June wasn’t a morning person.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQWYKV2ZMW
But patrols weren’t optional—not for someone recently readmitted into Naomi’s restructured Order. The cold air bit through her sweater as she rounded the far edge of the compound, Mary close behind her, yawning silently.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RZMzJzqzw
The borehole wasn’t on their official route. But June always checked it. Something about the way it sat—unwatched, forgotten, fenced in by banana trees—made her wary.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9o3otjeLq
That’s when they saw it.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPphmZHTnE
On the concrete lip of the borehole grate, curving like a forgotten crescent, was a thick arc of blue ink. Fresh. Still glistening. Perfectly symmetrical.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgkz5pPF8f
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wH0i18bRR
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0fDBVYFmE
They exchanged a look.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HorJJCgUE
Not just blue. Mercy’s blue. The same shade that once bled into Order memos, laced warnings, signed forged rosters — and marked betrayals that had cost people dearly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0iFnEszlQ
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CepyU70rk
“She never left,” June replied.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzV7I8ZdRE
June didn’t touch it, but she knew. The curve wasn’t random. It was a symbol—half of one, maybe. A cipher. A signal. She glanced around. No footprints. No scent. No wind. Mercy had always been a step ahead. Even when she wasn't present, she was somehow already watching.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcSCi4s7Vb
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdP7E6ZfnR
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqRFu1aqR3
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlZjYZ5eJv
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIMlVZfFTT
That was the Mercy they remembered.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJN4QUky4VW
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpqdFIrbcb
She hadn’t followed them intentionally. But she’d noticed June’s pattern — always checking things that no one cared to. Today, curiosity had won.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVKGWVizFj
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocIU0lzexK
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7wIqiFBxC
Saw the fear. The recognition.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHpYZNnlby
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTi9uYsQyLL
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPVpRjdw47
She hadn’t planned to follow June. But it was hard not to notice how she and Mary had vanished right after fifth bell, slipping off in the direction of the borehole like ghosts on assignment. Old habits die slowly—and jealousy dies slower.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwmVtPG8zt
She waited until the path was empty again. The ink mark was still there. Drier now, darker around the edges. She crouched beside it, tilting her head.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSN33xmptZ
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6135KfWmK2
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGDYxRb7R7
She didn’t write much.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRh0HxGh40M
"The serpent returns."23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kn7brWnLP
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BtOkPj8HT
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjaEgTpr4u
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmYcbQjOHF
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwI5q6hy0h
A buzz.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡinME9ZBuhF
A photo.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRML9eEoNt
A phrase:23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYGgx0kx3h
“The serpent returns.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmw4QWTYayy
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgzcKZAuVL
A slow breath.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVZyaApIcK
No reply.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5fg4RN9hn
Just movement.
***23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEa4B1ujGJ
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimId5JI6Gp
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Hap74u1cX
Kim nodded slowly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXw8IUvApdr
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA06MwViUw
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkPut78v8Y
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq33fhZyGH5
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgY6rvAsUv
That evening, Naomi stood at the front of the assembly hall, her face pale but composed. She held up a photo printout of the inked mark, shaking it once for emphasis.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgQyG55B31
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNLAesSiRX
Her voice dropped lower.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjKNipt8o2u
“This school is no longer for games.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfILBuKbN2o
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBf8TXiJwRB
And this was her first piece.
*****23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZor92HMXxi
June stared at the photo of the blue ink arc again, this time under the glow of a cracked desk lamp in the old arts room. The photo was blurry around the edges, but something in the shape felt… off. Not incomplete. Segmented.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJoGHTmCzGx
“Look,” she murmured, pointing to where the arc wasn’t a perfect curve. It dipped and rose in odd places, like a pulse frozen in motion.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSZtcfLp4U
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBNlXy8VdC
“I think it’s a cipher.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyFfpAvMsb
June opened her leather notebook and flipped to the final pages, where she’d kept sketches from Mercy’s last term in power — drawings that didn’t fit into normal Order documentation. Half-symbols. Curves. Broken sigils.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVKnDmXfGB
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYMdL0uUx1
But only if rotated ninety degrees.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaf3EH9LaZL
As she turned the photo on its side, the image changed — suddenly the arc wasn’t a shape. It was writing. Cursive. Twisted. Stylized like Mercy’s notes used to be.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYphRUuk85
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBaXTopTEN
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcf5r8i80xk
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOz35maQuMX
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88s6EDrGEi
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9UYiZwjlp
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUfSobce1i
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvwvqIWE45
“I think she left everything there.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONZ1eAK5he
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFQthiWOuH
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwuYw4CQzQ
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JkweZTntJ
June turned fully toward her. “We both joined the Order thinking it meant loyalty. But Mercy’s truths were never above ground. She wrote in the dust, not in the books.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFi2mzRn24l
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZtDkZSWMV
Kim almost missed it.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86U4eJ7BAh
