The quad glittered in moonlight and kerosene halos. Stalls shimmered under makeshift LEDs. Tinny speakers blared distorted jazz as projectors looped grainy experiments on white bedsheets.64Please respect copyright.PENANASadQpQAXRH
Juma hated this kind of show — too bright, too scripted. But it made for the perfect cover.64Please respect copyright.PENANAAGJywZuAOV
“Everyone’s looking up,” he whispered.64Please respect copyright.PENANAYPQuuAt7Xi
“No one sees what we’re pinning to their legs.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAv5Y8lqDyo9
Jabari didn’t smile.64Please respect copyright.PENANAL2nmR6vBp1
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rolled poster, smooth and stiff. Thick matte ink on thick gray stock.64Please respect copyright.PENANAGiX8mh54qn
ORDER OVER INSURRECTION64Please respect copyright.PENANAN3n05ASWHf
A white wing over a fractured flame.64Please respect copyright.PENANA9QLGuyhdB4
They walked slowly, calmly — like any two team leads reviewing tech projects. But every ten steps, they pinned a new poster to the underside of a demo tent. To a light pole. To the back of a wooden bench.64Please respect copyright.PENANAx3LSXw3IEK
Four in total. No more. Enough to seed rumor, not provoke response.64Please respect copyright.PENANAZ8gFe5wRpg
They weren’t messages for students.64Please respect copyright.PENANAEWVVnBMeaJ
They were warnings for the Shadow Walkers. The fractured flame was Mercy’s old signal — twisted now. The white wing was the Order’s ghost — not yet dead.64Please respect copyright.PENANAkcqp1i1Yo7
Juma stuck the last one behind the water distillation tent, where he knew Ayo used to scout during Fire Theory projects. Jabari paused beside the herb garden exhibit and looked around at the swirling bodies of boys and girls in scattered uniforms.64Please respect copyright.PENANAm1Tr33YPVL
He whispered:64Please respect copyright.PENANAMRCd3AG0co
“She wanted an audience. Let’s give her one.”64Please respect copyright.PENANADpzMJbbzp0
Behind the hydroponics dome, a girl in Kisumu Girls' tracksuit lowered her phone quietly. Her name wasn’t known to either of them.64Please respect copyright.PENANA2QCkmJ5SJj
But the notification she sent was clear:64Please respect copyright.PENANAvqipD8nfCy
“The birds are flying banners again. Mercy will see.”
*****64Please respect copyright.PENANAquahAOK3Ja
The crypt door had always been heavy — metal, groaning, older than the last three headteachers combined. But now it swung easily on oiled hinges — prepped, ready, hungry.64Please respect copyright.PENANAmV193UbL6P
Inside, Jabari and Juma moved fast, pushing through ankle-deep water that had begun pooling around the eastern wall.64Please respect copyright.PENANAKZyd00Nd8W
“This isn't just a chamber,” Juma snapped. “It’s a channel.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAqG3c5MhHDw
Jabari knelt, ran his fingers across the grooves in the floor. “It connects to the borehole line. It was always part of the filtration system — just repurposed.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAhBIsS4C5KF
Repurposed by whom?64Please respect copyright.PENANA7QucPQSBqA
By Mercy.64Please respect copyright.PENANACLUM8arcvg
Atop the hidden stairway, two girls in Kisumu Girls’ jackets stood in silence.64Please respect copyright.PENANAhDU6jxCjW4
One wore Mercy’s old prefect sash — though no one had given it to her.64Please respect copyright.PENANAFISAmFtx3C
The other held the key.64Please respect copyright.PENANAt1fqPPPqef
She waited exactly until her watch ticked to 12:17 a.m.64Please respect copyright.PENANACOhm7cpQpw
Then she slid the bolt home and turned it once.64Please respect copyright.PENANA5zKXU2eYXQ
Click.64Please respect copyright.PENANATG1lLxrcAH
The girls didn’t laugh. Didn’t speak.64Please respect copyright.PENANAUBaF4LRVTa
They simply walked away.64Please respect copyright.PENANApDhYOxfvVF
Jabari’s light flickered.64Please respect copyright.PENANAT9sjPWIsM4
He and Juma reached the far side — a rusted metal ladder leading up toward the chapel’s north vestibule — welded shut from above.64Please respect copyright.PENANAYwyugbASWC
“She locked us in,” Jabari said.64Please respect copyright.PENANAPGS5A8NFjf
Juma stared at the water now reaching his shins. “That’s not the problem.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAAtdoE9u9zo
The sound came next — not fast, not crashing.64Please respect copyright.PENANAdXwS6Fh8YQ
