June wasn’t a morning person.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YJqYrwGeK
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUFcqWDuNv
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlLzAUweJT
That’s when they saw it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveXTwbBVhI
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwPVAhs5lb
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54NzfOmgod
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVzYZPkLiN
They exchanged a look.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiJzAQWeMN
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBhK5ryaus
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbYOemVHD3
“She never left,” June replied.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRhCKeHrT9
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskFkAAXa30
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rJHtHNfhG
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yVdJ3qspO
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6BqZepc24
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSekJ9KGTq
That was the Mercy they remembered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LXfdb0V1t
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2HBrjFtyy
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6VDuQx7zz
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAOFUWpUVl
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQMm5VErQ0
Saw the fear. The recognition.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Gx2HynxK2
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPEmsaCdaV
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnJKjG3E08
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pd6JgXa3o
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUD424r3Zpr
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVo3Nv8OVz
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT7WCE8zYs
She didn’t write much.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1z5p5DiFqn
"The serpent returns."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4ZlTakWWn
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVrRbty9H8C
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMMMAxQLny
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwhTvnMaxZ
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIfZ2kDV80
A buzz.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3e01yg7tCw
A photo.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQW9sPlooLi
A phrase:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTe9Tdl01EF
“The serpent returns.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwBeSZkCSh
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhpTY6C9YY
A slow breath.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcUndg84yx
No reply.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kWUlLOTis
Just movement.
***58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLvTMk2Wji
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyNF19KtX9
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ106DR1qgAo
Kim nodded slowly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaun89O1XJ
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ug42UbQri
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmirAyMooF
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImdwYsuXii
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBSyX6taVY
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BqgWKfaVj
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfH9RYXqE0x
Her voice dropped lower.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBDUY09xUqs
“This school is no longer for games.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9KBJBzXGH
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIy9UgxIsF
And this was her first piece.
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjO1QCtMiOp
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCSZszWHjp
“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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKFI15qdO3
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHgoDLtGsP
“I think it’s a cipher.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVN0Iwg4a8
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdDqvV2tNI
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9awDJeZNU4
But only if rotated ninety degrees.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ45Bsx652S
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Mpi0yCuFb
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVv5enUsbS
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnh2vtYlELr
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSfHZPbb5r
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡda97YCZEBe
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFrkWjnbB4
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEp1liMdgW
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFIZKa43iw
“I think she left everything there.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYuVulhXNl
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6rPUslegR
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSiNwaDWdw
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4CoA8wOKx
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZsQhvKjBm
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUaXLUWiBa
Kim almost missed it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveRZihZrSW
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMl3pGtAbu
Then she heard the whisper.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6WGZEuAsL
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmrVlpieMS
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFAI8d4wIjx
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKG3M5ZoLF
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2eiohGwUz
“Jabari knows the underground route.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhjhZmzbgh
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCy99qoBO4x
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RE2sXVQMi
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVHOpUzTom
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PRKMfZFAW
Her Mind Raced. Why her?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN53L6tCCKC
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCr4TNt5Yw
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3cqIih1i2
And how did they even know she was connected to him?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZrIUG1S2I
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfSaKkU12M
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJqeY822Q3
And now this.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJQIpqxW2s
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DMAiLYrSH
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAxORRRopS
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR34PnjMnNb
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IrpQ39wLS
“Jabari knows the underground route.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Q78qohFUU
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2v56AIbSP
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdXDhvyDxm
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDoHD42Umq
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3db0kXg9Zb
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWbupdbmID
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizGWo5upsf
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. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHH8LWoANQy
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsM0WGPzQQ8
Not unless she was hiding something with it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX0TGMaKFf
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4IGn2GDgp
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnG5eFtx9OB
No one noticed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrqnAWrviU
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7IVZsDKop
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEH9K3N2d1P
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTVQNyGF2q
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTauZZcawq
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjb2j6PVyI2
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTQR7WwoqV
She didn’t look back.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccSYeGhsP0
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?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvgNAUk4T0
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIhUpBHbLe
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44AYBdgV6j
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2km9L2kS2n
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZVMgTqzcl
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0frich5n70
Just space. And answers.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJVOEMNVhw
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoyEZRn5x9
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ60PDfLM1I6
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdtzky01FD
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:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRi8QrHBOQ
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFX6uyxykl
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WfZUfPCRC
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GgTMrc4nC
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhepZnEcXtE
A figure.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7uFP3JIJw
Alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdIgK6nvI5
June tapped record.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgluNWDIZYj
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwClNtgO9H
“He’s testing the tunnel.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ap3JMkyDa
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4qNKTShYFD
He turned right.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlhI4Ju0Mn
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa1e42gu2I
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HWp0IUegW
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0xLtvreHM
None of them spoke.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8d4S1xAtY
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbwclwBBgJ
"Follow Water to Truth."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0xSoLIvXw
He did.