The wind had picked up again, brushing banana leaves against the cement like fingers against drum skin. Her roommates were out, still at group studies or filling water before curfew. She sat cross-legged on her bed, flipping through old pages of a forgotten literature book.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HP47iu1jR
Then she heard the whisper.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh5qHeEYvOh
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1N5m5N0sVp
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuV6z1Sfxsh
Nothing. But when she looked down, a folded strip of paper lay just inside the frame — flattened from the crawl beneath the shutters. No name. No seal. No color.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMoEvuP6Oi
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG92j4FNcRr
“Jabari knows the underground route.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbH6vxbEsB
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfQbzZjZlp
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjs1lqczjCE
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwvS3F5DID
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThnTskpZRw
Her Mind Raced. Why her?23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR00zps0rx2
If it was true—if Jabari really did know about the tunnel, about the underground paths—why would he let that slip? Unless he hadn’t. Unless someone else wanted her to know.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYe8GeAz67
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGgJWKKfys
And how did they even know she was connected to him?23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO55hgTFgs1
She thought about the night she saw the boys run across the wall. The half-glimpsed shadows. The torn tie. The hooded girl who didn’t stop her.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYIjbpdrIZ
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50xgTwUE7z
And now this.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2w98Yos3C
Kim sat down on the bed; the note clenched in her hand. It wasn’t just about her and Jabari anymore. It wasn’t just curiosity or codes or a shared suspicion that the wall wasn’t as solid as it pretended to be.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w8tSAalyo
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnCazepgO2
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCob0ZmMUj
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Vp3amIngw
“Jabari knows the underground route.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3yHZdtypi
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SKyHv2mc7
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfku5ftq5WP
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RFAqi2B3J
Seline had stormed out in one of her usual flourishes after Naomi’s address — her camera slung over her shoulder, muttering about respect and surveillance. She left it briefly unattended near the altar, in the row where she always kept her things during meetings.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGXJ4xgab5
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWrqK6S2jp
She moved like she was going to tie her shoe — bent near the camera bag, fingers slipping past the zipper with a smoothness that surprised even herself.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Yn5VSJlUb
Inside: A small DSLR camera, just as expected. A micro-SD card, exposed in the side pouch. And next to it — Seline’s school phone. 23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKb8PADWBD
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwDRwbv7MV
Not unless she was hiding something with it.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTKDmqcuTF
Shiko pulled the memory card carefully and slid a blank duplicate in its place — identical in color and make. She didn’t check what was on it. Not yet. Not here.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnoYLQfY1P
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvb7iq7Tg6E
No one noticed.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqF1yymiiPV
She rose slowly and walked down the side aisle of the chapel, silent shoes on stone tiles. The old wooden pews creaked just slightly beneath her as she crouched near the third from the front — the one with the broken hymn book shelf.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtz74EKNHW
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFz8hOdw9E2
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLiMpVmyoq
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukX8aDm2Va
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEBl7kVlWh
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iTqbhv2iK
She didn’t look back.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCfMTH79qc
That night, Shiko inserted the stolen SD card into her hidden reader. The screen lit up. Hundreds of images. Blue ink. Borehole arc. Snapshots of June’s notebook. A blurred image of Kim and Shiko whispering near the map. Even a shadowed photo of what looked like… Mercy?23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeNtW0riPn
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpkve4AH4C
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofM4XoCx3F
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrRKm65WCn
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6AOOQoRWG
He told Musa he was doing a pre-inspection for the upcoming Board visit. He told Ayo he needed quiet. In truth, he wanted no shadows behind him.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PMq3j9e9t
Just space. And answers.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKYs9BnWza
The grate behind the dormitories hadn’t been used in years. It squealed as he forced it open, the hinges moaning like an old confession. The tunnel beneath was narrow — concrete ribs curved above his head, lined with mildew and spiderwebs that tugged at his shoulders.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3jdbAp5hn
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHbfDVD4ao
The tunnel sloped slightly downward, toward the foundation of the old water system — long disconnected, now only half-remembered by the school’s plumbers. But Jabari had seen the diagrams. The colonial maps. The blue line that started here and ran... beyond.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wa1AkT0x8
He moved slowly, the torchlight sweeping across old pipe valves and chalk markings etched along the walls. Most were faded. One still glowed faintly under his beam:23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tssJfc3Ac
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQBI3YpOFc
In the overgrown greenhouse behind the girls' science wing, June steadied her hand, holding her official Order-issued phone — the one Naomi had reluctantly reinstated when they returned to duty.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhhTa7LZjb
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRiIw42xtm
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNRK7gSBa5
A figure.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Pp1uoUtxR
Alone.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMk4fVkk4P9
June tapped record.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVubDp75DV
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgd8pQco4z8
“He’s testing the tunnel.”23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmtpGpAOiv
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUTWt43jwD
He turned right.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HRGF1nAAY
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCUEZWGA6P
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFwzaZtYUy
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBnWInElVs
None of them spoke.23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZB646W9kjn
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJElM6NT3Lr
"Follow Water to Truth."23Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzTlUVO4P0
He did.
