June wasn’t a morning person.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuUwN5hRJk
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2M8T8Wqxhb
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUgajCacxJ
That’s when they saw it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡko3PVOZJSC
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcbBnuPcuj
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92e7J7XxKE
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQyfqFlP2J
They exchanged a look.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1HkZUS42Z
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQwH1V8rX6l
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SKVg0mycR
“She never left,” June replied.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3qZEy45ss8
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNNDuZbGpc
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezogbiKnvy
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuFGHw8Klz
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWxdu0IY5I
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSH7jKzIK7
That was the Mercy they remembered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYFKlPYkP0
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZoA63cM3E
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoFN8veIJz
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjECY9PWXJ
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZytlylt78l
Saw the fear. The recognition.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLNP7LU1T3
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwofhhIfzDg
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbzEjUr5d2
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZc2tiY9rzT
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgpuvtLwcE
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xmHblkKrP
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDR0o0ofg8
She didn’t write much.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCrakN5Zz3
"The serpent returns."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCio4SXB1U
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUY0Mv4h5E
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHAU3D2n5n
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMYNG3Lzic
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaslcE1xymp
A buzz.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxr1QNONDG
A photo.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTRbwz87pmQ
A phrase:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbn2On7HqJ
“The serpent returns.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzleKquiVQ8
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKLGW8QGO5
A slow breath.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVzx32yKwT
No reply.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUtEQPfvyC
Just movement.
***58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtYf8UH6r7
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg69BEJ9Qr
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5gylASuSM
Kim nodded slowly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVl4Bc31Dbd
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡha7N1TDbSL
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuY0ay4RFMw
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOoE9jl7CE
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmiTTRjtfb
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Fd7c4ep84
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1CZDjOBj4
Her voice dropped lower.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYbDRew5ir
“This school is no longer for games.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGay99Or7H8
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6EUYybydc
And this was her first piece.
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wJ7G4Taem
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfMUp3HuuZ
“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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPKGJdmE4F
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKTlZmPl7H
“I think it’s a cipher.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfknrpZ3rEV
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqVlVLKlmk
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡanvQmxaPWM
But only if rotated ninety degrees.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJwMPyPAlWY
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrd6EkDqBS
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJX57Vx6Y3
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRDyGC351z
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjV859xhlrF
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpGP3AUeIL
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gLSctRiqH
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOO1W5QApiU
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4YIF0wkhlx
“I think she left everything there.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WmRwbrr0b
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNDxLSgkKZ
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32PvZaqypX
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTcCGioHmT
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.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgW0KQnhdWT
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1t9POmzy0
Kim almost missed it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKaV54uqOS
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiscMatWNs
Then she heard the whisper.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQ1WUP5ojN
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjp8NZzaCq
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6hslenCsk
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkwyGrqmra
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXI1qXTE86
“Jabari knows the underground route.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSNh0sZu6v
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNvX2qCGmG
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00fTUr887u
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlh70v03I8h
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIILHjFKpLH
Her Mind Raced. Why her?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCvbDvGK8m
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDprnGKDDV1
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcbWyAqCR4
And how did they even know she was connected to him?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcr8PK5Ngnc
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQ2DzZ7Lsl
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPK1iLxunNH
And now this.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCCnHjajDJ
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeTuABQlGn
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtH1aPtMdo
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfkt03oRgr
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6TZQdBTG9t
“Jabari knows the underground route.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnfbSzwXHs
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fORd5qcG3
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9f4EnXmHU
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuH6Wkv6Hau
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRa0EMFxHu
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAm35VMWwlX
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrs4fKf3ofL
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. 58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DXhdbQ7Iv
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAV6tzJ0HhS
Not unless she was hiding something with it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY771ppkZws
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FS9SgE3lQ
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIAOagX9QJ
No one noticed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmg7jD0GLIa
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1yVuLhrSG
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNihqBh9Ooe
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSyc5OSIRb
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1juWsSfL8
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZOAXjwTwv
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgl708RsHP
She didn’t look back.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrwuNi55QK
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?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2Iqjp2zcf
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1wIs6EKgs
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbH1zIWPu5
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDLzTkWPbQ
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzM2cHSH06X
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPtdXwPgX5
Just space. And answers.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIx8t06YZy
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtclpacus8A
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTaUhj3ArhK
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnA8AuII2I
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:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCU4lLhg8x
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkNOl3xSUV
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.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ta86uzGXN
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoKe9ckFgH
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mfA9hnKDL
A figure.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uobdSIJDJ
Alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2VoXzQ8ov
June tapped record.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu5V9I5mZvo
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wRipM1JLV
“He’s testing the tunnel.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVASDY20WC
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JbMihQQea
He turned right.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD7s5mQmwdk
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lSI6icJPa
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9OADJGNlL
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrNDPUty7eJ
None of them spoke.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl80z3AQgr5
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDvLATFrxi
"Follow Water to Truth."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVMjACOkbK
He did.
