Chapter Nine: Psalms for the Damned
The chapel was empty when she arrived.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOts5sZVdvv
No choir. No candles.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37pCpR1Rzx
Only dust motes and the faint sound of organ keys echoing from the seminary practice hall.
Ella walked slowly, her school shoes clicking against marble.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnK6ZiraYx
She had asked for this meeting.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYtmGw62u4
She didn’t want a confessional.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG0XkpFV8c
She wanted to be seen.
Ely waited at the front pew, tired, thinner than before.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGovNGQWId
The tape Levi gave him hadn’t left his satchel since that night—but it hadn’t left his mind either.
When Ella sat beside him, her eyes looked different.
Not afraid.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPgtK7QiaA
Not ashamed.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHK9EXtqsHF
Ready.
“I found a journal,” she said quietly. “It belonged to May.”
Ely blinked. The name felt distant.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo3cCCldIq
But Ella saw the flicker of recognition.
“May de Vera,” she said. “She was supposed to join the Sisters of Mercy. Second year theology. She disappeared during our Lenten retreat. Everyone said she dropped out. But I never believed that.”
She handed over a faded notebook. The corners were chewed by time.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuikJlo363X
The pages were cramped with writing—some clear, some frantic.
One entry had been underlined.
March 12, 20219Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4u1sTuPozp
I can’t say no anymore. He wears a collar but speaks like the devil.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFjtvuBgUce
He says my pain purifies him.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxs8VEUsq4f
He says the more I bleed, the holier he becomes.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l1taGevr9
But I’m not holy. I’m dirty. I’m scared.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFMY8hbaUc
I want out. I don’t think I’ll ever get it.
“Did she name him?” Ely asked.
Ella shook her head. “No. But she mentioned the chapel undercroft. And the tapes. And… one more thing.”
From her bag, she pulled out a USB.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRYRNrDeu5
Inside were digitized copies of the VHS recordings.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaZVnXMg2t
She had stolen them—from Levi.
“He gave me access,” she explained. “Said if I really wanted justice, I’d have to get my hands dirty too.”
“You watched them?” Ely asked, voice tight.
“Some,” she said, voice flat. “Just enough.”
Enough to know how many girls had cried in silence.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmN8MApoU2i
How many boys had flinched at the sound of Latin prayers twisted into control.
Enough to know May wasn’t the only one missing.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsgPdBgqIF
Seven names.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK20DZLdElq
All real.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAabMSLJ0yl
All gone without closure.
Ely opened the file. One folder was named “Psalms for the Damned.”
Inside:
Maria C. – Novice.
Danilo V. – Altar boy.
Riza T. – Scholar.
May D. – Candidate nun.
Joel P. – Assistant cantor.
Leah B. – Retreatant.
Benedict R. – Former seminarian.
All filmed. All branded under service to God.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2B7wwMaybv
But none of them served anything holy.
“I want to expose them,” Ella said. “Not just Fr. Emiliano. The whole chain. The ones who watched. Who covered it up. Who let it happen so they could keep their jobs.”
Ely stared at her, eyes burning.
“You’re not a child anymore.”
“No,” she said. “I’m not.”
The bells rang overhead.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4afYkEgiUj
Evening Angelus.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3oVkYT0vj
Another call to prayer.
But neither of them stood.
They were already praying in their own way.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1w2OeEfCMC
Not with folded hands—
But with truth sharpened like a blade.
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