The quad glittered in moonlight and kerosene halos. Stalls shimmered under makeshift LEDs. Tinny speakers blared distorted jazz as projectors looped grainy experiments on white bedsheets.62Please respect copyright.PENANAtO0wdubyZO
Juma hated this kind of show — too bright, too scripted. But it made for the perfect cover.62Please respect copyright.PENANAcJnj8X9oxp
“Everyone’s looking up,” he whispered.62Please respect copyright.PENANAj9xkJVXSgg
“No one sees what we’re pinning to their legs.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAtYWJ1CqzcR
Jabari didn’t smile.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXDnukt8gfW
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rolled poster, smooth and stiff. Thick matte ink on thick gray stock.62Please respect copyright.PENANA5fTnUzv76i
ORDER OVER INSURRECTION62Please respect copyright.PENANAw1cIUX9itN
A white wing over a fractured flame.62Please respect copyright.PENANASSs9wSwcGi
They walked slowly, calmly — like any two team leads reviewing tech projects. But every ten steps, they pinned a new poster to the underside of a demo tent. To a light pole. To the back of a wooden bench.62Please respect copyright.PENANAy7QitOinrQ
Four in total. No more. Enough to seed rumor, not provoke response.62Please respect copyright.PENANA1pYeh9g3sz
They weren’t messages for students.62Please respect copyright.PENANAHJnCornS8T
They were warnings for the Shadow Walkers. The fractured flame was Mercy’s old signal — twisted now. The white wing was the Order’s ghost — not yet dead.62Please respect copyright.PENANAqhPbECwleB
Juma stuck the last one behind the water distillation tent, where he knew Ayo used to scout during Fire Theory projects. Jabari paused beside the herb garden exhibit and looked around at the swirling bodies of boys and girls in scattered uniforms.62Please respect copyright.PENANAnk0OVJKjaM
He whispered:62Please respect copyright.PENANAfl2MAizBVO
“She wanted an audience. Let’s give her one.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAryosHBYt0G
Behind the hydroponics dome, a girl in Kisumu Girls' tracksuit lowered her phone quietly. Her name wasn’t known to either of them.62Please respect copyright.PENANAJkDJ0cD5ZY
But the notification she sent was clear:62Please respect copyright.PENANA0cDzwFSBh4
“The birds are flying banners again. Mercy will see.”
*****62Please respect copyright.PENANAdeovPzPjDJ
The crypt door had always been heavy — metal, groaning, older than the last three headteachers combined. But now it swung easily on oiled hinges — prepped, ready, hungry.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXYweXoktQv
Inside, Jabari and Juma moved fast, pushing through ankle-deep water that had begun pooling around the eastern wall.62Please respect copyright.PENANAjz71mdVNqw
“This isn't just a chamber,” Juma snapped. “It’s a channel.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAdpL0Ta3wM5
Jabari knelt, ran his fingers across the grooves in the floor. “It connects to the borehole line. It was always part of the filtration system — just repurposed.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAj55vNGkgey
Repurposed by whom?62Please respect copyright.PENANAmuJ58b1nas
By Mercy.62Please respect copyright.PENANAGN0Dyyz3pz
Atop the hidden stairway, two girls in Kisumu Girls’ jackets stood in silence.62Please respect copyright.PENANA2UtTJcBdxz
One wore Mercy’s old prefect sash — though no one had given it to her.62Please respect copyright.PENANAZ4KpkaQw60
The other held the key.62Please respect copyright.PENANAoHNQlO3LZE
She waited exactly until her watch ticked to 12:17 a.m.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKZN34TSrzV
Then she slid the bolt home and turned it once.62Please respect copyright.PENANAzFLFupFVgS
Click.62Please respect copyright.PENANAVLRVO9KLmD
The girls didn’t laugh. Didn’t speak.62Please respect copyright.PENANA6VlIWRG8U3
They simply walked away.62Please respect copyright.PENANAcF16LVC2nY
Jabari’s light flickered.62Please respect copyright.PENANA0DCMYnW4Dh
He and Juma reached the far side — a rusted metal ladder leading up toward the chapel’s north vestibule — welded shut from above.62Please respect copyright.PENANAIRWWxWj9Yc
“She locked us in,” Jabari said.62Please respect copyright.PENANADD0C5KSKjc
Juma stared at the water now reaching his shins. “That’s not the problem.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAwea5pGt9A7
