June wasn’t a morning person.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1libcPJAU
But patrols weren’t optional—not for someone recently readmitted into Naomi’s restructured Order. The cold air bit through her sweater as she rounded the far edge of the compound, Mary close behind her, yawning silently.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLbnQeydKM
The borehole wasn’t on their official route. But June always checked it. Something about the way it sat—unwatched, forgotten, fenced in by banana trees—made her wary.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WwCmGYkBS
That’s when they saw it.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTT6e4QaUT
On the concrete lip of the borehole grate, curving like a forgotten crescent, was a thick arc of blue ink. Fresh. Still glistening. Perfectly symmetrical.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6ySpHoDil
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHWaziSLER
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA5kLP3zENA
They exchanged a look.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMY82iW6dqZ
Not just blue. Mercy’s blue. The same shade that once bled into Order memos, laced warnings, signed forged rosters — and marked betrayals that had cost people dearly.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJS0h6jPdXC
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg32z8DBJhk
“She never left,” June replied.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwcyD0nSzt
June didn’t touch it, but she knew. The curve wasn’t random. It was a symbol—half of one, maybe. A cipher. A signal. She glanced around. No footprints. No scent. No wind. Mercy had always been a step ahead. Even when she wasn't present, she was somehow already watching.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbdXhFBCtl
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDxWJANHE5
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKB8AkOKePP
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnifNxPos4E
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjd4R3GcuMP
That was the Mercy they remembered.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡir7bcMgrh0
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oGgj2axpz
She hadn’t followed them intentionally. But she’d noticed June’s pattern — always checking things that no one cared to. Today, curiosity had won.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGImmppdY0
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYv4X1FumXF
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskRquWYxWb
Saw the fear. The recognition.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLoUIMmFLY
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOHt3UCnr8
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiPsNvDSao
She hadn’t planned to follow June. But it was hard not to notice how she and Mary had vanished right after fifth bell, slipping off in the direction of the borehole like ghosts on assignment. Old habits die slowly—and jealousy dies slower.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxeEbwHnPy
She waited until the path was empty again. The ink mark was still there. Drier now, darker around the edges. She crouched beside it, tilting her head.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBBmvyD2S0
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcutbwFAPd
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQhzu4rHKe
She didn’t write much.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnu0iorFIe4
"The serpent returns."54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7q8Hju0GpY
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KhNYGh48i
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZe0hi1d9QT
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3g8z06kY8
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzSG4etBDo
A buzz.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGFOKLVwZO
A photo.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZATwSEVFh
A phrase:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEHvYKPGaq
“The serpent returns.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMEy2n7Ude
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeREQG3iwP
A slow breath.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDL8gILVMjK
No reply.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ7RmTmH7TY
Just movement.
***54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vt7OTy3PE
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21tZrFThzQ
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYEiHbq86Yd
Kim nodded slowly.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOP3J7nJMUD
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNXS75mScQ
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jAHwqagp3
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡateMyQadwo
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrVemOkg6s
That evening, Naomi stood at the front of the assembly hall, her face pale but composed. She held up a photo printout of the inked mark, shaking it once for emphasis.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkp6BkMypN4
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJlNW7qYYi
Her voice dropped lower.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmvw9WbCgo
“This school is no longer for games.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkd2C34NMfB
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bg7O8Ivqc
And this was her first piece.
*****54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBc4EN9G7h
June stared at the photo of the blue ink arc again, this time under the glow of a cracked desk lamp in the old arts room. The photo was blurry around the edges, but something in the shape felt… off. Not incomplete. Segmented.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1Web2a7Ca
“Look,” she murmured, pointing to where the arc wasn’t a perfect curve. It dipped and rose in odd places, like a pulse frozen in motion.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXoKMMHLbb
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXFGduUsMk
“I think it’s a cipher.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpcWDZCcKx
June opened her leather notebook and flipped to the final pages, where she’d kept sketches from Mercy’s last term in power — drawings that didn’t fit into normal Order documentation. Half-symbols. Curves. Broken sigils.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDwGcYNClD
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUfzb55hTX
But only if rotated ninety degrees.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cefjQoZcm
As she turned the photo on its side, the image changed — suddenly the arc wasn’t a shape. It was writing. Cursive. Twisted. Stylized like Mercy’s notes used to be.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAVXhbr3wv
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPBbUPngmG
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNP4jSAPHF
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwVvTW5fcT
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ90VB5r5pE
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8P3JPWp8lZ
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gukbSTaR8
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ03TOE26I0M
“I think she left everything there.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWYoamI2sY
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0zhl4GyDL
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdBLqckbJH
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSpknSIzX0
June turned fully toward her. “We both joined the Order thinking it meant loyalty. But Mercy’s truths were never above ground. She wrote in the dust, not in the books.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbBd21olhP
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiEsx2fSmF
Kim almost missed it.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYs5YngCRZm
