When the first bell rang at 7:23 a.m., girls loyal to the order froze mid-breakfast.64Please respect copyright.PENANAfGayYbgJu2
By the second bell — louder, longer — every corridor emptied into the courtyard.64Please respect copyright.PENANAEYgDNdI0NQ
Whispers flew faster than feet:64Please respect copyright.PENANAQBO987XeLv
“Tribunal.64Please respect copyright.PENANA7zQ9wiy1pV
“She’s calling names.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAA8O1vsekO0
“Is it because of the video?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAgOz30QakMg
“Did someone move the ledger?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAdUl3Jpoqxx
Inside the Assembly Hall, Naomi stood center-stage, hands behind her back.64Please respect copyright.PENANAOcmyKMxJp0
Behind her: two senior prefects. To her right: Mary.64Please respect copyright.PENANADXKZTwlhCH
To her left: the Order Ledger Book, unopened since Mercy’s fall.64Please respect copyright.PENANAxEdiZgzzhv
The girls filed in. No laughter. No chatter. Only breaths held under stiff collars.64Please respect copyright.PENANAMKjZvXMZzq
Naomi’s voice echoed when she began:64Please respect copyright.PENANAUpsKAMGf0c
“There is a war over truth. Before we face it out there, We must decide who we are in here. I am calling an Order Tribunal.”64Please respect copyright.PENANABqE2nfhAm9
Gasps rippled through the room.64Please respect copyright.PENANAl2BhfgbnEy
“Each girl in this hall will have a choice: Recommit to the Order — or walk away.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAzoktgKQZuS
A hand shot up. Seline. “What about those who were never in?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAATv8J12TLY
Naomi didn’t flinch.64Please respect copyright.PENANAPPZAwTFp8d
“Then decide who you’re standing beside now.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAcJtuG32MeA
She pointed to the bell.64Please respect copyright.PENANA8MywaCOHPG
“Step forward. Touch the bell. State your name. You’ll be marked ‘Known.’ Stay silent — and you’ll remain ‘Unlisted.’ Either way, we’ll all see who you are.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAIEg5x85Swa
The first girl — a Form 1, trembling — stepped up and touched the bell.64Please respect copyright.PENANAzTRpgXR34H
“Amara Oketch,” she whispered. The bell rang once.64Please respect copyright.PENANA30TbR128Gl
Another followed. Then another. Shiko, near the back, stayed seated, her eyes locked on Kim across the room. Seline stepped forward dramatically, hand brushing the bell with a smirk. “Seline Wanjiku. Still watching.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAGw4hXWHphu
Naomi’s expression never changed.64Please respect copyright.PENANAqvMSxMaY25
But inside, the ledger was already shifting — loyalty was becoming currency.64Please respect copyright.PENANAS8ZITIevzV
Kim rose only when half the room had already gone forward. She walked slowly, eyes not on Naomi, but on Mary. She touched the bell.64Please respect copyright.PENANAUbd1qIsegg
“Kimberly Diana Otieno. I came to listen. Not to lie.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAADwyvft4zr
The bell did not ring.64Please respect copyright.PENANA5Y6B2RlmuO
Mary frowned.64Please respect copyright.PENANA3KsCIBKpq4
Naomi closed the ledger without writing.64Please respect copyright.PENANA3qNyq2FkaE
“Some names don’t need to echo,” Naomi said.64Please respect copyright.PENANAkoBrWw9gKp
There was one empty chair near the stage — June’s and as if she was called out, the back door creaks and June enters late, eyes calm, uniform clean, face unreadable.64Please respect copyright.PENANAZaBEolcLa4
Naomi’s voice is filled with unspoken disgust:64Please respect copyright.PENANAD3JF91obHl
“Miss June… do you still believe in the wall?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAFlLEFBmqLR
June walks past the bell, but doesn’t touch it. She stops beside Kim.64Please respect copyright.PENANApjL2FipMBm
“I believe in the cracks.”
