June wasn’t a morning person.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8DKq0LnGR
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmttLwN6Um1
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5cgq2S2nC
That’s when they saw it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhA7av8oYT
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkUIM1HxDP
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ65OWa2paXn
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmQe1mxpfo
They exchanged a look.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAAOgOYWG8
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8M32k3AQN
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxoaNK4UQx
“She never left,” June replied.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLT3cTgBRHv
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CkpDA9ljV
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3nodbLOiP
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMUsybEIr0
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPX4VUO7RJB
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinTVd6jNDo
That was the Mercy they remembered.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrwgqQORzX
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uvR7uNBr7
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9yrLdl4wq
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEB2me36Fn
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCORwChw0qt
Saw the fear. The recognition.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQGtBf8iZq
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLLxEl96ZL
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzk6nTuTHY
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyQ06g6KLH
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0B5UQ6rx7
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsAIAHJVTD
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCtfFM8pSn
She didn’t write much.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCkym3eQqe
"The serpent returns."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEP0w1iVyD
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuUeoOo6cg
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0R9m1bXMCQ
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9A3ghlYWC
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5l3Fq8oSW
A buzz.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF46uiQM75P
A photo.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50GajITVS1
A phrase:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8BUIBsKZz
“The serpent returns.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCm4fEL4kiE
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRK4nhCqPQ
A slow breath.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrNAFpaFZD
No reply.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sMW1RK3FM
Just movement.
***20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DKWW0sdiM
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrv1RMQqOA
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEWAKKz3V0
Kim nodded slowly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRBwGzudQd
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPYJp34wzR
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIug28d70lq
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ibZztgFk8
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVE9znW7Ud
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJKAkfWXK7
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ590jh3JsLG
Her voice dropped lower.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTCUMJxHy8
“This school is no longer for games.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISGhF7r9Ft
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgSNmc83Vb
And this was her first piece.
*****20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lX6briOEA
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWp6GUo81xZ
“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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKDKpWkNTn
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQdadQdbrK
“I think it’s a cipher.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdfEFQHN74
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtK3RcUg8Wa
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalM06GpHC4
But only if rotated ninety degrees.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgxt8SM7TY
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbwRjnVng6
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yfG0g5htL
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lgmBntvIW
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rN5s9psh9
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEVWFP6rM4
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmocZE1WvTn
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cnt82rgLq
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFPZCR1NKK
“I think she left everything there.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hVAwOUFTi
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5sDfLrnvZ
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRCm3Urrd5
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjfMOhJ8Mm
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.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWG9ZyH0PZ
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzAwglcejE
Kim almost missed it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67sLCOqu06
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhf4YSZS2Y
Then she heard the whisper.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy10YFPqgS6
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52SrLXe4qg
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyjPW53fWE
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCLfn31lcN
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl5L5wLeg9K
“Jabari knows the underground route.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZV4Tj8dbq
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TvjmuIfVR
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4OvLJgFiAN
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAklTG4wwyG
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8TY66kKXv
Her Mind Raced. Why her?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbow4Z0fFJ
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIh2cpthKz
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzligwHKjdm
And how did they even know she was connected to him?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBywSZJqZ5m
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5ZY8XT63Z
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7fsPMWMzR
And now this.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1Prk2Lj75
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPFoggdb5E
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4PMYbq8nK
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrmTG4OT6c
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MuZCIVXkC
“Jabari knows the underground route.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YsllKYjbp
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFf4qNu1AYx
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEv46TQkoH
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8KqAQRkzZ
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuUDiqTt20
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEpMW58TTL
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zJkyomTq5
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. 20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡff9ECcq5aJ
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqOsMGrgfA
Not unless she was hiding something with it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTzqb6D4g5
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XgKMNNF8n
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLsGUGGWGU
No one noticed.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVe5Io57rQc
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjQStHqWzD
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIUk7YJDgb
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypIic9ZBBK
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDhoX9uPFl
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkYw8h4bLA
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zL1AhIsQw
She didn’t look back.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNIkqRMHN4
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?20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy79zu4wJiC
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IkIv8V0vs
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEYdvb01Ob
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXSdqEXPKn
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8MtwK49iT
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6jeFmxN1b
Just space. And answers.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeB77t3tpu
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLQDVvIdta
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BFVRU3YMd
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZApjGZQCA
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:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJ6menf7Ae
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMTmBfhKU1
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJDiQkDjz0B
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC23Inka7FW
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJkEniFV0x
A figure.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvoW1HKbxS
Alone.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJoClbzI2Jv
June tapped record.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoikWMIBMlU
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8Jkw0taoj
“He’s testing the tunnel.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGYaw4Z4P2
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2sR6aRbpk
He turned right.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bWSxwetph
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjaKQxi3bkV
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3fj9UKzlZ
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnza0SfB1c
None of them spoke.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIScT0faW4
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0RxwElBjI
"Follow Water to Truth."20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnvVY8zxqx
He did.
