In the Kisumu Boys' Assembly Room, a closed session in the late afternoon is underway. The rain drums faintly on the roof. Both Order loyalists and Shadow Walker affiliates have been summoned — the first meeting of its kind.65Please respect copyright.PENANAG4TXvfKVmm
The room buzzed with restrained confusion. On one side: prefects, old Order loyalists, data-keepers. On the other: Shadow Walkers — code-runners, graffiti scouts, watchers from rooftops.65Please respect copyright.PENANA5GwSOYxDFC
No one sat near the center.65Please respect copyright.PENANAI7tqq9c7wE
Jabari stood at the front of the room, back straight, the cracked ledger box in one hand.65Please respect copyright.PENANAUSeKCfGwIR
He didn’t shout.65Please respect copyright.PENANANzkN33eNLn
“You all saw what Mercy did.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAZA4looiwZO
Silence.65Please respect copyright.PENANAFjZ4KzZjO2
“She used our stories. Our fractures. She drowned us in our own past.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAKGlf1Hg8O4
He placed the box down — loudly.65Please respect copyright.PENANAAeFlW1xcyW
“So, this time… we drown her in it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAHZApA1n1wF
He scanned both sides of the room.65Please respect copyright.PENANAA2Oa0r5lha
“We have word Naomi’s side is moving — quietly. They’ve offered a containment pact.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAQHOmVDuLHq
A few gasps. One laugh — quickly hushed.65Please respect copyright.PENANAr2QAzlUMtV
Jabari continued.65Please respect copyright.PENANASNVlYyUnaL
“This isn’t an alliance for peace. This is a trap.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAc4PL3ORcNw
He walked to the chalkboard and drew a quick diagram: the chapel crypt, the drainage lines, the tunnel forks.65Please respect copyright.PENANAujJp1vt4P4
“Mercy’s using the third memory drop — a ledger no one catalogued. We lure her into finishing the cycle. And we lock her there. Not with chains. With evidence. With noise. With memory.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAGbqvfJRHOB
Kwame wasn’t present.65Please respect copyright.PENANAlbzKlI64am
But Otieno was — arms folded, expression blank.65Please respect copyright.PENANAcgNwQ2JBO3
Ayo muttered under his breath, “He won’t like this.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA8DhIA2s9IQ
Juma asked sharply, “So we do Naomi’s cleanup?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAxex8HV7wox
Jabari looked him straight in the eyes.65Please respect copyright.PENANAsIyDjHz7n8
“We clean up our own ghosts. Naomi’s just part of the smoke.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAOBVLnclbic
Musa stepped forward and unrolled the scroll — Naomi’s signed terms, retrieved from the wall.65Please respect copyright.PENANAeF3seEOZna
He read them aloud: Neutral crypt space during the trap execution. Shared counter-signal system (one chime = cancel, two = proceed). No betrayal until both crates are verified and neutralized.65Please respect copyright.PENANAjx1SEtvxwQ
The final line:65Please respect copyright.PENANAgCCTmojpkC
“No war until the wound is stitched.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAZ9dqJknhXI
A single nod from Jabari. “Vote?”65Please respect copyright.PENANA6bF9M7KaVh
This time, only one hand stayed down.65Please respect copyright.PENANAbj961dgoge
Otieno.65Please respect copyright.PENANADP72CsnK2W
He met Jabari’s gaze, then whispered: “You catch her… Just don’t become her.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAf3wbrDo4dZ
The moment Musa finished rolling up the scroll, Juma stood — arms crossed, eyes cold.65Please respect copyright.PENANA0fqqubNobo
“We’re trusting Naomi now? The same girl who tried to silence everything Mercy uncovered?”65Please respect copyright.PENANA6BjfYv6QzQ
The room went quiet again. Even the Shadow Walkers leaned in, sensing heat beneath the words.65Please respect copyright.PENANAcSCen1nvYE
Jabari didn’t answer immediately.65Please respect copyright.PENANATTfagUBREQ
Juma continued, his voice quieter but heavier:65Please respect copyright.PENANAS5cVBsa8nW
“She isn’t here to contain anything. She’s here to bury it again. And if we help her… we’re part of it. We’ve already done one cover-up, Jabari. I won’t do a second.”65Please respect copyright.PENANABBnm2lFmT2
Otieno glanced at Musa. Ayo looked away.65Please respect copyright.PENANAnrA9lqZUJ6
They knew what Jabari suspected but never asked.65Please respect copyright.PENANAb7B2PXhewP
Juma’s voice cracked ever so slightly: “I swore I’d protect Kim. Not just physically. From all this. From becoming one of us.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA99pcSLC0FZ
He looked straight at Jabari. “You think Naomi won’t use her if it means killing Mercy’s story?”65Please respect copyright.PENANA25oiQLoMLT
A slow clap echoed from the hallway.65Please respect copyright.PENANAQCaplrRv54
Kwame.65Please respect copyright.PENANAzVtL2r5FxM
He leaned against the doorframe, shadowed, smirking.65Please respect copyright.PENANADCPDujvhkf
“Now that’s what I’ve been waiting for.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA9LWEfG5lxk