*****64Please respect copyright.PENANAmTIfCJBER7
June didn’t speak until all three of them stood in silence. The air was humid. The echo of the bell still rang faintly in their ears.64Please respect copyright.PENANAT3IOYYHWAI
“There’s a ledger being held by Jabari’s boys. Not the one in the broadcast. A second one. Still sealed.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAkAotS6Re0E
Kim tensed. “We thought Ayo took it.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAX1X8reoHgf
“He did,” June said. “But he gave it back too quickly. That means it’s stashed somewhere, waiting for the right time.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA2UUs9vOxq7
Shiko asked, “What’s inside?”64Please respect copyright.PENANALAezXHuWlQ
June pulled a folded note from her pocket — Mercy’s handwriting, unmistakable.64Please respect copyright.PENANASv2WJgkw17
“Box 3 holds their fingerprints.64Please respect copyright.PENANAH6SJUDdtuN
What they buried beneath your dorm.64Please respect copyright.PENANAgqrz5H382o
Who vanished, and who let them.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAlrJqdaKnTq
Kim’s throat went dry. “That’s… not just old Order business.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAMcfUE4kK4Z
“No,” June said. 64Please respect copyright.PENANAi1KjJ0ubdE
“It’s a minefield. You need to find the crate. It’s in the archives wing on the boys’ side. Jabari’s men have it under pretext of ‘found records.’ You need to swap it before it's opened. Replace it with anything that looks like it.”64Please respect copyright.PENANABKhrKMidPb
Shiko frowned. “We’re not even sure what it looks like.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAZg0lWIl5mG
June smirked slightly. “You will. It’s the only crate stamped in red chalk. ‘M.O.3’ — Mercy’s final cipher box.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAiG9ZwR8aPg
Kim looked at her. “And what happens if they’ve already opened it?”64Please respect copyright.PENANArCINi36Wiu
June met her eyes.64Please respect copyright.PENANACMFsBiolfm
“Then make sure what they read next… isn't real.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA1evxZdbCmu
Kim nods slowly.64Please respect copyright.PENANAla8UQQbYK9
Shiko reaches into her backpack and pulling out a dummy crate lid she stole from chemistry storage and June hands Kim a paperclip bent into a tiny “M.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAdgvK44D2tO
“Plant it when the swap’s done. That’s how I’ll know.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAvIVZpi5MTW
As June walks away, she murmurs to herself: “Let them remember what we allow.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAXr6iuPI9Ac
*****64Please respect copyright.PENANAoBCsrdNkEE
Naomi stood beneath the frangipani tree, flanked by two prefect guards. The tribunal had quieted some nerves — but not all. There was still one ledger out there. Still one story too dangerous to break.64Please respect copyright.PENANA6vapsBQKwj
“We need eyes everywhere,” Naomi said. “No dorms unchecked. No keys misplaced.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAL26EOCHG8H
Seline stepped forward with studied calm.64Please respect copyright.PENANA7m1XcY9b6z
“I may know where they're planning to meet.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA380x08TOQS
Naomi narrowed her eyes. “Who?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAaObqdBmpZO
Seline didn’t answer directly.64Please respect copyright.PENANApW2Iyx3mZi
“Let’s say I’ve seen enough body language. Kim. And the quiet one. Shiko. They’ve been whispering too much for two girls with nothing to hide.”64Please respect copyright.PENANACeh1H6XBuv
Naomi raised an eyebrow. “You think they’re involved with Mercy’s crate?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAQ6gs44OFDj
Seline folded her arms.64Please respect copyright.PENANAaBEagF3XCb
“I think if you want answers, send your guards to the south incinerator lane — just before dusk. They’ll find more than ash.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAg6TT7K1Gen
At the meeting point near the old herbarium wall, Kim adjusted the dummy crate lid inside her bag. Shiko scanned the perimeter with a pocket mirror.64Please respect copyright.PENANA0NlERJn6iK
“We have six minutes,” Shiko whispered.64Please respect copyright.PENANAuHTlkF70rB
“Once the bell rings for sunset inspection, all internal guards get recalled.”64Please respect copyright.PENANABrAO5Hw99s
Kim glanced at the marked fence post — red chalk: “M.O.3.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAl98jMuj8r8
“Let’s just make sure we’re not the ones being followed.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAIF6b4KwVnj
Naomi nodded slowly. “Good work, Seline. Stay close.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA6iOE1PAo9e
As the prefect guards jogged off, boots thudding across the tiled walkways, Seline lingered behind — smiling faintly. She pulled her phone from her sock — the one she was never supposed to have — and tapped a message into a hidden note app:64Please respect copyright.PENANAMtDKxaMXl9
“If the bait’s good, they’ll bite. If they bite, I watch who bleeds.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAMznxlAc8fv
She never pressed send.64Please respect copyright.PENANA6wjdjzmnBc
She didn’t need to.
