Jacob groans, hearing the chirp of the radio. He looks over at the clock, 1AM.
"Brother Jacob?" A voice calls through the radio. "I'm very sorry to wake you, but Brother John is missing." Jacob can't grab the radio quickly enough, his stomach drops.
"What do you mean missing?" Jacob asks.
"He isn't anywhere on the property, Brother Jacob," The person states. "We checked at least 3 times."
"What was he wearing?" Jacob asks pulling on his clothes.
"I believe it was silk pajamas,"
"Did you radio Jo…the Father?" Jacob asks.
"No, Brother Jacob, I fear his reaction," The person says. "Do you want me to contact Sister Faith?"
"No! That…that won't do any good," Jacob says. "I am headed your way, do not contact anyone else until I get there."
"Yes, Brother Jacob, thank you,"
Jacob sighs gathering up everything he might need, making his way to the cages where they house the judges. At this point he is just going through the motions; his mind was elsewhere. Why would John leave? Where would he go? Is he safe? God, Jacob prays that he is safe, he cannot lose his youngest brother again. He tried so hard to save him from their father's wrath, but he could not save him completely. And to think that he went to a family that did much worse. Not to mention the countless foster homes he landed in before he was officially adopted.
Jacob is pulled from his thoughts when he walks out of the compound. It was cold, no it was freezing. He takes the radio off his belt.
"How long has he been missing?" Jacob asks.
"I believe it has been an hour, Brother Jacob,"
"Why didn't you call me straight away?! It is freezing out here and he's in silk. Silk isn't all that warm!" Jacob snarls.
"I am sorry, Brother Jacob, I…I thought we could handle it,"
"Well, obviously you can't!" Jacob snaps back. He sighs, "Gather your best soldiers and have them ready. I will access if the Father needs to be called when I get there."
"Yes, Brother Jacob,"
Jacob practically speeds down the road, desperate to get to Holland Valley as quickly as possible. Jacob parks the truck, rushing inside John's bunker. He makes it to John's bedroom where a group of soldiers wait. Jacob says nothing as he starts to search. His blood runs cold when he notices the pairs of shoes on the floor, laid neatly next to one another.
"He left in a hurry," Jacob says. "He's either barefoot or has slippers on. Did anyone see him?"
"He has been in one of his moods the past few days," one of the soldiers says. "We are…we try and avoid him the best we can." Jacob just nodded, he understood why. Anything could set John off when he is in one of his moods. Jacob grabs a dirty shirt putting it in his pants.
"Follow me," Jacob orders. Jacob opens the hatchback, opening the cage of the Judge, he can see out of the corner of his eye the soldiers start to back away in fear. He holds out the dirty shirt, the judge sniffing it, he pulls out his music box. "Find him." Jacob steps out of the way as the Judge starts to sniff the ground. "Keep up, soldiers." Jacob starts to follow the judge; it goes deeper and deeper into the woods. The trees were blocking the wind somewhat. Jacob stops when he sees the Judge start to lick something on the ground, blood. "Keep going." Jacob orders the Judge. They were getting closer to a body of water. The judge starts to bark when they are underneath a bridge. Jacob pulls out a flashlight shining underneath the bridge when he sees John's still body lying on the grass. "JOHN!" Jacob screams running to his brother. He was cold to the touch, his body was wet, and blood dripped from his feet. But he was breathing, slow shallow breaths but they were breaths, nonetheless. "Call the doctor! Tell them we are coming!"
"Should someone inform the father now?" one of the soldiers asks.
"I will," Jacob says. "Leave that to me. John, come on, talk to me. Please, John!" Jacob starts to strip himself of his jacket, wrapping it around John's body. He put his finger over John's neck. His heart was beating but it was slow. Jacob shakily pulls the radio off his pants, turning the signal to his younger brother's station. "Joseph?"
"What is it, Jacob? Is everything alright?" Joseph asks.
"No, it's John," Jacob says. "He's hurt. He ran from his bunker in the middle of the night, no coat, no shoes, he's freezing cold."
"Where are you?" Joseph asks. Jacob can tell he is trying to keep calm.