Jabari’s jaw tightened. “You weren’t invited.”65Please respect copyright.PENANADIJPsxPVUM
Kwame stepped in. “I don’t need an invitation to watch a castle collapse. Especially when the stones fight each other.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAAFdbuFshg5
He glanced at Juma. “Finally, someone with a spine.65Please respect copyright.PENANAd87cAAGRe1
Jabari stepped forward. “This isn’t about Kim.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAZg3Qr1qv4c
Juma didn’t move. “No. It’s about all the people who can’t speak anymore. Mercy included.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA7mliLDaKU6
Kwame tilted his head, amused. “You know, I think Mercy would like him.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAvpopQc2uN2
Musa finally spoke. “We don’t have time for this.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAOjIhNr1TjS
Jabari looked at Juma. “You can’t protect her from all of it. You can only decide whether you help shape the truth or let it crush her.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAGwFZ78lsSB
Juma’s fists clenched.65Please respect copyright.PENANApTdzSNiEMu
But he didn’t sit back down.65Please respect copyright.PENANAeDST8owhAE
Later that night, after the hall had emptied and the plan was posted on the encrypted wall scroll, Kwame found Otieno near the water tanks, where the fog rolled low and the pipes hissed with steam.65Please respect copyright.PENANAFmK3mudALk
Kwame leaned against the concrete.65Please respect copyright.PENANAn3MssnkFPz
“So. You’re really going with Jabari?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAvDDTBBqOrR
Otieno didn’t look up. He was fitting a copper ring into the vent grate — a piece of an old filtration system he’d been rigging for months.65Please respect copyright.PENANAqmoYMjSUPf
“Does it matter?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAn9JzIY0Zg3
Kwame smirked. “It does to me. I had you pegged as a watcher. Not a follower.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAjHkRkE5SpY
Otieno stood slowly. “You’re right.”65Please respect copyright.PENANACU5z07u4gO
He turned to face Kwame — taller than him in the dim light. 65Please respect copyright.PENANA7wW0cv8uHO
“I do watch. I watched what happened when the last war between Orders wasn’t stopped. I watched Jabari get blamed for things he never did. I watched you use Mercy’s name like a weapon — without carrying any of her burden.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAjv0hdAShc2
Kwame’s smile faded slightly.65Please respect copyright.PENANAXyxW5ntZK3
“She’s rewriting history,” Otieno said. “And you think you’re the editor. But she’ll erase you the second you stop being useful.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAqYnXS9HZCZ
Kwame raised an eyebrow. “And you think Jabari won’t?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAe9UnYaDhgN
Otieno stepped closer.65Please respect copyright.PENANAyiNpUPSrdc
“If we help Jabari now, we keep Mercy’s revenge from destroying us all. Not for Naomi. Not for orders. Not for walls.”65Please respect copyright.PENANABbDFvJJh7E
He paused. “For survival.”65Please respect copyright.PENANADpsqhzmDoq
Kwame scoffed lightly. “You sound like you’re preparing for a funeral.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA6n13ohz2QH
Otieno turned away, sliding the copper ring into place.65Please respect copyright.PENANAGv0WSQbhvS
“I am. The old war never ended. This time, I just want to know which side I buried my friends on.”
**********65Please respect copyright.PENANAhOIYGxwiBI
The ledger crate was lighter than expected.65Please respect copyright.PENANAlaJSFxNKuW
Musa tested its weight once more as he crouched beneath the courtyard arch. The M.O.3 chalk mark had been carefully redrawn. The false ledgers inside were wrapped in canvas, just enough heft to feel real.65Please respect copyright.PENANAdS4v1Vp7qE
Jabari stood beside him in the hallway shadows. “You’re sure?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAWTGBZP0m3C
Musa gave a half-smile. “You trust me with a busted borehole and a map that doesn’t exist, but not a box full of air?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAQvtA2XNsjg
Juma, standing nearby, muttered, “It’s not the box I don’t trust. It’s the gate it’s going through.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA97WryasEUe
Musa turned to Jabari.65Please respect copyright.PENANA6xOV84D8Jw
“Let me take it. If we send a signal through anyone else, they’ll second-guess it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAHHSsaTPSJa
He gripped the crate.65Please respect copyright.PENANAdzmqvkeX4r
“I’m neutral enough to walk through fire.”65Please respect copyright.PENANABJFICaTDVy
From behind him, Ayo appeared silently, holding a folded black card — flat, thin, almost forgettable.65Please respect copyright.PENANAi2GjKZIZPk
“For insurance,” Ayo said, sliding it beneath the top canvas.65Please respect copyright.PENANAx8LRLUQfZo
Musa frowned. “We’re not sending threats.”65Please respect copyright.PENANArnASk2lwW1
Ayo’s voice was smooth. “It’s not a threat. Just… a reminder. She needs to know she’s still being watched.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA2kgfBX4NWP