The sound came next — not fast, not crashing.62Please respect copyright.PENANAfYK4VLMEbj
A slow gurgle. A hiss.62Please respect copyright.PENANAU7dYq0hvA0
Then the unmistakable suction of redirected flow.62Please respect copyright.PENANA52UOui7BTC
Juma turned to Jabari.62Please respect copyright.PENANASmEiX1AQvN
“She's opened the borehole line.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAW60OdIHg7u
And sure enough, behind the sealed hatch, where the borehole channel fed under the school… the grate now trembled.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwFoaNznbaN
Then the water began to rise.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwd36Yw9s3G
From the high choir loft, Mercy stood silent, eyes calm, watching the stained glass as shadows shifted across it.62Please respect copyright.PENANALfvjCTYy4n
Behind her, a girl whispered, “They’re in.”62Please respect copyright.PENANApAIuHzGFeE
Mercy didn’t reply at first. Then:62Please respect copyright.PENANAZWG1i7v0YR
“They came looking for a lie. Let them leave soaked in truth.”62Please respect copyright.PENANArGoHaKCJnr
She turned away and walked down the spiral staircase, vanishing into the dark.62Please respect copyright.PENANAlkmC9FVO33
The water rose like a slow betrayal.62Please respect copyright.PENANAeWfmlDT7LU
Jabari tried to brace the base of the ladder, but the surface slicked too fast. Juma had begun stacking the crates beneath the wall vents, but none led out.62Please respect copyright.PENANAEh96j2j4Mu
Then — a sound.62Please respect copyright.PENANAA9lYg8eJnR
Bang. Bang. Clank.62Please respect copyright.PENANAzmbrvVtnuk
A screech of iron echoed from behind the north wall.62Please respect copyright.PENANAKrBtHsTHeB
Juma froze. “Did you hear that?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAn4fBwyAxNB
Clank. Slam.62Please respect copyright.PENANA6s8DFeEVgy
Then a voice, muffled by metal and rage:62Please respect copyright.PENANAQU4dsaohJ0
“Get back!”62Please respect copyright.PENANAms5PThc9Kn
Suddenly, the side grate at floor level buckled inward — then burst open with a thundercrack of rust and rock. Water whooshed sideways, funneling out violently, pulling ankle-deep current toward the now-gaping vent.62Please respect copyright.PENANA6G5ScGsK7S
And through the water— Musa crawled through.62Please respect copyright.PENANAaIdgmhIhME
Soaked. Grit-covered. Grinning like a man who had wrestled a pipe system and won.62Please respect copyright.PENANAIsH081EQr6
“I told you I was the better swimmer,” he coughed.62Please respect copyright.PENANAuxMwAxpOSO
As the water drained and light returned, Juma leaned against the far wall, breathing hard.62Please respect copyright.PENANA0dYSSQbc42
“We were seconds from blacking out.”62Please respect copyright.PENANARyx3ns7F4q
Jabari, still quiet, turned his torch toward the south chamber — a small alcove half-submerged behind a collapsed marble panel.62Please respect copyright.PENANAUX91854WAI
Musa followed his gaze. “What’s that?”62Please respect copyright.PENANACGEnUlaTqm
They stepped forward slowly. Beneath the now-drained floor, the shape of something metallic gleamed behind a decorative grate. Jabari crouched, pulled at the frame — it came loose with a groan.62Please respect copyright.PENANAz8HGOjq0Yv
Behind it, half-sunken and chained inside a rusted cage:62Please respect copyright.PENANAbPTr8Oy0mf
Three black ledger boxes, stamped with faded silver initials: “M.O.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAJDcFQF9T3c
Juma slowly unlocked one latch. Inside: letters, class registers, intercepted prefect reports, old Order rosters — all annotated in Mercy’s handwriting.62Please respect copyright.PENANAah91RSCPMR
Jabari picking one up and reading aloud:62Please respect copyright.PENANAlwkwucVtqA
“She was never exiled. She was buried.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAxy7GzVogKi
Musa whispered “She didn’t build a trap. She built an archive.”62Please respect copyright.PENANA0cCnudIVlh
Ayo appeared at the crypt entrance as Jabari flipped through the first ledger. No fanfare. No announcement. Just his shadow crossing the old candlelight, face unreadable.62Please respect copyright.PENANAPsvZZR0HoM
Jabari looked up sharply.62Please respect copyright.PENANAPkl5ujBRJx
“You followed us.”62Please respect copyright.PENANALRutHCBgkp
