AFTER HER VISION AT HAWTHORNE SCHOOL FOR EXCEPTIONAL YOUNG MEN, Michael had sent Eve to be with Miss Mead. He visited the two at night when the warlocks slept and would spend the night, awaking before Eve and returning before he could be caught missing.
Michael had yet to be in, leaving the two women home alone. This wasn't something that happened often, and it made Eve feel uneasy.
She had every right to be.
She was lounging in her and Michael's shared bed when she felt a familiar darkness approach. "Father?" she questioned, sitting up quickly in surprise of his unplanned visit. She took notice of his facial expression. "Is something wrong?"
"I need to get you out of here." he said, reaching forward to grip her arm.
"What?!" she exclaimed, flashing her red eyes at him. "No!"
"Eve, you need to listen to me. You're not safe here. We don't have much time, we must go."
She shook his grip off of her. "I'm not going anywhere until you give me an explanation!"
With sullen eyes, he reached out to touch her cheek, showing her his memory from earlier.
"Another vision, Madame Voyait?" Asmodeus questioned.
She turned around to face him, expression grave. "You need to retrieve Eve and bring her back to Hell immediately."
The Demon's brows furrowed. "What did you see?"
"Cordelia Goode is planning on burning your daughter at the stake and then hiding her soul somewhere Michael can not retrieve it. Somewhere he'd never return to: the Murder House."
Asmodeus then realized the gravity of the situation.
Madame continued, "We both know demons do not have souls. What's left of her human soul is barely in existence. She has followed the path of darkness, thus destroying the majority of her soul. If my vision comes true, what's left will be destroyed. It'll be like she never existed."
Asmodeus' expression hardened. He couldn't let this happen, especially not when no amount of magic, dark or light, could bring his daughter back. Not only that, but he knew a part of him loved his daughter. He nodded, turned away, and used astral projection to send himself to his daughter's location.
Eve stumbled backwards. "I can't just leave without saying goodbye!"
"I'm sorry," he said, grabbing her arm again, "So sorry." He astral projected them back to Hell.
-
Eve looked around her old bedroom blankly. It was just how she left it a year and a half ago. Four bare brick walls left her feeling cold for the first time in her life, even with the roaring fire coming from the hearth behind her. A fur rug sat in front of it. Snakes came out from their hiding places to greet their familiar.
Numbly, she moved to sit down on her four-poster bed, covered in red silk sheets. The material she gripped with clenched hands that once gave her comfort only made her feel colder.
Not bothering to change into something more comfortable, she pulled the covers back and laid down. If she concentrated and closed her eyes, she could almost feel him there, laying on his side and watching her. She wanted to sleep and only wake up once it was time for her to return to the human world. Unfortunately, that was not how things worked. She wasn't Sleeping Beauty and even if she was, her Prince would not be there to wake her with true love's kiss.
She lay there for some time, staring numbly ahead at the brick wall across from her. She watched the snakes slither about the floor in front of the fireplace, craving the warmth it gave off. The familiar warmth she craved that was left alone on Earth. She then decided to visit Madame Voyait's room to look into the scrying glass. A pit of dread filled her stomach. She could feel it in her bones – something horrible had happened. She needed to check on Michael.
When she entered the room, Madame was absent. She hoped she didn't mind that she was using her scrying glass without asking.
She waved a hand in front of the mirror, focusing on find where Michael was. Tears came to her eyes when she saw what was happening.
Michael had stumbled upon the burned bodies of his allies. Madame had been right. She could've been one of them.
"It's over." Cordelia said, "We know who you are. Your allies are all dead. You failed."
"I've already proved I can defy death. I'm just going to bring her back." He spoke, purposely not mentioning Eve. He'd only counted three bodies – Eve could still be alive. "And when I do, my Miss Mead will stand by me and watch as you die."
"You can certainly go to Hell, but you won't find her there."
On the other side of the mirror, Eve's lips parted in horror.
"What have you done?"
Eve could feel the underlying emotions he was hiding. Cordelia was merely steps away from her demise, and then –
"Her soul is hidden by a spell only I can break."
There it was. Cordelia Goode had sealed her fate when she spoke that single sentence to the Antichrist. She was only fueling his vicious anger and lust for revenge.
"You'll never see her again." The witch continued, "You're alone."
No, he was never alone. He had Eve – though not physically – she would always be there, watching and protecting. The halfling was loyal to a fault – so loyal that the pair had an unbreakable bond.
Michael's voice broke as he spoke. "I'm never alone. I have my father."
"Where is he now? Why did he let this happen?" Her tone wasn't cruel but the message behind her words certainly was. And Michael? He just kneeled there, utterly broken. "You don't have to follow this path your father laid out for you. You can write your own destiny. You can still turn away."
Eve knew the woman would never be able to sway him. Months ago there was a chance. Before she'd revealed herself, maybe even before the Warlocks found him, there would've been a chance. Maybe if she said those same words before he had spent all that time with Miss Mead there would've been a chance he'd switch sides. Michael Langdon was far too gone and in too deep to change his mind now.
"There's humanity in you," Cordelia continued, "I see it. If you come with me, maybe we can find it – together."
For a moment it almost looked like he'd accepted her offer. But when he stood up to his full height, he turned vicious. "Somehow, someway, I am gonna bring her back, and then I'm gonna kill every last one of you."
Then it was over and Eve fell down to her knees and cried. She let herself stay there for a moment before picking herself up off the dirty brick floor, wiped her tears away, and left to her room.
She sat in front of the fireplace on the rug, her silk sheets wrapped around her small frame. An orange glow reflected off of the snakes' scales.