Chapter 14: The Heretic's Gospel
The Archdiocese released a statement that morning.
"We regret to inform the faithful that Father Eleazar Bautista has been temporarily removed from his pastoral duties pending internal review. We ask the public to refrain from spreading unfounded allegations. The Church will handle the matter with prayerful discretion."
What they didn’t mention was that Ely had been isolated in a private retreat house—not a prison, not even a court proceeding. Just four walls, a chapel, and cameras watching him from the corners.
It was a gilded exile.
He prayed in silence. Refused food for a day.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGA8ZRpja2X
Then remembered Ella—alone, carrying the fire.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOogQLnvZ0
And he broke the fast with holy rage.
He began writing.
Not apologies. Not sermons.
But confessions.
Of things he witnessed. Of whispers passed in confessionals.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8eHomgRG7
Of schoolgirls groomed through catechism.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6b2F4ieux
Of seminarians silenced after catching “respected fathers” in compromising acts.
He began using old codes from their clerical studies.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Cv7Xda01H
Latin references. Names only insiders would recognize.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xxhE45VGy
He wrote them all on old chapel stationery, hiding them in hymnals.
Ely knew they'd try to convert him back into silence. Or into a “rehabilitated” priest.
But he had already become what the Church feared most—8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQrFMbrRio
A witness who believed in justice more than obedience.
Chapter 15: The Exorcism of Ella Martinez
(Clark’s POV)
They called her a demon online.
The files she leaked under SacriLeaks had reached the international press.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XRGv7EQlp
CNN. Rappler. Vatican blogs.
But the Church’s defenders were swift.
They painted her as an attention-seeker, a former dropout with “mental instability,” and even a temptress.
Some said she was possessed.
That was how Clark, a seminarian and part-time IT assistant for the university, heard her name.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NukXM9FB9
Not as Ella—the girl who used to read poetry in the chapel garden.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUmtqpLMlX
But Ella—the “witch” who made a priest fall.
He didn’t believe it at first.
Until he stumbled on her real blog—password protected, hidden under a false saint's name.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iucd56a4D
And read her letters.
“I didn’t seduce him. I showed him the wound. He bled beside me.”8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZhyTZwnEU
“If that makes me a sinner, then let’s set fire to the heaven that allows this.”
Clark’s fingers trembled.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qntfr7xOE
Because he saw the pattern now.
The real demon wasn’t Ella.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1opVsiYBA
It was the silence.8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPe3yXmcF3p
The rot hidden in incense smoke and ritual robes.
He closed the laptop. Stared at the crucifix on his dorm wall.
And for the first time in years, he felt disgust—not at her,8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMoHE1QKis
but at the god they invented to cover their sins.
He made a decision.
He would find her.
Not to report her.
But to join her.
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