Ayo didn’t nod. Didn’t deny it. Instead, he stepped forward, knelt beside the third box — and picked it up carefully, like it might bite.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXsqs74NCCj
“You need this one,” he said. “It’s the only one with dates after Mercy’s expulsion.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAGHUSC2jLaG
Juma narrowed his eyes. “Why help us?”62Please respect copyright.PENANALObzqbb2h3
Ayo hesitated, then looked directly at Jabari.62Please respect copyright.PENANArDtDwkWzYs
“Because I’ve seen what Kwame would do with it.62Please respect copyright.PENANAHI1FZ4GYFk
The silence cracked with the sound of metal boots on water-slick stone.62Please respect copyright.PENANAnQH0w1Tlni
Otieno, lean and quiet, stepped through the broken wall entrance where Musa had forced the grate. He didn’t look surprised to find them. He didn’t speak. He simply walked forward, reached into the cage, and took the second box.62Please respect copyright.PENANAtP8Q0AC8jF
The one marked “Staff Correspondences: 2007–2014.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAwypjEmxbv6
Jabari stood. “What are you doing?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAKVFWp1sxpg
Otieno held his gaze. “You know I follow the truth.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAVJy6mO5H0l
Then turned and walked out — no rush, no guilt.62Please respect copyright.PENANAI8TacItL7d
One box in Jabari’s hands. One box in Ayo’s grip. One box now leaving with Otieno.62Please respect copyright.PENANAajGONR6n53
Musa broke the silence.62Please respect copyright.PENANAgkhQjqovlb
“That’s it, then. The lines are drawn.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAlQmXfkrtfM
Juma added, “And Mercy didn’t even have to choose sides. She just lit the match.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAH9hEbRmAD1
Jabari watched Otieno disappear into the crypt tunnel, Ayo still standing beside him, conflicted but present.62Please respect copyright.PENANA3AIwOhJAeM
Musa whispered, “This isn't just about the wall anymore. This is a war over what gets remembered.”
******62Please respect copyright.PENANAIbCPVXN9fc
The video was less than ninety seconds long.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXBYdetl5Dx
It had no watermark. No source. But it found its way into every inbox in the Kisumu Central Education Circuit — sent from a dead address once used for prefect newsletters.62Please respect copyright.PENANArbQUXMXpHZ
The screen opened on dim light, stone, water glinting along the floor like liquid glass.62Please respect copyright.PENANAXHQXKA5Pnd
The voice was unmistakable.62Please respect copyright.PENANAlLe6Wc2GNo
“This is what they called leadership. This is what they built walls to protect. Jabari’s Order — drowning in Mercy’s revenge.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAx0oUN3dCtA
The footage cut quickly — glimpses of the crypt, soaked boys in Kisumu boys uniform, flooded ankles, two figures dragging themselves out, torchlight flickering like panic.62Please respect copyright.PENANAlqiMEdqrLD
Then:62Please respect copyright.PENANA7lOn7gXwAM
Freeze frame.62Please respect copyright.PENANAgWJjFvIRTV
Jabari, back turned, lifting a rusted ledger box.62Please respect copyright.PENANArbKDC63bhy
The words flashed over the image in blood-red type:62Please respect copyright.PENANAY3VqBnJ5y1
"The Order is underwater."62Please respect copyright.PENANAVT945y3FYj
Then black.62Please respect copyright.PENANAaybevOMWgp
By 7:00 a.m., the dorm corridors buzzed like electric wires.62Please respect copyright.PENANAGfIdHRMjh9
“Who recorded it? There are no phones allowed—how did it get out? Was it staged? Is Mercy back? Was the flooding real?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAPQJAFiSv1l
In the Kisumu Girls library, Shiko watched Kim watching the terminal.62Please respect copyright.PENANAFNiQk4vSOR
“That’s the tunnel. That’s the crypt,” Kim whispered. And that—is a declaration.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAhEck4cnYUX
Behind the AV club at Maseno school, two junior Shadow Walkers shut down their old relay laptop — wired into the school’s forgotten printer line, a hidden broadcast node Mercy herself once rigged in her second year.62Please respect copyright.PENANAwCIdFUFAnN
Kwame stood outside, eyes on the sky, arms folded.62Please respect copyright.PENANAF9BaIjUCCB
He didn’t need a phone.62Please respect copyright.PENANAIHBd37DwDU
He just needed a network Mercy built…and a reason to set it on fire.
