Poisonous

Chapter 26 - Worst/Best Christmas Ever!

~Eva's POV~

"Merry Christmas, Eva!" An air horn blew. It was loud and annoying.

"Is that Damian with her?" someone else asked. I was too tired to make out the voices.

"How sweet. Shall we wake them?"

The air horn blew again. This time, it woke Titus up. He bolted right up which caused me to fall on the floor. He let me use his body as a pillow.

"Let them sleep." The voice was British: Alfred.

"But looky there, Alfred, one's awake."

I heard shuffling next to me. Damian groaned, and I felt his body sit up. I laid there with my eyes closed. The men started talking in low whispers. They left soon after leaving me to fall back asleep.

The next time I woke up, it was to the sound of a dog barking. I looked outside my window to see Damian playing with Titus. I still had the dress on from last night. I met Damian and Titus outside. A light layer of snow was on the ground and small flurries filled the sky.

"Hey, Red," Damian said.

I said a sleepily "Hi" before throwing a ball to Titus that had rolled over my direction.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Alfred's in the kitchen cooking breakfast, Jason's down in the Cave, Tim and Dick are probably scouting the Christmas tree. As for your mother and my father, they're talking about the wedding in his study," he explained.

"Oh. Do you always play Titus in the morning, outside, in the cold?" I mumbled the last little bit. I should've brought a jacket with me. Damian didn't even seemed bothered by the cold. He wasn't wearing a jacket either.

"I try to. He stays inside most of the day so it's good to get him out."

He picked up a slimy, wet ball and threw it. Titus ran back to me. He dropped it at my feet. I picked up the ball by two fingers before tossing it.

"Are you afraid of dog saliva?" Damian asked.

"No. The ball is just gross when it's wet. Because of the saliva."

Damian held out his hand for Titus to drop the ball in. We did this for a while. Titus would drop the ball at my feet, and I would throw it. Then he would place the ball in Damian's hand, and he would throw it. We did this off and on until Titus stopped playing and started chasing a defenseless rabbit. The rabbit ran into a shrub. Titus started barking at the bush and dug his nose into the leaves. He kept barking trying to get inside.

"Dumb dog," Damian muttered.

"He's not dumb. He's just. . . not as bright as you and me."

Titus gave up on the bush. Instead he found a stick to play with. It was really quite fascinating how the attention span of Titus was so little. One minute he could be playing, the next minute he could wandering around.

"Not-as-bright dog," Damian muttered.

"That's better!"

Titus ran to the door. We followed and went inside. The heat inside hit me like a brick. It felt like fire compared to outside. I went back to my room. I took a shower, changed into black yoga pants and a yellow sweatshirt. I made sure I took extra long to get ready so I could miss breakfast. I didn't want to see my mother much today. I locked myself in the bathroom. It took a while for me to put up a ponytail. Or at least that was my excuse if someone asked.

I heard someone knock on my bedroom door. I opened the door. Damian was on the other side holding a silver tray with eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice on it.