Chapter Nine: Psalms for the Damned
The chapel was empty when she arrived.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hIu2vYhHn
No choir. No candles.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZ9YgBznxW
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQWVNz7chY
She had asked for this meeting.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9olhmI12Gm
She didn’t want a confessional.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQg6rYzRa0A
She wanted to be seen.
Ely waited at the front pew, tired, thinner than before.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbwTow6sE3
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AEupa3CG8
Not ashamed.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7puUaEr7hJ
Ready.
“I found a journal,” she said quietly. “It belonged to May.”
Ely blinked. The name felt distant.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMh0lWcbyO2
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqrTBsQUby
The pages were cramped with writing—some clear, some frantic.
One entry had been underlined.
March 12, 20217Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt3JAyprQM
I can’t say no anymore. He wears a collar but speaks like the devil.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQiJrDppu9H
He says my pain purifies him.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLWXJwWeEpv
He says the more I bleed, the holier he becomes.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66epmdQgfc
But I’m not holy. I’m dirty. I’m scared.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0VqnOxV3d
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7r7QjcsLw
Inside were digitized copies of the VHS recordings.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEl0sqegm0l
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNb35yvV4uq
How many boys had flinched at the sound of Latin prayers twisted into control.
Enough to know May wasn’t the only one missing.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFb4TGaZjP
Seven names.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGznlqBV29k
All real.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCagcyBj5iT
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQf3QrsVCz4
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.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKtrqDOODA
Evening Angelus.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiFh6cxKSy
Another call to prayer.
But neither of them stood.
They were already praying in their own way.7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFiLINLFA5
Not with folded hands—
But with truth sharpened like a blade.
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