothing about the biopsy result, James could see the strain on Aiden's face.

James looked around to make sure that no one, especially not Grandma Thompson, was around to hear their conversation. The collected laughter from the living room convinced him that it was the case.

"So... have you gotten any solution for the money problem?"

Aiden forced himself to smile.

Yes and no.

Yes, because he did get a part-time job.

No, because now that he had to magically conjure five years' worth of living expenses out of nowhere to pay for his grandmother's treatment fee over at White Chapel hospital, the little money from the part-time job was not going to cut it.

Aiden shook his head. He lowered his gaze and sighed.

"I need a lot of money, James," he openly said. "A lot of money."

James nodded in apprehension. He had been wanting to share something with Aiden for a while, but he was afraid to be judged. On the other side, Aiden needed a lot of money desperately and James had a quick solution for that.

"Aiden, umm, if you are open to some unconventional ways of earning money, I... I might have something for you."

"What do you mean, James?"

James swallowed hard.

It was not something pleasant to talk about, but it was the beginning of everything.

"When my parents died, we were allocated to different homes. I am sure you know that already."

"Yes, I do."

"Princessa was only a year old then, and she was quickly adopted by a nice old couple who had no children of their own. The rest of us were too old for adoption. Now,"

At this junction, James swallowed again.

"Around a month after Princessa was adopted, she got sick. Aiden, she got really, really sick. Her adoptive parents could not afford the hospital treatment. Both of them were covered under occupational health insurance, but the treatment that Princessa needed required her to go to a vampire hospital. You know that no insurance covers that."

James drew a deep breath.

"So the nice couple knew that Princessa still had older siblings, and asked us all to come to stay until..."

"Oh James..."

Aiden softly whispered. When all that happened, James was only a fifteen-year-old boy. He had just lost his parents. Aiden could not imagine the pain that he had to go through when he found out that he was about to lose his youngest sister.

James blinked away the tears that built in his eyes before he continued.

"... until she passed on. Now, I am her eldest brother. Of course, I could not just stand around waiting for her to die. Kneeling by her bedside and crying my eyes out ain't my thing, so I went to the recommended vampire hospital to ask if there is anything I can do to help."

Aiden widened his eyes in shock. James did what...?

James stretched out his left arm and rolled his sleeve up slowly.