“Water’s Path”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4NivAcUvn
The grate groaned louder this time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YYihFrtSR
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDn9ffWLWKP
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcz7Ot31TYJ
Because he had.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSsuXioavR3
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiJwaGApZF
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1rbTjrpOX
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WFvU8iexs
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHqTehUCTF
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNoF95brJW
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpMxPTkOFVb
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nIgBI2Zbx
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTdaDPDsPF
They walked for seven more minutes.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mWTm5QItT
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5Cqi5QcwA
Jabari stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFegsDwuLsp
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisEHtUZVA3
Jabari placed his hand against it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwqUr8uMup
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kqprkdDIz
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSm1Cgaz3b
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67NMEdGoUO
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEX2KGYg5j
They opened it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2J0RjlJZKy
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jfzCr0gKZ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8azq5TKIi
It was quiet. But not still.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zaWZPJjUk
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPGVlwG8yj
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHErujOT0O
Jabari’s breath slowed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqwbLxheIm
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd408RdZrLV
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TrfjyUJ3S
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtY9lU2RFF
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6bdWZt05y
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3A58EDqfD
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtttmiCne5j
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMAimHmLTB
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIWQWaAQVZ6
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyGXiYHCGTE
He wasn’t meant to be there.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvbdlMk0Dd
He hadn’t been invited.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNn4UOZZmqT
Hadn’t even been told.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbqCSA8YY4
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGIMIC99Pq
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuXhi7ICnI
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAqgwoq909
The tunnel.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpGFrpzMum
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdceAB2lvQR
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwwDIuI5q6
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7I2kxdkF0
Now it felt like betrayal.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrrfyNmP3k
Crossing into the girls’ side?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8q5qSikgx
For what? Information? Or for someone?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdFdnvj3ed
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHOTDgBiaV
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffcEuwBAGF
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQP3gT4NxO
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlhmaXq8oz
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtGBfmdWYG
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5csgYtwZ7D
They never heard them coming.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo34rHPYZvf
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFTH3d3VLn
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSX6vLvkhT
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jUWsdjVm5
Kerosene.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gvOAlkQGd
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCEcS0tXQp
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxaZSpGFDWO
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDphEQohaM
Small. Orange.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttVgUVJM0Q
Then the flare lit.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkYoqUHu1f
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6P840Ta2Tq
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIrbZI9AoM
Otieno dove back into the bend.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmVNhKCTJx
And then they heard it— A voice.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUDGFUjK0z
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7v2Q6SYC7h
“You were warned.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGjZafhQQl
The light died as quickly as it came.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGFQ2LoNJj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGsnBkKSr2
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tBVH3I9y6
Jabari said nothing for a long time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewX3OlRb0v
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32agmhno1u
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLu7Y7gMId
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxc9jpE3Lo
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfO5bhifCM
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfJnrgeuoi
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSS7yLSxh14
“Was that really necessary?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2b4eS5rDIY
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkSLOYB6Vf
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujTuDyb8qC
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVq75NNwxJ
No hood. No bluff.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraiEkiHhvL
Just him — tall, furious, silent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Xr06eTsux
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLu9wKFRoum
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSNcGarzTy
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHZy8kmuYW
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1eOczM2Ue
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBsi8JKIc6
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLc2CdjPFza
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGV8pvn8YF
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgzpWdLkzV
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZOwOPsZsV
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5FH73jXYu
Black. Crisp.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacbgk1OIN6
Stamped with a mark: M.O.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A76mrazmw
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3tPbNNMkg
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKYbSqMw6l
Mercy’s initials.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YnZ0i8gZx
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmLXCX3eAC
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFdpWEnOMJ
Daring him to guess how deep this went.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DOOX9bh0e
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyupWjNbQcK
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJjJ5bKc8e
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOkEY7GQ54
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡihGbidOxer
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFmQLf0q7X
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLArYHMCUX
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCLCZv2Bhr
Her initials. But not her handwriting.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Enp0EwS2M
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiXzDNRxe2
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWu1iaRVO7
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4wFrNnh0F
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxVJy28bZa5
Then it clicked.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtwHgr47YvI
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡco8ZTNzHCE
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntXamp4yFK
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFn7CRYN4Z3
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLgy4Rk8z7
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ia8nVj9rH
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEnpeuuNRg
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPfyEvW2xl
And what she saw?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrV66HiNjM
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaYVyaZJWF
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwMXARoW3G
Knowingly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyeUMMFxmd
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPndyLbnAzx
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbte0wTuz37
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq932kiLbMt
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3urXiF3IkS
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTb0ZwgL9mf
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4q2wFjsRdq
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYa4Z5PGI2I
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhFeLYV7Lq
