“Water’s Path”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84lMOgYKvQ
The grate groaned louder this time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsrH3pv34t
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokx8bodks8
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjOpht21fk
Because he had.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyPVAIHfvU
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA6vYPE193C
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWlY2lfBEC
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7yw8eL3su
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRN6gUaCqe
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvv9zjfMGr
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3m5nzl3oZ
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQbzAA0XkV
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmTtOzpeDp
They walked for seven more minutes.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrXIEPfP3s
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9NksNHTom
Jabari stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3M2jWhTRn
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zEGb2tIUj
Jabari placed his hand against it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lVodi4WAg
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8HZTlkBl2
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbORlvOwY9i
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2x9gml0yt
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50ti6OKED9
They opened it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ybvIQzbIg
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGOlP9hdBt
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe7euDFyl5
It was quiet. But not still.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2S8URd95E
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPJLYfe3iJ
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMe7uaorIp
Jabari’s breath slowed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAZRFUahjM
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnr3lYLmwk
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYweCRBmTQD
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnE5fKV36C
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKXBhsBJhl
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaOtavWtn1w
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgmHNZQMOk
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYfgc42dSW
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJshgZmN1b
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKblO2gHBf6
He wasn’t meant to be there.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6kecFY5A9W
He hadn’t been invited.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3zWDGKXhW
Hadn’t even been told.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTEdeSmANM
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMCetxOpvT
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpLWRElQAL
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCJkfOSF5C
The tunnel.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCOW6OGaek
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnyTEwFDSO
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2XhuAqA1W
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0i5wr4mSNY
Now it felt like betrayal.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzSVr0FnFm
Crossing into the girls’ side?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjTXLcGJ4o
For what? Information? Or for someone?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCRdcZ9gPe
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?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcbcsLv6k2
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5w8jlu1aea
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX3fwKl6wcS
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCxNlFAcbU
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNX02KiF4Rp
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOvoWN5wUM
They never heard them coming.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvbwOUZGV0
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbXE6bcTVD
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3g4Zyrsg6h
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7mwDFms12
Kerosene.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotmS2X8fHZ
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNV4xcHw1ph
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvtxWZHCdm
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2HiN6GNEz
Small. Orange.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqvlca4Av5
Then the flare lit.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguyddZyqmZ
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrBJBqhnpwD
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJach7SkQE
Otieno dove back into the bend.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRnXYiO7v5
And then they heard it— A voice.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGZS0REgWM
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGL7X0snV7
“You were warned.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9hH3xr7nJ
The light died as quickly as it came.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXc4yrCyHf
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:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMHoOY7PuL
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1fpnRNdzG
Jabari said nothing for a long time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOPRMx5oIs
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEz59ru3J0
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAB0i8A7aqZ
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7UOUeLar6
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3vkHqvotA
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOt0o8whj5C
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yyk0pNzUG
“Was that really necessary?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwvM1smY8O
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpICeC2Wi73
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBuDyGeXp0
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡje5EAvsLux
No hood. No bluff.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf82eVWHyat
Just him — tall, furious, silent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdops7JahD
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJXYYeX6fT
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJG9N8m0de
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoeCb4HTAc
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7b0J9gwnA
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmH2viYl1E
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiNzdmR2vG
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18CpwHRegM
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXskMwyZS0
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloV6Y2pDTw
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqcQxz0qG2
Black. Crisp.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhjgN8WI8a
Stamped with a mark: M.O.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZ4txKAVz1
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYtf9uKmrN
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxFXYCL2cu
Mercy’s initials.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMphlgqenx
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRvQQviFmV
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PGbZAG4n6
Daring him to guess how deep this went.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTYxwSkVoF
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMhnicrhK8
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66PfGgZO1S
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhwPGuFmAQC
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQEbtlie8l
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcahrY4wKrj
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUyIcDU4qxh
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxISWLRTF5m
Her initials. But not her handwriting.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSWqN70Gsd
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfY4jMaTMnW
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetwr365O2Q
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyVdDbeMl4
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ66T8uMwFA
Then it clicked.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBhQwcUGDe
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:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxYK9B2KMM
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKepWqASzx8
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpUYxFWCYu3
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6T3XkYwD5R
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAn1W1GXbc
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomgdOUqH7R
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIS8I3XoAd
And what she saw?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7uM3VBGfj
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7KOMsFt4X
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66hxhPGs23
Knowingly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVKXdOT0HFc
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7UT5IlbcB
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLnJDasvIzY
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrKkp9ShIm
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4Yzy7vPXd
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbCl8jZzdn
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJl5icgGKw
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4kpVmMj2c
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSqHm32sfi
