“Water’s Path”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDbLuhCYfv
The grate groaned louder this time.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHTo1lSYkS
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0YCzRZ5Ha
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt3fc3vIIk
Because he had.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9E43K9GCv
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSAGq3rqjsz
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTo8h1wkAQ
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfzgiLrfTB
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsspxo9Kk2
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDWKiLKXBK
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4pMBYmoyo
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecpoQsEpOC
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHRMYHwe4k
They walked for seven more minutes.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KQEcAou4m
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgWhYR32QH
Jabari stopped.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DWl7UJaUK
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpeasIZDak
Jabari placed his hand against it.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkgrUT4vkJ
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYn9Kqnwlqy
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJ7dczDAFR
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9XG2ChdhO
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTn8nmP3Ul
They opened it.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqXvUxGFxs
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QR10BIpkh
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlS2E2Qdc2i
It was quiet. But not still.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFuDxIMLB3
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tagi9z8XT
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbhw7XcBC3
Jabari’s breath slowed.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlcL5OYFBg
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiv0qX8mJaY
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJyWeWcle6
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP70zgtJcL
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPZ34viA89
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5h2radfVRw
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFJWfEau8Z
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRW9fYJ9MV
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOU8MvLgh9
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCo74RTqLIf
He wasn’t meant to be there.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6Xw0PFmZT
He hadn’t been invited.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0FLeqkIIYD
Hadn’t even been told.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsoPUvTKND
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltJJ8LxBEK
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuI7cLR4tP
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwG8TwDSPc
The tunnel.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jGHDQsgOU
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOxDRfRL2w
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWhBVIun3x
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqGl6poFjq
Now it felt like betrayal.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksGmmDxegU
Crossing into the girls’ side?55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenXxvHsCuf
For what? Information? Or for someone?55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacpRiZ4IrL
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?55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpyfEPFTPM
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJl29N7VtP
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5VDvw1uzZ
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZYfxFQ1Ld
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBOLQBXZrR0
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hopYvEG5O
They never heard them coming.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7HL2O2hpu
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPLusQvvIL
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EqzdV2j3p
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kuUdz5EAs
Kerosene.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPlpTzwBSo
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWVAtZDU4x
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRgQV9cOCQ
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFKhBqMdLE8
Small. Orange.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6HCqKNKuz
Then the flare lit.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcQETb91lz
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvZrxsDfXm
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapFb7j2itj
Otieno dove back into the bend.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0qqhcQPjR
And then they heard it— A voice.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpeQC5wmKR
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44S9Nw3kek
“You were warned.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YpMF5v40Y
The light died as quickly as it came.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgcDztVR4B2
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:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5t1bYXHnoR
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylMCNx7DtM
Jabari said nothing for a long time.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIIGwcM2j2
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTW2hhjzVs
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTJfz0IjAS
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIWwAHpgqe
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyk842DHAZw
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RuzX92FT3
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPL83ERoP5
“Was that really necessary?”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYye3evvLV
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCBl0VaKY62
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8GyMjPS8j
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVc7WdQBHLt
No hood. No bluff.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYP09Y1OIZl
Just him — tall, furious, silent.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDQGm7YgJo
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmHW0IsaL9
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CUsn5tQ3O
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSOiLdaiCQ
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLm6fkIrZK
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw52HiT1GNW
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs21MQtdYWT
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGapZQ63rqM
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB3rgUR1J87
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwZpvfFMhw
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZ1NyPxVeE
Black. Crisp.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtHAv66Wzz
Stamped with a mark: M.O.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA39g4jrqA
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OimlEOfs9
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lwjXRJ5be
Mercy’s initials.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmGi42hM4re
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqguynRG7NN
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJmnExpDqT
Daring him to guess how deep this went.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LruU6zvII
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOehUcApqH
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoUI4sRGl5
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡouHgXmihWI
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93UuBWolNS
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0lwGdIxxu
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJuKcCyjBl
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbwpyxQQ8m
Her initials. But not her handwriting.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvNiF0R4UzM
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSb92l8S2V
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3aUGw4E1I
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXDG9lRbbv
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMBnmLiHaS
Then it clicked.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoyzYn0UAN
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:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWt0O95B0F
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEWI8uEDQ9
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe67ehaPek0
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdIEXnh6El
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMktf51M6xQ
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLbkDsgIZm7
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcyjnyMLfh
And what she saw?55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbCexxhPlQ
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGFimnXmMM
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhGcytoZAq
Knowingly.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PMqpkEzbn
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2gM7YBMgO
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3PSCu551d
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6dre1TISk
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrP9oygq9j
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmAfek3gNN
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOGohRhscz
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKmSWTHXJY
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXam8HGMww
