Chapter Four: The Virgin Files
It started with a folder.
Buried under outdated parish records, sealed in a brown envelope marked “Catechism—Class ’17.” But inside were no lesson plans. No roll calls or grades. Just photos.
Girls.
All in uniform.
Smiling awkwardly in corridors, beside statues, near the sacristy.
Some were candid.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqwFZfWsKe
Some were posed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLh39qlR4D
All were taken without consent.
Eleazar “Ely” Bautista stared at the images. His breath caught. These weren’t just random students. These were names he remembered—whispers in the hallways, faces that faded from church events without warning.
And in one photo, taken just outside the retreat house—Ella.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlMJSNAuav
Younger. Still untouched by cynicism.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZDrfHS4jF
Still believing priests were closer to heaven than harm.
The back of the photo had a name scrawled in elegant cursive: Virgen #5.
There were at least nine more.
Ely’s hands trembled as he slid the folder into his satchel. He couldn’t stay in the office—too many ears in wooden walls. Too many secrets traded in confessional booths and cigar breaks.
He began asking questions—quietly.
To the sacristan who was once kicked out of seminary “for attitude issues.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVr7tX5rOv7
To the janitor who drank too much but remembered too well.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jSRWzKgbA
To the librarian who pretended not to hear things... but catalogued everything.
One name kept surfacing: Fr. Vico.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjJH1bspf4
And one phrase:
“Sila-sila lang ang nagtatakpan.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrJTjqtdmZ
They cover for their own.
Late one evening, Ely entered the priest’s quarters under the guise of looking for baptismal records.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5lX0jPwaSw
Instead, he found the room pristine—almost sterile.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3FkAFCWkj
Except for one locked drawer.
Inside?
Perfumed letters.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XA1N1Izzx
Lipstick-stained tissues.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF7dvKkcET
A small box of jewelry—cheap, delicate pieces girls often wore in high school.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMddw6SYRDr
And at the bottom, another set of photos.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSu0giav6PP
Private. Exposed.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEoh70AhTi
No longer innocent.
Some were of Ella.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLgSEnRKBk
Others, he didn’t recognize.
Ely felt bile rise in his throat.
He knew what he had to do.
The confrontation wasn’t loud.
Ely waited until Vico was alone in the sacristy, polishing the chalice, humming a hymn.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1jw9c4HgG
As if he had no demons clinging to his hands.
“Kailan ka pa naging ganito?” Ely asked, voice low.10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oOJLzS2K5
“You broke into my room?” Vico laughed, not looking up. “That’s a bigger sin than lust, brother.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoFkWPIVnT
“You call it lust? I call it assault.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX60zQRe4dD
“I call it consent,” Vico said sharply. “They wanted it. Needed it. You think they come here for God?”
Ely took a step forward. The crucifix gleamed between them.
“You use the Church like a shield.”10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipshqDgvmW
“And you? You’ll burn this place down to feel holy?”
For a moment, the silence crackled like dry leaves ready for fire.
Then Vico said something Ely would never forget:
“You expose me… you expose them all. The school. The seminary. The Order. You think they’ll thank you? No. They’ll crucify you, not me.”
And Vico walked away.
But that night, Ely didn’t sleep.
Instead, he opened a blank Word document.
And began typing:
“To the victims who prayed for justice in silence… I hear you now.”
He labeled the file: The Virgin Files.
And he knew, once it was finished, he couldn’t undo it.
Even if it cost him his priesthood.
Even if it made him the enemy of the very Church he once vowed to serve.
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