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Buried under outdated parish records, sealed in a brown envelope marked “Catechism—Class ’17.”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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkxdhcuXnq
Some were posed.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxn1x4Xt0lD
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRjBdHEP9Ms
Younger. Still untouched by cynicism.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHoWXQ5HuK
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.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAp9Xe3QGsz
To the janitor who drank too much but remembered too well.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBXOHXVcPF
To the librarian who pretended not to hear things... but catalogued everything.
One name kept surfacing: Fr. Vico.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIb7HALiGY
And one phrase:
“Sila-sila lang ang nagtatakpan.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1ymy4277m
They cover for their own.
Late one evening, Ely entered the priest’s quarters under the guise of looking for baptismal records.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJshO4xisrv
Instead, he found the room pristine—almost sterile.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBds8ucUQA
Except for one locked drawer.
Inside?
Perfumed letters.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDydVx6Pxt2
Lipstick-stained tissues.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3SM1GeCcA
A small box of jewelry—cheap, delicate pieces girls often wore in high school.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DZxLyWbHR
And at the bottom, another set of photos.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciPxi3zabb
Private. Exposed.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1vyTvU6dy
No longer innocent.
Some were of Ella.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMMOLASnwN
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PyGSp86XC
As if he had no demons clinging to his hands.
“Kailan ka pa naging ganito?” Ely asked, voice low.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt35F6y6mgW
“You broke into my room?” Vico laughed, not looking up. “That’s a bigger sin than lust, brother.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOctOGViNM1
“You call it lust? I call it assault.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZXRIOw1br
“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.”11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0AC8MlN3l
“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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