******64Please respect copyright.PENANAWPxBJLCyR5
They came from two sides — four prefect guards, swift and silent, their batons clipped tight and flashlights already stuttering in the growing dark.64Please respect copyright.PENANA25h9yXA9To
Kim turned first.64Please respect copyright.PENANAd2xrEkE8aY
“We’re boxed.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAseEKzxjzBV
“No,” Shiko said, calm. “We’re just poorly lit.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA9CsqqP1rWZ
From her satchel, she pulled a small envelope marked “Science Week – Safe Burn”.64Please respect copyright.PENANASslkrM78Vb
Flash-paper.64Please respect copyright.PENANAKq2hF6bN3H
Confetti-layered. Impregnated with fine magnesium salt.64Please respect copyright.PENANAw8S7G7hJi7
Designed for stage experiments.64Please respect copyright.PENANAohHQlGhBrD
She struck the match.64Please respect copyright.PENANAAcJwIOAZho
FOOM. A burst of white light exploded around them — silent, heatless, bright enough to blind the guards for two full seconds. White flecks scattered through the air like ash and stars.64Please respect copyright.PENANAryCrF78R0u
Kim didn’t flinch.64Please respect copyright.PENANALmP4ZiKSmV
She sprinted through the dust cloud, weaving past the closest wall and cutting behind the Hall, where the delivery crate — “M.O.3” — was being wheeled toward the west staff entrance on a borrowed AV trolley.64Please respect copyright.PENANAoEbB8F1649
Two tech interns who worked in the principal’s office were halfway through handing it over to the runner when Kim appeared, winded, bag in hand.64Please respect copyright.PENANAn529H3k6vR
“They sent the wrong box,” she said, breathless, flashing her forged badge.64Please respect copyright.PENANAna4dfAsUDu
“I’ve got the corrected archive.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAdyFYH5dzAr
They looked confused. One shrugged. “It’s all sealed.”64Please respect copyright.PENANATropnlKbFS
Kim tapped the chalk mark on the side — slightly smudged.64Please respect copyright.PENANAYOwB6OmS7w
“See? Rained out. Mercy’s tag faded. Could be mislabeled.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAfJu0WZXG9y
They hesitated.64Please respect copyright.PENANAF9UsLvUd55
Shiko appeared behind them, adjusting her glasses, calm and efficient.64Please respect copyright.PENANAQCPgpZISVE
The boys handed it over.64Please respect copyright.PENANAyu02xnVIWS
Kim wheeled the real crate away, heart pounding.64Please respect copyright.PENANAHWKY6C3vrE
The prefect guards staggered out of the light-blast cloud, coughing and confused. Seline, watching from the upper dorm window, narrowed her eyes.64Please respect copyright.PENANA5Ab32ntpNE
“You underestimated the quiet ones,” she whispered.
*****64Please respect copyright.PENANAeC1kzElx78
Naomi stood at the front table, her fingers on the crate’s seal.64Please respect copyright.PENANA2mNYLujXhr
June and Mary flanked her. The Order Hall was quieter than usual — no full assembly, just a controlled group of trusted seniors. The rest had been dismissed after the Tribunal.64Please respect copyright.PENANA7zDKGAE64K
“Let this end what she started,” Naomi said.64Please respect copyright.PENANAexvQscqFnO
She peeled back the tape. Inside: a folder marked “Confession Index: Volume I” — filled with blank pages.64Please respect copyright.PENANAIZwL9o9wxt
Mary frowned.64Please respect copyright.PENANAWtoGjVMaWO
June looked to Naomi, whose face remained unreadable. “This isn’t the original,” she said.64Please respect copyright.PENANA6jkU27kBDq
Then the lights flickered.64Please respect copyright.PENANAp7nMikBFJy
Just once.64Please respect copyright.PENANAZ8vbY8K6sS
Not enough to panic. But enough to shift attention.64Please respect copyright.PENANAwjvAFhl1V7
A faint hum rose from the archive cabinet in the corner — the audio box used for morning address recordings. It hadn’t been touched in weeks.64Please respect copyright.PENANAFnB1RBxpO0
Then it clicked. And played.64Please respect copyright.PENANAH8pIJ9hA36
Mercy’s voice.64Please respect copyright.PENANAZzzjC5mHT1
“Nice switch. Too slow.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAet0C2huohU
Heads turned sharply. A soft whir from the old cassette speaker in the wall — a repurposed relic. Vintage. Protected.64Please respect copyright.PENANAJkkyKlZtzV
