“Water’s Path”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCejke3C6qj
The grate groaned louder this time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4K2uBPNusu
Musa had oiled the hinges the day before, but rust still fought them on principle. Jabari winced at the noise — not because it might give them away, but because it was inefficient. Unclean. Sloppy.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlUGzRX1Wp
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRVqRoxY1d
Because he had.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTv0sXICPD
Jabari followed, torchlight already painting the sloped concrete ahead of them in shaky yellow arcs. Musa took the rear, glancing back once to check that the lock clicked quietly into place.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFYaRbFUqt
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjfEEklgkJ
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJw7ENJ5vGn
Now they moved. The walls narrowed where old pipes jutted from the ceiling, dripping condensation and rust. Footprints marked the sludge — faint, shallow, but undeniable.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mdMIkCYZR
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYBUWtic6o
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqe2DZZxwwL
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbYqB7zrqX
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdMD5pLIFMT
They walked for seven more minutes.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAX8BIUjgA
The tunnel veered slightly to the left, then leveled. At the far end, beneath the old junction where Kisumu Girls’ science wing once connected to the shared pre-independence utility shaft, a faint patch of air carried a new scent: chalk dust and old detergent.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV51B7L2KJG
Jabari stopped.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6dKpJosdO
The space widened slightly. A second hatch — rusted but intact — blocked the passage forward. Spray-painted once in faded white: “O3” — the old access tag for shared maintenance between both schools.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrpB89GXiU
Jabari placed his hand against it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3aX4Dr8wD
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPXFCaLAPe
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvdIqccQDq
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡertuqxolQM
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAa6aZ0lj4
They opened it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3jpzxjh9R
The air that spilled out was drier than the tunnel — warmer. Faint traces of soap and boiled cabbage told them what they feared: They were on the other side now.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kt8lObIcY
They emerged behind a collapsed water pump near the base of what used to be the girls’ science annex — now a disused tool shed beside a cracked concrete trough.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6NktSXrGN
It was quiet. But not still.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8wPkPzQEx
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPdORGKiDk
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvfOLkN2x6
Jabari’s breath slowed.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPXmxERc6z
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbySsob51yC
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Ycf7XJNOE
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfZDZsbEMI
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61eHXDxyXx
They didn’t linger. The breach had been proven. The path existed. The schools were not two. They were one body, stitched together by ignorance and fear — and now, that thread was unraveling.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvD4eCErp9
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsHnnvVTd6
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0M98qIIdWE
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgHAsq1dIH
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyZh3hQajZ
He wasn’t meant to be there.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wIf9xzvR9
He hadn’t been invited.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGn8jflqEW
Hadn’t even been told.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CYCRXRkda
But Juma knew how Jabari moved when he was hiding something. The way he tucked his sleeves. The way he avoided eye contact with people who asked too few questions.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWkdmi86fg
So, when Jabari, Musa, and Otieno vanished after prep without explanation, Juma followed — a few paces back, hidden in the shadow of the unfinished perimeter wall.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52Gu9wrjaj
At first, he thought they were going to stash records. Maybe revisit the archive gap Otieno had found. But when they pried open the borehole grate, his stomach turned.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwvKPii9V4
The tunnel.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFMK7ub7uY
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQlsequu0M
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIGdVLzLvZ
He didn’t follow directly. He walked slower, far enough back to let the echoes settle. He didn’t need to hear them. He just needed to watch. He could still smell the rust of the pipe joints. Still hear the old riddle in his mind— “follow water to truth”. It used to sound like legend.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9JyeKYEJr
Now it felt like betrayal.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3xE1jK3ksm
Crossing into the girls’ side?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPHT9Pva3w
For what? Information? Or for someone?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJBboycWij
Kim’s name surfaced like a wound, unspoken but sharp. Did she know? Had she met Jabari? Was this part of their “alliance,” the one Juma never got the full story on?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQfDpq62qi
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeF8YHnVPC7
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtAN0tBJpL
As Jabari and his crew reached the junction beneath the science annex and paused to survey the exit point, Juma watched from behind a bend, hidden in shadow.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDzZnIOnGN
He didn’t speak. Didn’t breathe. But in his chest, a slow decision began to form. If Jabari won’t say what he’s doing… Then Juma will find out for himself.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxKn0bA2et
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3LpKZRfC2
They never heard them coming.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUJha18JYm
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHedOcXzaYI
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKrCHQ1YVqd
