“Water’s Path”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMprslv1JEb
The grate groaned louder this time.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ107nxPyMAP
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YyQzxAKpW
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3de0IqWWYf
Because he had.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcmpCPLBYC
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuESpeZNfI2
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafTwoQ3sYN
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1i3GGSdZp
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQIQv4wnkE
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKounUQ7f8T
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQJBnBViDfo
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwloWru4AuC
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPE1MEJWuz
They walked for seven more minutes.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5AOsTemOp
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11XFVyxFyG
Jabari stopped.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWyjhRsvAV
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyMvbascE1
Jabari placed his hand against it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJ9QeuOvaU
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI913oAGWgL
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzkppFJ4YA
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOqHqFwUNe
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUk0ZzJjDk
They opened it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdz8ZqAcdBh
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7E994KX7D3
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHj16UvWzT
It was quiet. But not still.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vRw6tGGIo
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0GX3DbdVY
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUsjII61Kk
Jabari’s breath slowed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeT9fx3WLR
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykGm2GbuMH
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnk8QZVbOL
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0JTrAAP7w
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgA6vwuaPc8
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm8rHywL5U
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzGjC9qeFW
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3nLsxKjCYw
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdLNyKq0ni
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5D9uH2rYo
He wasn’t meant to be there.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTXWr7ixwa
He hadn’t been invited.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsyZ6Qf3g8
Hadn’t even been told.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWaRSA3QJ2
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2APDfaFvU
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HJhzBgePb
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUl0RnGqQBq
The tunnel.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡis46Srbkqe
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1zS77bug9
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5Kp15GWN6
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiNmtoYywJ
Now it felt like betrayal.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcDP1M4LU6
Crossing into the girls’ side?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzah7QGOjzh
For what? Information? Or for someone?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAur9i4YhO
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?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgg8y75VBi
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5bCGRL5Q4
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSwJeeJzzF
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlpm0TbJ7U
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWnAGQ2su0
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDv4YxNHQr3
They never heard them coming.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9e0HBFitNH
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cJh8YRT4K
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeO2Km34Xx
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAjW1sIsIW
Kerosene.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv34mdekcXJ
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaVej0gu68
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipY9GjRBXn
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEG4aRaJuQc
Small. Orange.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbJSKWHSsO
Then the flare lit.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSM79j8tn5d
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7R20I3amj
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknaEA9b9EL
Otieno dove back into the bend.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3DnrxN8eS
And then they heard it— A voice.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpMUCqIS8W
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KFvuiiM8K
“You were warned.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQ9SQb97Di
The light died as quickly as it came.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FlhJaYQNC
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:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxuyvxkeVdq
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtz4jXToOOe
Jabari said nothing for a long time.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVn8nELhPy
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBNKPn8MtS
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5RH1kU0th
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYhXZTD8Jx
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJULRkQ7Nry
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEYIA9M5kK
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOqRez8e6O
“Was that really necessary?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchDIVdWgSt
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZsQeluT8O
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgznB9QRJmA
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxlgTuAHqe
No hood. No bluff.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP21lxWcTr1
Just him — tall, furious, silent.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjKeVlwoGG
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrbYouVsVB
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqZinhZV7j
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMS9L1wXYo4
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEteatVpWp
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡif8wEd0YAK
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ohr5hdyQX
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkRIaYdn95
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpSJcLZ6uy
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWf46lMnl0
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhVQA4NAWD
Black. Crisp.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18Cc4gQQ23
Stamped with a mark: M.O.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWGakMjFQMc
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWO0wTqXuT
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cQMM7PIX9
Mercy’s initials.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8gVAl2mtM4
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkT363VhrV
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSD4jyLOVYz
Daring him to guess how deep this went.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoJrPq52v4
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4xi9fBa7hV
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd39wivhVd
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN57V8j80qJ
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCz81pckSua
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa70yyAgPgT
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiriNEjcOO2
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHwhuH7VXPM
Her initials. But not her handwriting.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27SKzzq9rG
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaN5sjYJ92O
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8dfmUtYH9
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTTgm5RcUD
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmhcnoc0Sf
Then it clicked.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GmSFCWIt0
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:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CJfsHL38b
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcJKMkM6oF
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLGeykkfvH
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtP0C9HEQY
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9lx1K7lFj
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LiNESTruw
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpKxfTgfSw
And what she saw?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTTJaj8K8hu
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzIM7yAFIH
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLB8pB4EmGz
Knowingly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4bOlc4Hi7
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekmTAzRsIH
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3KLcpMQZA
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmXAuootxe
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqy5ynN3YDl
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhjIbfqaf5
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LYklcMVID
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9lKASo8y2
26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcEUF2DRaT
