Prodigy: New World

15) Seraphim's Real Motivation

Clutching his notebook tightly to his chest, Jeremy stepped into one of the lounges. The room was dark despite the midday sun that had shone into the room next door. The curtains in this lounge had been drawn over the windows, blocking out any natural light.

Jeremy paused in the middle of the room, glancing around. He opened his mouth as though to say something, but only a sigh escaped. Speaking was useless with damaged vocal chords, but he couldn't think of any other way to attract Seraphim's attention.

Luckily, she seemed to understand what he was trying to do. A computer screen flickered on, showing Seraphim. "What is it?" She asked. "You're making it seem like you want to talk to me."

Jeremy nodded before flicking his notepad open and beginning to write. He glanced upwards occasionally, briefly meeting Seraphim's eyes. He noted that she was oddly patient, waiting for him to finish writing. He hadn't expected that from their captor.

He flipped the note book around to show her. "I just want to know your true reasons for doing all of this," he wrote. "I feel like you haven't told us everything yet."

"Haven't... told you everything?" Seraphim repeated. "Of course I haven't told you everything. You don't need to know everything."

"Is it really true that this is revenge against your father?" Jeremy asked. "If that was the case, that weird video you made wouldn't make much sense. Why force the police to give you someone who lived in the same house as you?"

"Well, what if I'm not at the research center right now?" Seraphim retaliated. "It's not like I can get in, either. I'd have to cut off the lockdown, which means that all of you could escape by the time I got there."

Jeremy shook his head and continued to write. "No, I think you are somewhere in this building." he had written. "I'm not a psychologist like Poppy is, but after losing your mother and your brother, I think that you'd be too paranoid to leave the safe walls of the center."

A small bead of sweat rolled down Seraphim's temple. "Y-You're thinking way too deeply into this." She stuttered. "A-Actually, I'm kind of glad that you decided to seek me out alone. I just wanted to say, I'm a huge fan of what you write. My mom introduced me to it. She used to love reading your books, too. She left them all behind when she left, so I kept all of them."

Jeremy smiled. "I'm glad to see that you enjoy them so much." He wrote. "Speaking of your mother, this plan of yours has something to do with her, right?"

Seraphim paused before she frowned. "W-With Mom? What do you mean?" She questioned.

"This isn't about your father at all. That was just a lie, a cover up. What you really want has something to do with your mother, right?" Jeremy deduced. "If you really wanted to kill your father, you wouldn't have done all of this. This entire plan was just to attract attention."

"And just why would I want to attract any attention?" Seraphim demanded. "I'm not an attention seeker."

Jeremy paused, thinking it over before an idea formed itself in his head. "If this is about your mother, maybe this is all a plan to get her back. Maybe you want to attract enough attention to make her come back."

Seraphim gasped, her blue eyes wide. "Wh-Why wouldI want her to come back?!" She yelled. "She ran away and left us behind! She doesn't deserve to see me again!"

"You say that, but I bet that you don't really feel that way." Jeremy argued. "I bet that you actually really care about your parents. Your whole family in general. You're just upset. I can understand that."

"How can you?!" Seraphim cried. "How can you understand?!"

Jeremy's pen hovered over the next clean page as he hesitated. Eventually, he sighed and began writing. "When I was eight years old, my little sister was born. My family didn't appreciate females at all, so both my mother and little sister were killed by my father. I walked in on the fight, only to have my father turn on me. As a result, my vocal chords were damaged. That's why I'm no longer able to talk."

Jeremy set his notebook down and watched Seraphim's reaction. She was staring at him, her eyes wide. "Th-That really happened to you...?" She stammered. "That has to be a lie... A lie to get me on your side."

Jeremy shook his head and smiled. "This isn't a lie. I promise. I just don't want this to happen anymore. I know that you're not really a bad person. I bet that you're actually really nice."

Seraphim gasped, her cheeks turning pink as tears rolled away from her eyes. After moments of stunned silence, Seraphim shrieked, the computer screen flickering before her image disappeared.

Before Jeremy could respond, the door to the lounge flew open. Brooklyn stood in the doorway, clearly out of breath, as she was panting heavily.

"Jeremy!" Brooklyn gasped, relieved at the sight of her cousin. "I was so worried about you...! What are you doing in here? I thought I heard a scream..."

"I was just talking to Seraphim." Jeremy wrote. "Let's go back to the others. I've got things to tell them."

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i cri for seraphim

AceAttorneyFan over and out!