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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6cFsHW5cV
Then remembered Ella—alone, carrying the fire.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBTLC3becY
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡge6mY8VmRq
Of schoolgirls groomed through catechism.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtszzJqTX75
Of seminarians silenced after catching “respected fathers” in compromising acts.
He began using old codes from their clerical studies.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgC2ByQas1d
Latin references. Names only insiders would recognize.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKAGuyut0w
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—9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLwpH2OCkN
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51OirwKYyI
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcyMwYnPts
Not as Ella—the girl who used to read poetry in the chapel garden.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4i7NbB8PY
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.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeu2W1PM8r
And read her letters.
“I didn’t seduce him. I showed him the wound. He bled beside me.”9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf2UDTwFyJ
“If that makes me a sinner, then let’s set fire to the heaven that allows this.”
Clark’s fingers trembled.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56HWgISclA
Because he saw the pattern now.
The real demon wasn’t Ella.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7HyuiGJoTX
It was the silence.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nlvXkfX9C
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,9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV51T8HaQbh
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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