“Water’s Path”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2yU8FkHHG
The grate groaned louder this time.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4eluPNSPd
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJOUc5jKAQ
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAYiT09D5G
Because he had.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmrW1dethM
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaWI3xtAo5
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK1pcPjRCX
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVYmovTF8s
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNGdyCPT6K
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnwteaaLEL
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmifS9paBo
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqePIMjZaoX
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwSbLRV4um
They walked for seven more minutes.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcAvdbWt6V
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7wf8vlOIC
Jabari stopped.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxx8HIK6DJq
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vDTZqblIx
Jabari placed his hand against it.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9YtNwRPq2
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBgDVTvM3r
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtFJFxVpjf
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFC5IBuDoN
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAw2V1hdck
They opened it.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAA8KcEOQMl
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumS5yGMkhx
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmPq67QaYn
It was quiet. But not still.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDFj3PZTCF
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzY1KpfiseQ
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKdOPEu0nY
Jabari’s breath slowed.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wU5vtvI65
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVOQbYJX3r
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8ZU6hZXmq
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqqJvUQAXJ
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkee65HydG
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1MzdsSiIe
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmJywBv8g7
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVjOszsvrE
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUsmq5UDQR
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxjqjQJZCP
He wasn’t meant to be there.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZF3PaA4zP
He hadn’t been invited.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEeYxu4Nv0O
Hadn’t even been told.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡioUTsezvbR
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJo0oVNiMa
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdDQuXhOHt
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcc5O16MNK4
The tunnel.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VlQv5AVX3
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmT6hbgFMWP
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UCHkipf0Q
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayItyDzlyT
Now it felt like betrayal.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbj9MOCpQv
Crossing into the girls’ side?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg71apwcdd
For what? Information? Or for someone?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIGA6MjOGEW
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?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XFcYn5iV7
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboxCaFOLGX
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXYFK5u4Ro
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUmgClB4Uq
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfrhw35vPJ
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarV0siMzno
They never heard them coming.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTB7dvaQDLS
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczh3yp1jhf
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMl0JqS5il
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9u8TMEFrb
Kerosene.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJz5lkX2Y4
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDg8esfOtIO
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfV3eGNRIp
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwoDRey0OV
Small. Orange.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9jMJdf3A3
Then the flare lit.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk3HruutGpn
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWKtCJhuS0
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWJVP0pwZw
Otieno dove back into the bend.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRFBuxNL7R
And then they heard it— A voice.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZSolWhf9E
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkmDQ7yL7Y
“You were warned.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcOEosKkOV
The light died as quickly as it came.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGPuesRz5Z
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:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgHx3R5qgL
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimtRfguBNO
Jabari said nothing for a long time.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HT3gs0DRr
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITc0j13CA5
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5M4fk1RE4w
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnaBNk3QOJB
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTjyKtf04R
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLgcHoUIDn
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EijNmAlee
“Was that really necessary?”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ySRB1bQ5U
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEBuW0ic6W
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjWCTvcYpW
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRa4o8KNDu
No hood. No bluff.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkHZFdHaUys
Just him — tall, furious, silent.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMGi16PNCk
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlr0VR3V6IG
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcFpfjv1Cd
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7ocJrgziY
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMlkOh5g5EU
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSI84FqYaZ
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ozg2eD4KP
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQsrgwQRsA
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxH1B22UkzZ
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8Fr2v1AUS
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yBnNQQmXd
Black. Crisp.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJtRfW2kwF
Stamped with a mark: M.O.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvS51VQPXd
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXujnVX7SY
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1M4BeeicHf
Mercy’s initials.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlN153AVlqf
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDfQUBjAN1
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7COfUqbzW
Daring him to guess how deep this went.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL72DdzKGFP
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRLwWNnu8QB
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3YHauTX6F
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnWNR3gUx9
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvBrjMMbHH
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBckPBevmEh
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPifPkMDcAq
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptombSIkN1
Her initials. But not her handwriting.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAfQw9WkQni
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUih5MV9Vse
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqgpMwbdhL
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGufUEEIPqR
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eFKUZ69FP
Then it clicked.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VqJu6ynNP
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:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsyYUBeWfu
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ss74fq818
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbhu0qMmtw
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibqL0Mi4ln
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IyVkOxKp9
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9RdO0iYFs
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6EvDgiQDQ
And what she saw?22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugf3RP4w3Y
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hCQ9joJqF
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQGws3yeNZ
Knowingly.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbyMoBDwRB
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaS0HUdnKj
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡATjknvT0Ku
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajJsUTV6Ob
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMXwX4uU1D
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJy633t7aJ
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsH3hhE2e4
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHP5SMpPy8
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXlSORo2fY