The wind had picked up again, brushing banana leaves against the cement like fingers against drum skin. Her roommates were out, still at group studies or filling water before curfew. She sat cross-legged on her bed, flipping through old pages of a forgotten literature book.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPTysxjEvz
Then she heard the whisper.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xNprlK7rO
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcCbh2ai6N
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ESXy7wXLT
Nothing. But when she looked down, a folded strip of paper lay just inside the frame — flattened from the crawl beneath the shutters. No name. No seal. No color.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EtN79gIN9
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmL40HLG84h
“Jabari knows the underground route.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKObsfpsh9
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFF3FvzkUd
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkIIQYJrLR
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IaYyAMM0o
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVtCGOi9gJ
Her Mind Raced. Why her?54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVdBnNOuWi
If it was true—if Jabari really did know about the tunnel, about the underground paths—why would he let that slip? Unless he hadn’t. Unless someone else wanted her to know.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSus1pNe3d
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySZAvr1TrC
And how did they even know she was connected to him?54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV49yFYVDkD
She thought about the night she saw the boys run across the wall. The half-glimpsed shadows. The torn tie. The hooded girl who didn’t stop her.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3y35YhogV
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUDNqaNv74
And now this.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbnaion0BU
Kim sat down on the bed; the note clenched in her hand. It wasn’t just about her and Jabari anymore. It wasn’t just curiosity or codes or a shared suspicion that the wall wasn’t as solid as it pretended to be.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciiYq23OGe
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4P3RcCDqm
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZbjR8WfR0
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUezJbUxdEX
“Jabari knows the underground route.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDSOV7mx6p
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6MfwQr1PY
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTR9sSW6hJ
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunf4CleTpd
Seline had stormed out in one of her usual flourishes after Naomi’s address — her camera slung over her shoulder, muttering about respect and surveillance. She left it briefly unattended near the altar, in the row where she always kept her things during meetings.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TJLy8mA9h
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXNnIG4P0H
She moved like she was going to tie her shoe — bent near the camera bag, fingers slipping past the zipper with a smoothness that surprised even herself.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XLmlFZrpJ
Inside: A small DSLR camera, just as expected. A micro-SD card, exposed in the side pouch. And next to it — Seline’s school phone. 54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9kgWpo4WY
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbv5Ki7qE9h
Not unless she was hiding something with it.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNyhCcFy7FU
Shiko pulled the memory card carefully and slid a blank duplicate in its place — identical in color and make. She didn’t check what was on it. Not yet. Not here.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyAJurLYsY
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlX8rIxawSX
No one noticed.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknB7shqFap
She rose slowly and walked down the side aisle of the chapel, silent shoes on stone tiles. The old wooden pews creaked just slightly beneath her as she crouched near the third from the front — the one with the broken hymn book shelf.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmG6lMGgKOe
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToc8CbAeNR
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1N82fyA1y
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rDGaSyIwR
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMZE0gQm9c
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZJPMNmpyg
She didn’t look back.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMjnHGPrEJ
That night, Shiko inserted the stolen SD card into her hidden reader. The screen lit up. Hundreds of images. Blue ink. Borehole arc. Snapshots of June’s notebook. A blurred image of Kim and Shiko whispering near the map. Even a shadowed photo of what looked like… Mercy?54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMZox1gfkV
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeqTaQS66i
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2iykbduw9
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyWvtwmVfu
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIn61zBFHCL
He told Musa he was doing a pre-inspection for the upcoming Board visit. He told Ayo he needed quiet. In truth, he wanted no shadows behind him.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtDJLP3Hpb
Just space. And answers.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k0O2Xuq87
The grate behind the dormitories hadn’t been used in years. It squealed as he forced it open, the hinges moaning like an old confession. The tunnel beneath was narrow — concrete ribs curved above his head, lined with mildew and spiderwebs that tugged at his shoulders.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KJniLw6W7
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGY6wiw7I7p
The tunnel sloped slightly downward, toward the foundation of the old water system — long disconnected, now only half-remembered by the school’s plumbers. But Jabari had seen the diagrams. The colonial maps. The blue line that started here and ran... beyond.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIPniTkanR
He moved slowly, the torchlight sweeping across old pipe valves and chalk markings etched along the walls. Most were faded. One still glowed faintly under his beam:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzN2b26ySMZ
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyQfF5I5Va
In the overgrown greenhouse behind the girls' science wing, June steadied her hand, holding her official Order-issued phone — the one Naomi had reluctantly reinstated when they returned to duty.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AgL5gZGes
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwykAW3SMhG
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE950tYi20r
A figure.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxakRmh2FOy
Alone.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5h7J1xZif
June tapped record.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjKGB1vjKe
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGB6pF6o1bP
“He’s testing the tunnel.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAC9ZXvuYY
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzLOnveUxd
He turned right.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJbxOlDJ7Ra
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwT3er7m9AO
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6pcQxus4E
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5HsQkwjEx
None of them spoke.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTeeVYGh6w
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RL94YsnkV
"Follow Water to Truth."54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRswb3E5Ckb
He did.
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