A slow gurgle. A hiss.64Please respect copyright.PENANAIJc0SruzWG
Then the unmistakable suction of redirected flow.64Please respect copyright.PENANAbCD2wMJk0a
Juma turned to Jabari.64Please respect copyright.PENANArGGjew5XOZ
“She's opened the borehole line.”64Please respect copyright.PENANATskZjh82Fg
And sure enough, behind the sealed hatch, where the borehole channel fed under the school… the grate now trembled.64Please respect copyright.PENANA1d4mcYPWfh
Then the water began to rise.64Please respect copyright.PENANAsHvVKV6yHJ
From the high choir loft, Mercy stood silent, eyes calm, watching the stained glass as shadows shifted across it.64Please respect copyright.PENANA5bvRDfwKth
Behind her, a girl whispered, “They’re in.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAwKypXOskD0
Mercy didn’t reply at first. Then:64Please respect copyright.PENANAFePQsYxCwM
“They came looking for a lie. Let them leave soaked in truth.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAfqXDhhomG5
She turned away and walked down the spiral staircase, vanishing into the dark.64Please respect copyright.PENANAz3slTQGJbO
The water rose like a slow betrayal.64Please respect copyright.PENANAvfNvJm5zCA
Jabari tried to brace the base of the ladder, but the surface slicked too fast. Juma had begun stacking the crates beneath the wall vents, but none led out.64Please respect copyright.PENANAeQ25rDJiaG
Then — a sound.64Please respect copyright.PENANAYcnHBB2xQK
Bang. Bang. Clank.64Please respect copyright.PENANAduF3L6Ogmk
A screech of iron echoed from behind the north wall.64Please respect copyright.PENANA69EAQOJTff
Juma froze. “Did you hear that?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAK6KNaiOjQn
Clank. Slam.64Please respect copyright.PENANA8JZ1oSwnC4
Then a voice, muffled by metal and rage:64Please respect copyright.PENANA0MLwyMh5Qx
“Get back!”64Please respect copyright.PENANAHXzOZ0Wit2
Suddenly, the side grate at floor level buckled inward — then burst open with a thundercrack of rust and rock. Water whooshed sideways, funneling out violently, pulling ankle-deep current toward the now-gaping vent.64Please respect copyright.PENANATg4Eum9NQo
And through the water— Musa crawled through.64Please respect copyright.PENANAq11aa76oog
Soaked. Grit-covered. Grinning like a man who had wrestled a pipe system and won.64Please respect copyright.PENANACHXQ3cchwk
“I told you I was the better swimmer,” he coughed.64Please respect copyright.PENANAZ8mnchvYcI
As the water drained and light returned, Juma leaned against the far wall, breathing hard.64Please respect copyright.PENANAe28REFOLKX
“We were seconds from blacking out.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAah49Rad5FZ
Jabari, still quiet, turned his torch toward the south chamber — a small alcove half-submerged behind a collapsed marble panel.64Please respect copyright.PENANAdn7zZz7viL
Musa followed his gaze. “What’s that?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAFkLiTdIEWk
They stepped forward slowly. Beneath the now-drained floor, the shape of something metallic gleamed behind a decorative grate. Jabari crouched, pulled at the frame — it came loose with a groan.64Please respect copyright.PENANA1wYQIJFBRu
Behind it, half-sunken and chained inside a rusted cage:64Please respect copyright.PENANArlqwBqZF0s
Three black ledger boxes, stamped with faded silver initials: “M.O.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAzmk3ytDB8I
Juma slowly unlocked one latch. Inside: letters, class registers, intercepted prefect reports, old Order rosters — all annotated in Mercy’s handwriting.64Please respect copyright.PENANA0MY2DGImB5
Jabari picking one up and reading aloud:64Please respect copyright.PENANAIIsKwrvVDB
“She was never exiled. She was buried.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAqO8c74VTe4
Musa whispered “She didn’t build a trap. She built an archive.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAyQ4ZPsZkMj
Ayo appeared at the crypt entrance as Jabari flipped through the first ledger. No fanfare. No announcement. Just his shadow crossing the old candlelight, face unreadable.64Please respect copyright.PENANAqsLiFHjyZf
Jabari looked up sharply.64Please respect copyright.PENANAGAyBCpiVbf
“You followed us.”64Please respect copyright.PENANASfR9xwBj6o
