Chapter Nine: Psalms for the Damned
The chapel was empty when she arrived.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3o1H8V4yrX
No choir. No candles.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡce95vmBDVC
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3egGPKNXn
She had asked for this meeting.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlPJEjeWGt
She didn’t want a confessional.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDobhLYibhA
She wanted to be seen.
Ely waited at the front pew, tired, thinner than before.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYe5LbppUg
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yHaitwnVv
Not ashamed.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjht8qW4v6O
Ready.
“I found a journal,” she said quietly. “It belonged to May.”
Ely blinked. The name felt distant.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VVac5VXVV
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkElS49hPk
The pages were cramped with writing—some clear, some frantic.
One entry had been underlined.
March 12, 202111Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXSqhy7F8V
I can’t say no anymore. He wears a collar but speaks like the devil.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVvzr0b9y3
He says my pain purifies him.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHn5ON08ht
He says the more I bleed, the holier he becomes.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQsvpKOYOw
But I’m not holy. I’m dirty. I’m scared.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0skRSZMK0
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHTDu0Pze2
Inside were digitized copies of the VHS recordings.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpWLdfBS6O
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GKAGMTlys
How many boys had flinched at the sound of Latin prayers twisted into control.
Enough to know May wasn’t the only one missing.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoro9TE2JU
Seven names.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijOlzPxHTn
All real.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhtG1WSP77
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFZVpdoed9
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXxbgHM3pq
Evening Angelus.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6BTFwLyLOV
Another call to prayer.
But neither of them stood.
They were already praying in their own way.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8C10UdoOW
Not with folded hands—
But with truth sharpened like a blade.
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