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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4JdyywaQPr
Then remembered Ella—alone, carrying the fire.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26D4VVeaCs
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuS1uXqP8ZW
Of schoolgirls groomed through catechism.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JYgkS04aZ
Of seminarians silenced after catching “respected fathers” in compromising acts.
He began using old codes from their clerical studies.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzD3KgmPhCf
Latin references. Names only insiders would recognize.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCNuxI623B
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—11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MuM7WBAP4
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsMuQSBnZu
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJk8FF494k
Not as Ella—the girl who used to read poetry in the chapel garden.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy24Sll3H2W
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DngLzhFAB
And read her letters.
“I didn’t seduce him. I showed him the wound. He bled beside me.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVtDRUAtM4
“If that makes me a sinner, then let’s set fire to the heaven that allows this.”
Clark’s fingers trembled.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahP0CgRLcS
Because he saw the pattern now.
The real demon wasn’t Ella.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5B9ZOH8M5
It was the silence.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9w4y8VifN
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,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHarXlBsP9B
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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