Ayo didn’t nod. Didn’t deny it. Instead, he stepped forward, knelt beside the third box — and picked it up carefully, like it might bite.64Please respect copyright.PENANAY3qnTz0msy
“You need this one,” he said. “It’s the only one with dates after Mercy’s expulsion.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAOA43k3UOPt
Juma narrowed his eyes. “Why help us?”64Please respect copyright.PENANA4BCEa4sooQ
Ayo hesitated, then looked directly at Jabari.64Please respect copyright.PENANAdlCy1Dkt0t
“Because I’ve seen what Kwame would do with it.64Please respect copyright.PENANAxOcGBtspWZ
The silence cracked with the sound of metal boots on water-slick stone.64Please respect copyright.PENANAkyts9cAeet
Otieno, lean and quiet, stepped through the broken wall entrance where Musa had forced the grate. He didn’t look surprised to find them. He didn’t speak. He simply walked forward, reached into the cage, and took the second box.64Please respect copyright.PENANAxm7JDzdO20
The one marked “Staff Correspondences: 2007–2014.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAHFViwCENHg
Jabari stood. “What are you doing?”64Please respect copyright.PENANA2SqB9qXMkv
Otieno held his gaze. “You know I follow the truth.”64Please respect copyright.PENANASflGVFCnmD
Then turned and walked out — no rush, no guilt.64Please respect copyright.PENANArUpwRLqu05
One box in Jabari’s hands. One box in Ayo’s grip. One box now leaving with Otieno.64Please respect copyright.PENANAQujqiIWOtk
Musa broke the silence.64Please respect copyright.PENANADnAoBv8sH6
“That’s it, then. The lines are drawn.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA9VD1E359fk
Juma added, “And Mercy didn’t even have to choose sides. She just lit the match.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAFnFSgJrIw2
Jabari watched Otieno disappear into the crypt tunnel, Ayo still standing beside him, conflicted but present.64Please respect copyright.PENANAjbqpLtX79r
Musa whispered, “This isn't just about the wall anymore. This is a war over what gets remembered.”
******64Please respect copyright.PENANAtIZK70Ag3I
The video was less than ninety seconds long.64Please respect copyright.PENANACd3kdwPkWE
It had no watermark. No source. But it found its way into every inbox in the Kisumu Central Education Circuit — sent from a dead address once used for prefect newsletters.64Please respect copyright.PENANAup3k5ZOPRI
The screen opened on dim light, stone, water glinting along the floor like liquid glass.64Please respect copyright.PENANAiYVDopP0Re
The voice was unmistakable.64Please respect copyright.PENANAp7IQt2BXzP
“This is what they called leadership. This is what they built walls to protect. Jabari’s Order — drowning in Mercy’s revenge.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA0Yivliy3ac
The footage cut quickly — glimpses of the crypt, soaked boys in Kisumu boys uniform, flooded ankles, two figures dragging themselves out, torchlight flickering like panic.64Please respect copyright.PENANAflDEnLVUXe
Then:64Please respect copyright.PENANAS9DB8SXrHy
Freeze frame.64Please respect copyright.PENANAulWESMH3AK
Jabari, back turned, lifting a rusted ledger box.64Please respect copyright.PENANAyoCvOA3vfJ
The words flashed over the image in blood-red type:64Please respect copyright.PENANAXhn4Ezf4i1
"The Order is underwater."64Please respect copyright.PENANAPPXEaDBi0y
Then black.64Please respect copyright.PENANAmxqWG9HD8k
By 7:00 a.m., the dorm corridors buzzed like electric wires.64Please respect copyright.PENANANlilDGhrxn
“Who recorded it? There are no phones allowed—how did it get out? Was it staged? Is Mercy back? Was the flooding real?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAbwDt2udjZe
In the Kisumu Girls library, Shiko watched Kim watching the terminal.64Please respect copyright.PENANAuBgjr46OES
“That’s the tunnel. That’s the crypt,” Kim whispered. And that—is a declaration.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAojCjX0jp60
Behind the AV club at Maseno school, two junior Shadow Walkers shut down their old relay laptop — wired into the school’s forgotten printer line, a hidden broadcast node Mercy herself once rigged in her second year.64Please respect copyright.PENANANn5gYW6Jdf
Kwame stood outside, eyes on the sky, arms folded.64Please respect copyright.PENANAJL6UzGcD2E
He didn’t need a phone.64Please respect copyright.PENANAAabAnJxiST
He just needed a network Mercy built…and a reason to set it on fire.
