June wasn’t a morning person.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFlVr1KbU5
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0ASBJDeXj
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QyYaCgvRw
That’s when they saw it.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRAcd7ItJV
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgETsgsyt5
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gBpwKVUzI
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSMxRhub5O
They exchanged a look.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1JY4RgUPL
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3SbCPf2RK
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UAiPMJb0N
“She never left,” June replied.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sit0x6PXo
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34nkUqCvu2
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFgwdeP2ON
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOC29F0TGvh
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61pUsWoTl8
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxT7P4sXagx
That was the Mercy they remembered.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnzmpS3e69
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4E1Ov8dfC8
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZvwBNvWWc
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3frvInlH2
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBg4VvqP1e
Saw the fear. The recognition.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS2M2DI0MK
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqvzRUX0l2
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ARgzp2YrM
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4bDJwsSKz
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSBo8CjTmS
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDJjTgOacf
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslqyKf519s
She didn’t write much.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsPmbTJeI8
"The serpent returns."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61CWPKOrkN
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoTgw7pET8
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybWZFvdG5c
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOl1HWcREi2
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZPFmmg5kB
A buzz.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w6Pk0Uq61
A photo.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjyC8GaF6A
A phrase:57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGo5dnWB0k
“The serpent returns.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTUesKQvJA
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5eoqrOP7iK
A slow breath.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gzR2UBmya
No reply.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUZHfr3VZXq
Just movement.
***57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIDkAjW3j2
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6ji4D8Rcr
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWo5s4NZRk
Kim nodded slowly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRIub9kEtx
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9tkR83nfn
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2b0mx8vynG
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MGvWB8Kz6
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTpSH6KDoyw
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGtfvQ1mJO
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1HojtW0mT
Her voice dropped lower.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjBvLz097H
“This school is no longer for games.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2fMvMLQal
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZaBxsJySN
And this was her first piece.
*****57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxPcfMUf5b
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4YLQNhhZ0G
“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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88a1IGmxuW
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWioJV3EWt
“I think it’s a cipher.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjB9CukkLcN
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMrQ5tx4ZB
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEYhviJW6j
But only if rotated ninety degrees.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV25YvFhUJE
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7tYdtkRp8
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRqZq13lZI
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4qxtRDT0a
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT0D4eVuTQ
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjOqxIK3Vh
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWsdRM15r4
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX13XvUzVZp
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YDQKG3obg
“I think she left everything there.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Wqm9N0Qx9
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFBaabHE8X
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVNDvCeQzA
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyKC48cyiu
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.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfha1TXKLJ0
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4vf8kLzQP
Kim almost missed it.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI93WjFJh1i
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzs3plKAhJ3
Then she heard the whisper.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJz5EsGjZO
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ18nTnb6x7
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfjdoMt9bs
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwd0CpJJWSp
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNfspuOqba
“Jabari knows the underground route.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkISfPrctN
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCeYpWfjff
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdyotWvBZm
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OUCfAW0Sf
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrVp90Kk4L
Her Mind Raced. Why her?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OxEG6nvt9
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPOgqE4M8R
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU08BSihqS6
And how did they even know she was connected to him?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHjvcMjfmJ
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoCciSOMeE
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun8vpwotZG
And now this.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1GUJpFxPg
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdI1Z8XDs0J
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuNY524OW1
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSR8ejBokx
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQAA8eOo4y
“Jabari knows the underground route.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUstPFtEwON
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4w8LwVFRG1
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoti2Fc2xwL
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkJASzMnTJ
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ450zfZeFJX
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lMy15xwZH
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYgJ0wxr9r
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. 57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYDGXJdhV8
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVm803SrYOz
Not unless she was hiding something with it.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIFqrK5uOI
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡap3zT0iJYs
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLpmI1ekM4
No one noticed.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rZZZJXQsf
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pGrmO59On
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcpiQKefga
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2hmcGvHxO
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigHsc09i26
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsdKJfDGSK
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYRnImjMNS
She didn’t look back.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2tZsFvPJx
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?57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXfBMhNPVA
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kWteOmwdI
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnD6hQbQ5u
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkCgD8IMXk
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCuuXXVn1q
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclREgrnUoy
Just space. And answers.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamYkiEft2m
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiECWL2Kjr
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0EE0fOy33
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxk1Zcm9FL
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:57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgeQN5G453
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLw9QqpGX8
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.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4n4FpRNT5
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZugDrAkLQ
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhA5R3yJrCM
A figure.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEbMA7xUoY
Alone.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQCwS4KiAW
June tapped record.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV79hxy4LtB
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jwohS0LT4
“He’s testing the tunnel.”57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULV0BNJMrj
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0avJSzNjd
He turned right.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtBarTXCiqx
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OioNgjdAC
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BPTpTDf1n
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE5GilG9hH
None of them spoke.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaPsP490ma
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrW0JaR1ga
"Follow Water to Truth."57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQvqHh6FGk
He did.