The voice continued — calm, amused, in perfect control:64Please respect copyright.PENANAod3BSlDdTr
“Let’s not pretend this was about justice. This was about story. And I still write the better one.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAg8bKBENaBk
A pause. Then:64Please respect copyright.PENANArFinYXDe4k
“To the girl with the sharp hands—well played. But you forgot something. I never left. See you in the crypt. Round two begins.”64Please respect copyright.PENANASaAWqIuGjA
Click. Silence.64Please respect copyright.PENANAR5fKyBsu2f
Outside, thunder cracked.64Please respect copyright.PENANAuvwmEV5azA
Naomi’s fingers tightened on the empty folder.64Please respect copyright.PENANAhX0xIsLJhC
Mary whispered, “She recorded it before the Tribunal.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAmpWwz1Kd0I
June looked at the now-open ceiling vent above the archive. “No. She triggered it after.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAg26Thl1oyy
Kim, listening from the hallway, stared at the speaker — then slowly slipped the real crate deeper under her cloak.64Please respect copyright.PENANAhF53lFc2Bt
The war hadn’t ended. It had just gone underground again.
**********64Please respect copyright.PENANAxmgY5xawkc
Jabari laid out the sealed envelope on the table. It had come that afternoon — slipped through the vented panel beneath the main wall, the one only a few knew existed. No name, but the handwriting was unmistakable.64Please respect copyright.PENANAj57ii9KPqm
Naomi’s.64Please respect copyright.PENANAJVSvigw0Ci
He broke the seal.64Please respect copyright.PENANAvMQFeIX4Ka
Inside: a short message and a typed formal proposal, stamped with Naomi’s name.64Please respect copyright.PENANAEL0ibF0A4g
“Temporary Intelligence Exchange Proposal.64Please respect copyright.PENANAwuVmZ9Qtfn
Objectives: Stop second wave. Contain ledger fallout. Restrict Shadow Walker expansion.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAboH5AoOZRT
Musa leaned in. “She’s serious.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAddjC1ajeUl
Juma scoffed. “Serious or desperate?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAi72qqZmCzG
Jabari didn’t answer. He was already reading the fine print: No direct physical meetings. Exchange via designated wall drops. Shared surveillance logs (anonymized). Tunnel use strictly prohibited unless both sides agree. All mentions of “M.O.” to be contained or denied until internal hearings.64Please respect copyright.PENANA20K5Z3lxS2
Ayo paced. “You trust Naomi?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAaTRYiTAApz
“No,” Jabari said. “But I trust the threat.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAtqHqjo1H9m
Juma added, “If she’s suggesting shared control, it means she doesn’t have it.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAtJ5RSiSShl
Musa tapped the table. “And if we say no, we’re not allies. We’re targets.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA3ffUh6IHKv
Juma looked around. “I can’t believe we’re even considering this.”64Please respect copyright.PENANABLLJtJqeDN
But his voice wasn’t angry. Just tired.64Please respect copyright.PENANAn07U0w73ty
“She beat us. That message from the chapel? That was a declaration. If we don’t stand together, we’re all just going to be footnotes in her confession index.”64Please respect copyright.PENANACE72MA52b6
One by one, hands rose.64Please respect copyright.PENANAodBJIefKhz
Even Juma’s.64Please respect copyright.PENANAXRRgcLor8S
The decision was unanimous.64Please respect copyright.PENANADAA0KttVHa
Jabari scribbled a short response:64Please respect copyright.PENANAVQzQAwWtdZ
“Agreed. Shared containment.64Please respect copyright.PENANABdqBwQ3aoe
Our fire stays cold until her flame dies.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAlec0T5ZDcA
He slipped the letter into a clean envelope, sealed it with the old Order wax-stamp, and marked it with a chalk triangle. That night, just before midnight, Musa tucked it behind the drain grate, the way they used to pass ledgers during term inspections.64Please respect copyright.PENANAtHvSwnCZcA
The next morning, the note was gone.64Please respect copyright.PENANAyevGvbSRXD
And beneath the vent, someone had drawn a small M.64Please respect copyright.PENANAal92ei4OR7
Then crossed it out.