Love Venom

Chapter 18 - Doctor Smith

LV 18 - Doctor Smith

At the first glance, Jet finds Doctor Smith was a man that ages gracefully, with his hair completely white, glossy, and sleek. His face was smooth without many age lines, but when he smiled, it was easier to spot them.

Peering at Jet through his frameless spectacles, Doctor Smith announced, "You are healthy, with no signs of injury or blood loss."

It was surprising, considering Violet had taken a lot of blood from Jet yesterday. The only time he was allowed to heal naturally was after Violet released him. Not even a strong werewolf could be as healthy as Jet after undergoing the same ordeal. Doctor Smith had briefly checked Violet before she went to sleep, and she was mostly fine, which drinking more blood would solve it. Fortunately, whatever was injected in Jet's blood did not harm Violet any further.

"Do you know what I've been injected with?" Jet inquired.

"Without the necessary machine, I can't give you an accurate answer. The drug was already mostly dissolved inside your body. But my guess is it's likely to be a high dose of paralyzing drugs." Doctor Smith used a syringe to retrieve a small dosage of Jet's blood, along with Violet's, to the hospital lab to be examined in detail.

Seeing that Doctor Smith had finished examining him, Jet started to ask about his new tattoo. "Do you know what this is?" Jet touched the purple snake on his neck after pulling down the collar of his shirt. Doctor Smith gave the impression of knowing Violet for quite some time and he might know what was on his neck.

"Ah... that's the second one I've seen." Doctor Smith had seen a similar tattoo from a picture for the first time, and Jet's tattoo was the one he gets to see with his own eyes.

"You know what this is? Why did Violet give me this? What does it do?" Jet asked quickly when he saw Doctor Smith's eyes flashed with interest.

"I know that it's called 'Love Venom'. It's a gift only Miss Violet and her maker have. A rare gift that only Miss Violet managed to inherit among her peers under the same maker." Doctor Smith pushed up his glasses as he leaned closer to look at the purple snake and his fingers prod around it. "I was told it's a symbol that works alike to marriage, where only death is the way to break it."

Jet's heart skipped a beat, and he was unsure if it was out of dread or joy. "What do you mean by working like marriage?"

"...Know that I've only heard this from others and not from the source herself. What I've heard may not be the truth."

"You did not ask her about it?"

Doctor Smith laughed. "And why would you think I would want to ask her that?"

"Aren't you interested in vampires? That's why you agreed to work for Violet in exchange for her blood, isn't it?"

Doctor Smith raised a white eyebrow in surprise and stopped leaning over Jet. He had not thought this young man would be this sharp. "And how do you figure that out?"

Jet frowned. "You look strange as if you are not aging right."

"It's that obvious? Everyone said the same thing." Doctor Smith sighed, but without any negative emotion. "I used to drink Miss Violet's blood once a month. I'll be nearly a hundred years old soon."

Noticing Doctor Smith said the word 'used', Jet asked, "Why did you stop drinking?" He tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling at the thought of someone having drunk Violet's blood.

"I can finally let go and leave the world with a peaceful mind."

His grandson from his only child that his elderly wife managed to give birth to was finally graduating from university. He will soon step into the working life and marry his childhood lover, starting his own family. If Doctor Smith did not leave soon, he would grow obsessed with watching the arrival of his great-grandchildren, desire to accompany them to their adulthood, and suffer the pain of losing his loved ones again.