**********64Please respect copyright.PENANAkLt4W3QJ95
June pushed the heavy doors open just as Mary arrived from the science wing.64Please respect copyright.PENANA6f4NgtBKBk
“The boys have seen it?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAMaKMyjkJlp
“Everyone has.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAMaNtaY2LOP
Kim entered last, silent.64Please respect copyright.PENANAeOJzl0DhP8
Shiko hovered in the corridor, uninvited but listening.64Please respect copyright.PENANARt8miiKqkX
On the old Order wall board, Naomi stood still.64Please respect copyright.PENANA7MUqqlgKxt
Below her — pinned with blue tacks — were printed stills from the Kwame video. One showed the crypt grate. Another, Jabari holding the ledger.64Please respect copyright.PENANAnKSWielIvs
“This wasn’t Mercy’s trap anymore,” Naomi said quietly.64Please respect copyright.PENANAaezzyR0nvc
“It was her signal.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAItKF06Y0hS
Naomi turned to them — prefects.64Please respect copyright.PENANAl1hg5eSeM9
“There’s at least one ledger still moving. Probably being moved to St. Theresa’s. Possibly Maseno.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAG0uYWb9cG8
Mary stepped forward. “So, what do we do?”64Please respect copyright.PENANABQcAAJZyTF
Naomi tapped the board.64Please respect copyright.PENANAThDcDGWmjZ
“We don’t chase her legacy. We protect ours. Lock down the Hall. Triple-lock the Prefects’ Archive. And find the girl carrying the ledger.”64Please respect copyright.PENANA3AH6zd0x2i
June’s voice was cold.64Please respect copyright.PENANA2S1lbDtgby
“You think Mercy would use one of us?”64Please respect copyright.PENANAkNVXibUZMG
Naomi didn’t blink.64Please respect copyright.PENANA4fsswjbIVi
“Mercy doesn’t use people. She recruits them.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAEcYbF25Fjr
The girls split into teams. June and Mary to the Greenhouse Tunnel, checking Mercy’s known exits. Seline, assigned to patrol around the west dorms, but already planning her own detour. Shiko, pretending to go to class, slips Kim a folded message:64Please respect copyright.PENANAemrHlfA7fn
“Don’t trust who enters first. Trust who stays behind.”64Please respect copyright.PENANAGxyLMm8oTk
The Order Hall is locked though Naomi stays inside, assembling the remaining cipher logs and pulling names off Mercy’s old class rosters.64Please respect copyright.PENANAD4ppT73GUs
Outside the campus fence line, under a tree heavy with wet blossoms, a junior form walks fast — a duffel bag over her shoulder. Her name is not known. But inside the bag is a ledger box, sealed with black tape.64Please respect copyright.PENANAyEou2wkfQ2
She has only one instruction:64Please respect copyright.PENANAsrX0zMTghZ
“Deliver it by dusk. If you’re stopped — deny you ever knew.”
64Please respect copyright.PENANANVQIMebDdD
64Please respect copyright.PENANAL38AqVQMsr