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdo3Ixe5VK
Kerosene.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBiSsokT7Y
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVck36eMBNw
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQMXgyvjp4
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENPQfDbV2A
Small. Orange.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7U0TfWtZ9
Then the flare lit.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRI2jJwqzJ
A white-hot hiss exploded forward, rolling fire in a half-spiral across the wet stone. Jabari yanked back violently, his games kit catching on a pipe and nearly igniting.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIddfH1wX3
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1pPYNMgk4
Otieno dove back into the bend.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD9gmli2sK
And then they heard it— A voice.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJkFuY163I
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCwAsdvkak
“You were warned.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTediRjCTnj
The light died as quickly as it came.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhN5D6VoVLC
When they stumbled forward five minutes later — torchlight flickering nervously — they found only the reek of scorched cloth, a blackened floor, and a small smear of red chalk on the tunnel wall:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpovciRhnuk
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5rDkTzoz4
Jabari said nothing for a long time.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xQ7W9ouom
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpUnRte7wA
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCCmF03nhs
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWaKRI516p
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezPq58ZMyU
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnrUYfixFD
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLxtzJKTa6
“Was that really necessary?”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lMnOHlKtL
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY64dvuxE5S
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrjkDyCugw
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqldQM515z
No hood. No bluff.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXwf5K7sq0
Just him — tall, furious, silent.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8R2VxEGr1A
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuX0zEGu7T
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFx1smQ7i5v
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jO4pabHTn
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxAlhJ42u1
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNpwB4JT3m
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZtlhgDOse
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEndIuqdKe8
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsmlswo1Xt
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnZ0mcM30Z
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3Cq6ZSsLn
Black. Crisp.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4egBd2o9J
Stamped with a mark: M.O.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo4IZzVqto0
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr86sNiXfHq
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiJzOiEM1W
Mercy’s initials.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qbs0mUbJl
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYS5EVAVK82
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlgdtHNmPN
Daring him to guess how deep this went.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD37Sql5hZ6
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3P9QgRLYOI
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYn53hHzMYO
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnGU4U30FM
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80g0g5ObXD
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoycMwGpo8
She descended through the old sacristy vent — a crawlspace known only to three girls in the school’s long history. She entered barefoot, silent, and carrying only a candle stub, a bottle of ink, and the folded black card Ayo had delivered.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL719MukJta
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWmQqMRIdz
Her initials. But not her handwriting.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD45aAZlNt
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMO3UEZQbO
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8cwR1SsUU
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFmuZh8yge
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdWS3g95VE
Then it clicked.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5w9gnSxYhF
She opened her ink bottle, dipped a pin in lightly, and connected the dots in the order they appeared from fold to fold. A new shape formed:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ULB83GKbZ
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZAjxLyPjz
It mirrored the forgotten layout beneath the science annex. The same route she'd once used to vanish during inspections, emerge behind the greenhouse, and drop messages across the wall without ever touching its surface.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8YMEwdhgt
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGg3aNwTNc
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0QxJ132g9
June didn’t mean to watch her. But she'd grown used to Mercy disappearing at odd hours, always returning with a sharper look in her eyes — like she knew something no one had asked yet.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dwRvzuf51
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tL6PDyogX
And what she saw?52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Bn6e8ZqIj
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCIHV5jjmN
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiTdJMZ0cu
Knowingly.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6MObcpsFx
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftOyLDC6Hs
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa73TfFOIx3
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXe9t5P9dMe
She smiled wider. So that was the game. They hadn’t just reopened the tunnel. They had given her the key to walk back through it.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUPQyVkxAt
Mercy stood, tucking the black card into the seam of her skirt. Her steps were slow, silent, almost ceremonial as she exited the chapel’s back door and disappeared toward the annex.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNuVAEQ8m0
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fUfTZDezR
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ksoJsrfhL
52Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKKzA5c2eo
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