The Sinner's Plea (John Seed FanFiction)

PROLOGUE

PRESENT DAY

"Evelyn, I don't know what to do. There's this... this man who's trying to take the farm. With your father gone, I don't know what I can do! He's thorough, this man, and dangerous. Rae Rae's telling me to get out of Montana, but you know I won't leave my home. Your father would've wanted me to stay. You can fix this, can't you?"

The voicemail your mother left you exactly one week ago replayed in your mind as you drove down a gravel road in your relatively-new Jaguar XJ. You used your heavy bonus from your last court settlement to buy it. Even the fresh manure from the Montana fields couldn't hinder the smell of the new car.

This place hasn't changed since you had last been here. Before you moved to Atlanta to become a real estate lawyer nearly ten years ago, you and your parents lived on a small family-owned farm in Hope County, Montana. The intense studying of your law degree kept you away from home for 7 years, as well as your... demanding internship with an esteemed lawyer for another 3.

This distance and time away from home left your relationship with your parents shaky, especially when you didn't return home for your father's funeral last year. You made sure to check up on your mom once a week to see how she was handling the farm alone, and she practically begged you to return home on almost every phone call.

However, this voicemail was finally enough to make you pack your bags and drive the 30 hours to see if your mother was alright. Your manicured fingernails tapped on the steering wheel frantically as you remembered your mother's voice drenched in fear and wracked with tears.

Something was terribly wrong.

She hasn't been returning your calls, and the dread of pulling into your old driveway to find your farm vanished settled into your stomach and twisted your insides like a knife. You had tried calling the neighbors who had lived beside your home since you were a child, but their answering machine tells you that they've moved from the residence on short notice.

You rolled down the windows to get some fresh air, your chest suddenly feeling too constricted with the lightweight seatbelt across your body. The headlights of your car illuminated a sign a couple of yards down the road, and as you sped down the poorly-maintained highway you realized you were entering your hometown of Hope County. 

Your back straightened and you inched closer to the steering wheel, anticipation flowing through your veins. As you started to get closer to your destination, you began to recognize your surroundings through the dim light of your car's beams. The Copperhead Rail Yard, Sunrise Farm, the Grain Elevator, and your personal favorite Fall's End. You made a mental note to stop by the Spread Eagle to see some old friends after you made sure your mother was okay.

A small smile forms to your lips as you spot a billboard coming into view, hoping it was announcing the annual "Testicle Festival" arriving soon. However, your brows furrowed when your headlights shone on to a thin white painted board that read the ominous words "The Power of Yes" scribbled with black dripping paint. It looked relatively new. 

You didn't quite understand the message or what it was advertising exactly, but you didn't bother to slow down and investigate when you had a troubled mother to attend to. After driving for another ten minutes and seeing about two more of those cryptical billboards, your nerves were on edge. What was happening here?

Pulling into the smooth dirt path that leads to your property, you audibly sighed when you saw your parents' cottage sitting perfectly stable on your 20 acres of land. You hurriedly unbuckled and threw the gear into park, scrabbling to get out of your car and run to your front door. 

As you planted your foot on the first step to your front porch, however, you stopped. Your blood seemed to freeze in your veins as you stared at the same black letters you saw on that billboard, except this time they spelled something completely different. 

SINNER.

((hey guys!! either this is your first time reading one of my books, or you're back for more after reading Black Horse! either way, welcome to my new work. :) i'm very excited about this book. seeing more of john's life as a successful lawyer and party child is something i've been wanting to do for a very long time. hopefully you enjoy the journey of exploring john's past and traveling with him to the present of eden's gate. please note that this prologue is the only "present" chapter you will see until i am finished with the past story of you being his intern as a lawyer. also note that the "present" time is occuring before the events of the deputy reaching hope county, when the cult is truly starting to thrive in montana. i will try to update this book every 3 to 4 days! as always, let me know if you have any questions or ideas for my book or john's past!! enjoy <3))