“Water’s Path”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8cRPbN8ia
The grate groaned louder this time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7KXSz4lfu
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKEHDOTDUi
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GFpDLA5AO
Because he had.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mMp0Hys5V
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2GyCBomrG
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETihyD7r2L
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPBDeULIX1
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnEQGM2lDl
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7ZbebWnU0
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0D2nmtQ7A5
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkI9qP3Ezaq
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCV52InZy7
They walked for seven more minutes.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgmt6ngtf3
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7T0O649wM
Jabari stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4T2UZVZuRG
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrfNtBnTyw
Jabari placed his hand against it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1C1kWii3W
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndoEAtIoSt
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5wIogBaEj
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPn8UhBThE
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvP4C2W20Pn
They opened it.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcw78v0HYJ4
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96Xbmz1psn
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaBvswgbym
It was quiet. But not still.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPSX2PemK3
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGp9pj2M0g
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1QCKCk9oI
Jabari’s breath slowed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyjkxykwNx
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡareLjOebP6
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmbuOnXz50
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEzz6jpD9x
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrGS5En81W
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcDwq4AaaV
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYCGm1jhbx
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobBVLi0cm6
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmsZiyQ54WQ
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZw1130BGu8
He wasn’t meant to be there.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRTcuvxAR4
He hadn’t been invited.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMqNQqImPX
Hadn’t even been told.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4QQCYB7Qq
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKySwjXKtPC
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnmknbYj9CV
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsPfOrj56I
The tunnel.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejbZFANmM7
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23VEDGbvhk
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPM8LT0nDJ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbCYCH4w5Y
Now it felt like betrayal.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QegrUUGp0
Crossing into the girls’ side?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8Q0P6U8qC
For what? Information? Or for someone?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTb6Mf1ubbY
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCioGowX9q
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcv8fdUhGeH
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGt8vrTmxg
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZIodUkqnX
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsI9Ht8SDKu
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvyr0mSGZS
They never heard them coming.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzqAn5lzC9
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlPS0kI2ON
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp46fIrB3wG
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthBX3JNlkG
Kerosene.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTmYrMwVIi
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lgXbXdGfM
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡME5afc0PfN
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCrearUK64V
Small. Orange.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv105MKZsuN
Then the flare lit.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lIE5FUhKG
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSemYK1trIS
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93BToiRQA4
Otieno dove back into the bend.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sCcYc4Mzd
And then they heard it— A voice.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmryX5pTul
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJvZeEgIHf
“You were warned.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvxlFrAz2Y
The light died as quickly as it came.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhk0rRaOyzm
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygfY7bm9ok
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9UrHqmTmF
Jabari said nothing for a long time.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24M3BkqWn0
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtw46rbyxvv
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcUmbjcNxE
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtyRwyCQJha
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyYaORbvGh
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90LBVBGBVS
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPULaPJSwFW
“Was that really necessary?”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4g49Ix8LDe
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRZIylqxc4
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpAYc7YVgr
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL7OELvu0i
No hood. No bluff.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHQRgHJ4L0
Just him — tall, furious, silent.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYQvgA818s
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYT3X84WtWf
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVslZ2QFZGQ
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWItljPSVI
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuUM6O6Qxb
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkSQYdcsRx
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPgXf8eyHG3
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxbAvsh29v
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEyjerj1J0
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2gMHBwkBi
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7Qhkqit3L
Black. Crisp.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClHusUBbM7
Stamped with a mark: M.O.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWVZqqRoof
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz97VDNfpo
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMmGPasgXL
Mercy’s initials.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuDCm9fHlJ
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CqIQdeaCI
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sPUzvVu6D
Daring him to guess how deep this went.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJ3Lc4v3Mp
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX19h3N3Q9
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEcCuOAFnrR
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLvOZtdl6JW
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yf6HNPGUc
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XI9ALJNsl
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdq2VDBUAuH
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0N7ufHvg0O
Her initials. But not her handwriting.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CP5ccQELa
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorJEWgR8ZV
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLOCdAtl4x
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11BTKgkf7m
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxHOZKEeWe
Then it clicked.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0Z6W5NVmZ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgyK5en0Up
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ555lH3FMr7
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXSdTWWVsA
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsFriBh5m8
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wvYcyyDgn
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLgHiKbCUs
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi7iK6rkPN
And what she saw?56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJMmX2SRgV
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBrxAYb6ob
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EiL4IYJud
Knowingly.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmKg3Ukivj
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CyYfA4VRc
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HgUpEus6S
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeway8IOJr
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ElIaYYFE2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtQBLGL7uy
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnU8ERwqFep
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOunqz4Enk
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLd0W5CbCdQ