**********62Please respect copyright.PENANA1PubAmHVQn
June pushed the heavy doors open just as Mary arrived from the science wing.62Please respect copyright.PENANAQjJi9JhE3c
“The boys have seen it?”62Please respect copyright.PENANA8qU0MLRFPu
“Everyone has.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAB2xmpZbuGG
Kim entered last, silent.62Please respect copyright.PENANAfrWlW7rvEz
Shiko hovered in the corridor, uninvited but listening.62Please respect copyright.PENANA9L1uD3RdDm
On the old Order wall board, Naomi stood still.62Please respect copyright.PENANAqBP8JSc0kw
Below her — pinned with blue tacks — were printed stills from the Kwame video. One showed the crypt grate. Another, Jabari holding the ledger.62Please respect copyright.PENANALTDy77rozh
“This wasn’t Mercy’s trap anymore,” Naomi said quietly.62Please respect copyright.PENANADFwWnW5quI
“It was her signal.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAlJpPSeJMLR
Naomi turned to them — prefects.62Please respect copyright.PENANA7Gc8S9LUB3
“There’s at least one ledger still moving. Probably being moved to St. Theresa’s. Possibly Maseno.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAmp5DouBKqj
Mary stepped forward. “So, what do we do?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAzKNvOyk3EL
Naomi tapped the board.62Please respect copyright.PENANADgZGJiSbuF
“We don’t chase her legacy. We protect ours. Lock down the Hall. Triple-lock the Prefects’ Archive. And find the girl carrying the ledger.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAiPgY2EDbup
June’s voice was cold.62Please respect copyright.PENANAc7yLwVllMT
“You think Mercy would use one of us?”62Please respect copyright.PENANAUaBubCtP1N
Naomi didn’t blink.62Please respect copyright.PENANAq0tj1DGAXI
“Mercy doesn’t use people. She recruits them.”62Please respect copyright.PENANABsBvRaCiNC
The girls split into teams. June and Mary to the Greenhouse Tunnel, checking Mercy’s known exits. Seline, assigned to patrol around the west dorms, but already planning her own detour. Shiko, pretending to go to class, slips Kim a folded message:62Please respect copyright.PENANAlI7LFhFNaD
“Don’t trust who enters first. Trust who stays behind.”62Please respect copyright.PENANAD1j6izLtIJ
The Order Hall is locked though Naomi stays inside, assembling the remaining cipher logs and pulling names off Mercy’s old class rosters.62Please respect copyright.PENANAJbFRqy3OEs
Outside the campus fence line, under a tree heavy with wet blossoms, a junior form walks fast — a duffel bag over her shoulder. Her name is not known. But inside the bag is a ledger box, sealed with black tape.62Please respect copyright.PENANAJ64c3ni4x9
She has only one instruction:62Please respect copyright.PENANAWhQP4doDnF
“Deliver it by dusk. If you’re stopped — deny you ever knew.”
62Please respect copyright.PENANAkTeaD5b5eM
62Please respect copyright.PENANAJj2xVTgc3h