"Under a bridge in Holland Valley," Jacob says. "John's soldiers are getting the doctor." Jacob pauses when John stills in his arms, he can't see his chest rising anymore, he leans down to listen to John's heartbeat, there was nothing. "NO! John! NO, you cannot do this to me! You can't do this to Joseph! We need you!" Jacob starts CPR straight away, all voices distant and unfocused. "I need you, John!" Jacob shouts, he could feel John's ribs crack under the pressure. He is pushed aside rather forcibly. He takes a shaky breath watching as the doctor starts to put patches on John's skin. Jacob can finally hear and the first voice he hears is Joseph's. He was terrified.
"What's going on? Jacob, please answer me," Joseph asks.
"We have a pulse!" The doctor shouts. "How long was he down?"
"5 minutes," a soldier answers. Jacob puts the radio to his mouth.
"He's alive," Jacob says. "We lost him for a second, but he's alive."
"We'll take him back to his estate, I have everything set up there I might need," The doctor says.
"Joseph, we are going to John's estate, he has to be checked out," Jacob informs him.
"How bad?" Joseph asks.
"His feet are bloody; he was wearing nothing but silk. His top was unbuttoned as if he was fighting to get it off, so I'm worried about hypothermia," Jacob states.
"I'll be there," Joseph says. Jacob gets up, whistling loudly, the Judge rushing to his side. He follows the doctor. They make it to the estate faster than he thought. Joseph is already there waiting for them. He watches as John is wheeled into the house. "Come." Joseph says holding out his arms in front of him. Jacob sniffles wrapping his arms around his younger brother. "Do we know what set him off?"
"No, there was nothing in his bunker, maybe there is something here that will help?" Jacob asks. Joseph just nods, they walk into the estate, making their way up to John's office. They both knew that there was nothing that they could do to help their brother right now. They could only try and understand why John had done this. They walked into the office; it was messy. It reminded Joseph of John's office in Atlanta. Jacob takes no time looking over the things on the desk. Joseph goes over to the phone machine; he notices a few saved messages. He starts to play them. The first is from Jacob, letting him know about some of the workers John had sent over to the mountains, the next one is Joseph singing Amazing Grace. He remembers John had texted him in a crisis but wouldn't answer his phone. He knew that by singing he would help him. The message ends and a soft voice comes through the voice box.
"Since you were so rude and weren't answering me, you left me no choice here Brother John," Faith's voice was sharp and harsh. Jacob looks up as well. "You know that these thoughts are unpure, sinful. Tell me why I shouldn't tell the Father? You would be cast aside. Thrown away like the dog that you are. Your parents were right, John. Your soul is tainted, did you think you could be saved? Answer my calls and notes Brother John or else I'm telling the Father. Or maybe I'll tell Brother Jacob instead." Jacob looks at Joseph then turns back to the papers. He finally finds what he's looking for, recognizing Faith's handwriting.
"She's been blackmailing him," Jacob says.
"To do what?" Joseph asks. "What does she want from him?" Jacob sighs but continues to read. His stomach drops as he reads. "Jacob?"
"Sex," Jacob says. Joseph turns his head to look at him, making sure he heard him right. "She's been forcing him to have sex with her, Joseph. She's holding something over his head. Maybe she heard something when we had him put under the bliss? Something we didn't hear because we weren't there. There is nothing about it in their correspondents, but John keeps saying that he can't do it anymore. He said that it would have been better if he was just dead."
"How do you know they are…" Joseph asks.
"'You keep saying you don't like it, John, but why is it that every time we are together you get hard?' 'Maybe because you get me high enough to where I don't know who I am fucking'" Jacob reads. He tosses the papers onto the desk. Joseph has his hands in front of him, gripping them tightly together, his head is bowed. Jacob knows what he is doing, asking God or the Voice for guidance, on what to do in this situation. Joseph hangs his head but takes a deep breath before taking the papers, folding them, and putting them into his jacket.
"We will handle her later, right now, we have to be there for John," Joseph states.
"I didn't think she was capable of this," Jacob says.
"Why? We molded her into this," Joseph says. "We made her this way. Whatever she has on him is enough to make him think that ending his life would be easier than living. He should know that whatever sin he has inside, it can be forgiven."
"It's John," Jacob reminds Joseph. Joseph just nods solemnly. "He has to be okay, Joseph. I don't…" Jacob inhales his breath getting caught in his throat as he coughs out a sob. Joseph is by his side in an instant providing the comfort he needs.
"He will be," Joseph says. "Even if he isn't, we will make sure he's taken care of. Anything for our little brother, right?"
"Anything," Jacob agrees.