“No names. Just the old cipher. Mercy’s mark.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAsrNwC26eFm
Musa hesitated, then said nothing. There wasn’t time. Jabari was still briefing the wall runners. No one else saw.65Please respect copyright.PENANAfkF15ybpZN
At 5:48 p.m., beneath the buzz of Science Week cleanup, Musa rolled the AV cart up to the old drain-slot gate in the concrete wall.65Please respect copyright.PENANAGQaFky9hI7
He stood still, adjusted his sleeves. Waited.65Please respect copyright.PENANAts3cwQfVEP
The grate shifted open. Two gloved hands — Mary’s, if he had to guess — pulled the crate silently inside.65Please respect copyright.PENANAz06WcPVup0
No words. Only a single origami triangle left behind, folded from printed timetable paper.65Please respect copyright.PENANAMmO1AnqTwo
He picked it up, unfolded it.65Please respect copyright.PENANAu2pVlddMNZ
“Drop scheduled. Second chime. No shadows.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA7A7h20qVFK
The plan was live.65Please respect copyright.PENANAQVIuijYVRU
Inside the crate, beneath the false ledgers and canvas, Naomi’s hand paused when she reached the black card. It bore Mercy’s old cipher — a twisting serpent swallowing its tail — stamped in silver ink.65Please respect copyright.PENANAyfGYMEKjcr
Below it: one line in tight handwriting.65Please respect copyright.PENANAMiW1tay7i6
“She buried you once. Don’t let her bury you again.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAbjn49VyLkh
Mary looked up at Naomi.65Please respect copyright.PENANARPN2qzFMca
“Did you put this in?”65Please respect copyright.PENANA9H6TncCctn
Naomi said nothing.65Please respect copyright.PENANAfgi0Lc3XUm
Her fingers tightened.
*****65Please respect copyright.PENANAemdsqFsmwR
On the girls’ side. After dark. Naomi’s inner circle meets in the underground storage room behind the old library annex. The crate sits unopened on a long metal table.65Please respect copyright.PENANAo7rd3onGdX
The room smelled like old pine and chalk dust.65Please respect copyright.PENANACM3C6t9gST
June, Mary, and Naomi stood around the crate. No one had spoken since the door shut.65Please respect copyright.PENANAi6Vwx3AimL
The origami triangle Musa left sat neatly beside the latch. Naomi’s hands hovered above it.65Please respect copyright.PENANA2Fhde21WtF
“We open it now,” she said.65Please respect copyright.PENANArfjoP7Xo5k
“We can’t afford another surprise at the Tribunal.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA2kDP9PQl0l
She glanced at Mary. “Gloves.”65Please respect copyright.PENANABj6GOqdkO5
Mary handed them over — clean surgical pairs swiped from the chem lab.65Please respect copyright.PENANARZSNSvZk8N
Inside, the ledgers were exactly as expected — wrapped, unmarked, blank. But under the first canvas fold, June’s hand paused.65Please respect copyright.PENANAV3MvDpbvsj
“Something’s here.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAyKfnF9sImc
She pulled out the black card.65Please respect copyright.PENANAy4AF1I1kUf
The serpent. Silver ink. Old cipher.65Please respect copyright.PENANAdUkQh17KKP
Naomi took it. Kim read the line aloud:65Please respect copyright.PENANAcFUtb5CnYi
“She buried you once. Don’t let her bury you again.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAAHoW8gsI9J
A beat of silence.65Please respect copyright.PENANApPqAsIDB1Z
Naomi’s face stayed blank, but her pulse visibly jumped.65Please respect copyright.PENANAySdu8EyaXn
“It’s not hers,” she said flatly. “She never wrote in third person.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAoeOUtSkhch
June stepped in. “Then it’s meant to make it look like it is.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA8d2VUZxlgh
Mary whispered, “Could it be a warning? From the boys?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAraKiNdjSXR
Naomi shook her head. 65Please respect copyright.PENANAiVJusYYyDJ
“Too calculated. This isn’t warning. It’s planting doubt. Whoever slipped it in wanted us to panic in front of the school.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA6VgzZ8racg
June laid the card flat on the table.65Please respect copyright.PENANAQCASBVgd2a
“We pull it now. Quietly. And we never say a word.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA84MRiQpiAq
Naomi finally nodded. “Burn it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAe0b2yg6cZA
Mary hesitated. “That’s a Mercy move.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAOe8C0SRALo
Naomi replied coldly: 65Please respect copyright.PENANAnBMzMUPKZF
“Then maybe she taught us well.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAFGWwIIQjCI
The card was burning in a lab beaker, the serpent curling into ash by the time they were done, Naomi staring into the flame longer than the others.65Please respect copyright.PENANA7SszdRkuBb
June turned to Naomi. 65Please respect copyright.PENANA7a9Llrn06H
“When you open that crate tomorrow, make sure your voice doesn’t shake.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAfbR1zJzjAK
Naomi said nothing.65Please respect copyright.PENANAy5pBTVktd2
But her jaw was set.