“Water’s Path”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4PIKHqmpV
The grate groaned louder this time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegPDD9gpyV
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArG4NzgOpl
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7caAXWhSAK
Because he had.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1rHhh5GpQ
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJBaYOsG0e
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4filkZEOk
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3EuWOxJ6H
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyw67HrFv1G
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK9fjafPBI8
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWxfOTsznp
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVVOqpzH71
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptSkgbshL7
They walked for seven more minutes.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVbXYTGjFG
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoGWKK29g2
Jabari stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59PKDPfcnI
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3qv4Cd201
Jabari placed his hand against it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeE20Ya0qvq
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjLVMB6YDE
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOc0sxyFG7
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGO4DO0P2wk
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDeDoanLiw
They opened it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnBBhtidde
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoIS58fRzW
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyx6meUovs9
It was quiet. But not still.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2YwzfXNPt
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzwr8cYRJK
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtCxD70Gda
Jabari’s breath slowed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2MuCoeqOY
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpha4QjwcV1
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDl2feEoTa
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmn3UYX93f
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQilp18sXo3
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5p7j9k39KV
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRaP96A9TH
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdN8oMwZfaP
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZ44Dtj0UR
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQqs6W0zxP
He wasn’t meant to be there.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzEJRTFJRl
He hadn’t been invited.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYzAnatIgQ
Hadn’t even been told.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGg4EeEaP6
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Wto2G7LPn
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4ChloFq51
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbYGXUezQu
The tunnel.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCB1RAPhebG
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCp9pNdVXo
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHqL8zjAfo
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjdEbQ92uV
Now it felt like betrayal.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuI1v9893n
Crossing into the girls’ side?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LCF18QXq5
For what? Information? Or for someone?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Vur6ruZS0
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?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMG7P9TEZln
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjOY5FsLCr
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nsUYwxhcd
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4NrgmBTd5
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofxJfq8ikc
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapTyU2UtJq
They never heard them coming.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDDfWxuXD6
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7DD4JRIBg
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRvGYEyuXm
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71oD0xIg5o
Kerosene.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zDcTozivL
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcrpzGFmn3
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyU1ftngI2
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SaxeX3hWF
Small. Orange.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAND0f2P8Wt
Then the flare lit.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1FGuTLmy1
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnx6sVLa1h
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviAPUsUbXg
Otieno dove back into the bend.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jMk9Y2cGX
And then they heard it— A voice.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50v1y6Lp0z
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhhZiGdUFw
“You were warned.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnIsZQCLpW
The light died as quickly as it came.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaOgvuXwzy
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:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTF6EbPUKG
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTXmy7uB3A
Jabari said nothing for a long time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBapJWp0Zc
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPgEwt6qyl
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgjKs5ieu0
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiM7yW92Jn
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYdPxS2LG4
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7o46YybKte
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxwiZgsVE2
“Was that really necessary?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPByIRHY4r
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEcjVpQHWP
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuzqH1D0vn
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4noWiSj0T9
No hood. No bluff.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7t325d0Yu
Just him — tall, furious, silent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfOKNoGgGbj
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYUOpIg5BR
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTErNipmdCT
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd542swd6lc
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFCqA6vUtF
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGg5ZgPUFQH
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwASV3k4DE
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtNXkP2DB8W
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBH1kSQoPhd
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRzydDjNJm
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGBusNm4td
Black. Crisp.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00d8CYdhcv
Stamped with a mark: M.O.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVfdvFqsjI
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HHfnlksXy
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYMlmuOW0N
Mercy’s initials.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhthpwIZ972
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEGZXJJ0by
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXoI8U21eP
Daring him to guess how deep this went.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡte070oE32T
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwc3lIEC3Hd
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cJzKfkrv4
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoTtQiUG5v
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyTeDysn3d
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzqOBI919d
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXbPM1pTQO
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESXLQBLs4z
Her initials. But not her handwriting.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHILJV20jh
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYSA2L0Np4K
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFvNU0Xtf3
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIQzrYi0Iv
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLSQKtT8Tx
Then it clicked.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfB3Du6PrN
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:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhhyLnUuRA
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzirOOuAmf7
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOUaPGM5vT
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA2Aa6VFAU
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkqRYy88khm
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OViOy9pN0
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEztRDCUmS
And what she saw?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hUrIPegbq
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qzgrpdKC2
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvERo77aBDO
Knowingly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhiaWHvCjc
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KNvqYtOZR
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0vm66TOuk
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOI39An3eB
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYB8hZuVGs
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡownpsAn2Tw
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xTfemBxH5
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4ZfyIPndA
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MVT5m1mgS
