Chapter Nine: Psalms for the Damned
The chapel was empty when she arrived.10Please respect copyright.PENANAAJJdqwmnzt
No choir. No candles.10Please respect copyright.PENANAmin7OFRQar
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANAPUasoKwUgT
She had asked for this meeting.10Please respect copyright.PENANAarZDxOUUVH
She didn’t want a confessional.10Please respect copyright.PENANAmAvuUBmxex
She wanted to be seen.
Ely waited at the front pew, tired, thinner than before.10Please respect copyright.PENANAwONft5TWHf
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANAq0n71l7oGl
Not ashamed.10Please respect copyright.PENANABk8oHo5zLx
Ready.
“I found a journal,” she said quietly. “It belonged to May.”
Ely blinked. The name felt distant.10Please respect copyright.PENANA4fD6FV7QF0
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANAJTixhPFFPZ
The pages were cramped with writing—some clear, some frantic.
One entry had been underlined.
March 12, 202110Please respect copyright.PENANAHbfnI3frON
I can’t say no anymore. He wears a collar but speaks like the devil.10Please respect copyright.PENANAVxyDve6aSW
He says my pain purifies him.10Please respect copyright.PENANAPGSBCSJTak
He says the more I bleed, the holier he becomes.10Please respect copyright.PENANAcRRSNqoFrk
But I’m not holy. I’m dirty. I’m scared.10Please respect copyright.PENANA4GySOEBMw4
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANAeibCZlk4pj
Inside were digitized copies of the VHS recordings.10Please respect copyright.PENANAfNLRpP7yMY
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANAPgZOZAY3cn
How many boys had flinched at the sound of Latin prayers twisted into control.
Enough to know May wasn’t the only one missing.10Please respect copyright.PENANAPvoKP0PUJd
Seven names.10Please respect copyright.PENANA68mb80de6L
All real.10Please respect copyright.PENANAyViFV225rz
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANA9Z7JYPeIWI
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.10Please respect copyright.PENANAq0cS1hNsGs
Evening Angelus.10Please respect copyright.PENANAewikfTg59g
Another call to prayer.
But neither of them stood.
They were already praying in their own way.10Please respect copyright.PENANAIk8M5kTcRP
Not with folded hands—
But with truth sharpened like a blade.
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