June wasn’t a morning person.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1DnGBF4Wk
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnYMK2OMjh
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFAWtCyqNt
That’s when they saw it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8evBmG33c
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDK9IwOuzkx
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9yxnhFJno
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtP5h8N4QK
They exchanged a look.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpgWk49Evf
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXLs9gmFnJO
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFT8LNrlKrg
“She never left,” June replied.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwXkBUasLu
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjENYBGaWCf
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDxG885LoEe
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUMfNglQsf
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwP93IaxPO
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy10mDQPK2k
That was the Mercy they remembered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWuTXQyqMm
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmMcP8UHdl
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYZyexQFX1
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVh4igKpmp
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1k8PtJcJ4p
Saw the fear. The recognition.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFACNzZH6pE
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQAy9OgW3h
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FdfDpU76r
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKM3Qe7IjF
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4MgvtTcb1
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTJyLRywIV
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86tTbCnS7l
She didn’t write much.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3Q2PUbOYj
"The serpent returns."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzH8aoqyjDn
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uWLwTjjsN
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGApFBlN5Ob
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9GQW0ipfc
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ANHLibg53
A buzz.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmuBUvywKG
A photo.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNG86sHP2A
A phrase:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZcWHPRkGs
“The serpent returns.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MnnKjf449
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9h6S2LZz5
A slow breath.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9IA5SXCfN
No reply.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHHEnJ3xcq
Just movement.
***58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNYuV56ZMu
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzD7JtVZbF
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAfb1Ie7CW
Kim nodded slowly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJ4H4bF2TK
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIbFP6L3Q0
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmpXcbDMb8
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGsylTzlyn
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHq8vWemLP
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgV8Wvo47CY
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXajnCeovN
Her voice dropped lower.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3stL0Pmjv
“This school is no longer for games.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7PnpFhZet
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpr4ku8wYK
And this was her first piece.
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntfw2HFCG8
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRXJcvbHLw
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nqWumz09o
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm4rWsNRad
“I think it’s a cipher.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmfLTmppHwV
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWSgjgqBtJ
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWE2ejTV3g
But only if rotated ninety degrees.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12Sv3DR7Lq
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLZ6jK2yJn
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUliMKK23q
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSJQ47f3dg
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7tHktCyaI
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cKohocrHt
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNw5Th6b7bj
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyIojdwgVc
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8g84CaOD1
“I think she left everything there.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdxKatrOSd
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQw3ceaGegz
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvzVilCLBt
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmk9JGa621
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkk4KLGE8wz
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYk5WOoR1rx
Kim almost missed it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShK3T6wqH4
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9yo6HRlOr
Then she heard the whisper.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1JxaquVvo
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCcIKI1OQp
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsTgDm5Aaz
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAJuz64Tuu
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9hSwVLHi9
“Jabari knows the underground route.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xucbsbJ5U
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4X3kftlm1
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzQpvijEnZ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpcO4laSEO
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Fa00gnpj3
Her Mind Raced. Why her?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyKrgGEcRI
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTC6xi67Wif
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlxK3XWq1C
And how did they even know she was connected to him?58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKplFBEbPjW
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBiURj0zYo
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX34rNaoZSP
And now this.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3XJmy9wOA
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhUWYjmSau
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOs9XBAG9k2
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡieQVP3EW39
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6avCwT5hs
“Jabari knows the underground route.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqc98wEpqRx
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rkNSrkuPD
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRyRK14ERz
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTlhBykmP3
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPBxzm4a0Z
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzwWlx7rWg
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEUqPMAt0L
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQe0OOv2tL
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzW3ARdnLtS
Not unless she was hiding something with it.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0odbad4jgZ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DbZHq1SRy
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5x9ZoeG1I
No one noticed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywtEj2j85d
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rvHq5iYPB
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOmmlmqEHW
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58hCidqqPu
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHMry7cn9mu
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxTNF4Mdfo
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsiBLt9uUZ
She didn’t look back.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpD7QHtCNcU
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ykMzxtgs6
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0BQFfXQOK
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2yDo2YpBX
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjhsMuKndp
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUrpAN3iA0
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99KamTHZlH
Just space. And answers.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOMZOcEb9n
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjB1KMxZtlP
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkrPxgMteJ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoT9dYVKnP
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgTmP0IlvY
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqKRYodpr9
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92t86nGLIS
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7npGQa87Cr
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhOBGzt2Tg
A figure.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYUhx4fxJZ
Alone.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZ7V5J5giP
June tapped record.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs42mCeF0ie
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeIRbVXJKL
“He’s testing the tunnel.”58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKOzX8Fc1b
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yCLtleK9G
He turned right.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLddgFidFg
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTprtwvPMag
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡri9OYuSdZ3
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy8z0mlwzdx
None of them spoke.58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZg5iUhKjXf
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZX0OscUv0
"Follow Water to Truth."58Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspkE4UzkM4
He did.
