In the Kisumu Boys' Assembly Room, a closed session in the late afternoon is underway. The rain drums faintly on the roof. Both Order loyalists and Shadow Walker affiliates have been summoned — the first meeting of its kind.65Please respect copyright.PENANAfAD9hz6ARM
The room buzzed with restrained confusion. On one side: prefects, old Order loyalists, data-keepers. On the other: Shadow Walkers — code-runners, graffiti scouts, watchers from rooftops.65Please respect copyright.PENANAHK2sbe9gns
No one sat near the center.65Please respect copyright.PENANAIO3SVOvT4D
Jabari stood at the front of the room, back straight, the cracked ledger box in one hand.65Please respect copyright.PENANAIl0BPr7Qqv
He didn’t shout.65Please respect copyright.PENANAXUDOONEBdm
“You all saw what Mercy did.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAmeW4WNpwNI
Silence.65Please respect copyright.PENANACouEX6uLLj
“She used our stories. Our fractures. She drowned us in our own past.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAl65Lih6AxF
He placed the box down — loudly.65Please respect copyright.PENANA1U0I14AQg7
“So, this time… we drown her in it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAkUseJtp7yO
He scanned both sides of the room.65Please respect copyright.PENANAwa1ET7zNC6
“We have word Naomi’s side is moving — quietly. They’ve offered a containment pact.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAZUqBCP3Ap3
A few gasps. One laugh — quickly hushed.65Please respect copyright.PENANAghktopfbo0
Jabari continued.65Please respect copyright.PENANAyvjhln3YDz
“This isn’t an alliance for peace. This is a trap.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAJFjLgACWqV
He walked to the chalkboard and drew a quick diagram: the chapel crypt, the drainage lines, the tunnel forks.65Please respect copyright.PENANAFyP5B3BbAB
“Mercy’s using the third memory drop — a ledger no one catalogued. We lure her into finishing the cycle. And we lock her there. Not with chains. With evidence. With noise. With memory.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA09O7s9rVAz
Kwame wasn’t present.65Please respect copyright.PENANAMQ2oSQ5TEZ
But Otieno was — arms folded, expression blank.65Please respect copyright.PENANAMzmk0KQFng
Ayo muttered under his breath, “He won’t like this.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA1yE5E7xnSE
Juma asked sharply, “So we do Naomi’s cleanup?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAJiESZOufgp
Jabari looked him straight in the eyes.65Please respect copyright.PENANANTHQpBN65e
“We clean up our own ghosts. Naomi’s just part of the smoke.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAGd41uKb9AJ
Musa stepped forward and unrolled the scroll — Naomi’s signed terms, retrieved from the wall.65Please respect copyright.PENANAj5bdLaui6n
He read them aloud: Neutral crypt space during the trap execution. Shared counter-signal system (one chime = cancel, two = proceed). No betrayal until both crates are verified and neutralized.65Please respect copyright.PENANAHpaO4QO9QP
The final line:65Please respect copyright.PENANA8rHXrswq8E
“No war until the wound is stitched.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA4lUoSsQI8j
A single nod from Jabari. “Vote?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAa124yhwfdo
This time, only one hand stayed down.65Please respect copyright.PENANAJZlUrNW1CE
Otieno.65Please respect copyright.PENANATXW2jRmxTZ
He met Jabari’s gaze, then whispered: “You catch her… Just don’t become her.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAlreUqnQjlV
The moment Musa finished rolling up the scroll, Juma stood — arms crossed, eyes cold.65Please respect copyright.PENANAZvaoNwJASF
“We’re trusting Naomi now? The same girl who tried to silence everything Mercy uncovered?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAWhBR7VLlZk
The room went quiet again. Even the Shadow Walkers leaned in, sensing heat beneath the words.65Please respect copyright.PENANA70diOYZWpD
Jabari didn’t answer immediately.65Please respect copyright.PENANAgeKBE9nOQi
Juma continued, his voice quieter but heavier:65Please respect copyright.PENANAcAtQr7AnkJ
“She isn’t here to contain anything. She’s here to bury it again. And if we help her… we’re part of it. We’ve already done one cover-up, Jabari. I won’t do a second.”65Please respect copyright.PENANATuSSfKof3H
Otieno glanced at Musa. Ayo looked away.65Please respect copyright.PENANAQRXAqn7Uzo
They knew what Jabari suspected but never asked.65Please respect copyright.PENANAUeCYCM8d3X
Juma’s voice cracked ever so slightly: “I swore I’d protect Kim. Not just physically. From all this. From becoming one of us.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAKWWqOFOBVR
He looked straight at Jabari. “You think Naomi won’t use her if it means killing Mercy’s story?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAWsSzTmr8Dj
A slow clap echoed from the hallway.65Please respect copyright.PENANAzWUxUba1G3
Kwame.65Please respect copyright.PENANACXiTRdxkat
He leaned against the doorframe, shadowed, smirking.65Please respect copyright.PENANAJ3NdZXmIAR
“Now that’s what I’ve been waiting for.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAogp6oaYJyU
Jabari’s jaw tightened. “You weren’t invited.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAn8YtCwCzVV
Kwame stepped in. “I don’t need an invitation to watch a castle collapse. Especially when the stones fight each other.”65Please respect copyright.PENANASWUXZk1tNN
He glanced at Juma. “Finally, someone with a spine.65Please respect copyright.PENANAD0cXyxWhWw
Jabari stepped forward. “This isn’t about Kim.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAO46uCKQNb1
Juma didn’t move. “No. It’s about all the people who can’t speak anymore. Mercy included.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAkI6924wYaT
Kwame tilted his head, amused. “You know, I think Mercy would like him.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAD3twj3jqqB
Musa finally spoke. “We don’t have time for this.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA51VPjKOmhI
Jabari looked at Juma. “You can’t protect her from all of it. You can only decide whether you help shape the truth or let it crush her.”65Please respect copyright.PENANACKgsigRJ0m
Juma’s fists clenched.65Please respect copyright.PENANAXuAb3kyH9x
But he didn’t sit back down.65Please respect copyright.PENANAI0UM7aLOwQ
Later that night, after the hall had emptied and the plan was posted on the encrypted wall scroll, Kwame found Otieno near the water tanks, where the fog rolled low and the pipes hissed with steam.65Please respect copyright.PENANAtPnlDBpSCY
Kwame leaned against the concrete.65Please respect copyright.PENANAguINVAF0FI
“So. You’re really going with Jabari?”65Please respect copyright.PENANA42l0gZbSoa
Otieno didn’t look up. He was fitting a copper ring into the vent grate — a piece of an old filtration system he’d been rigging for months.65Please respect copyright.PENANAdrfGZtDr0N
“Does it matter?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAYx2StvCZow
Kwame smirked. “It does to me. I had you pegged as a watcher. Not a follower.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA040JyiMAPF
Otieno stood slowly. “You’re right.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAgF7SlJeo59
He turned to face Kwame — taller than him in the dim light. 65Please respect copyright.PENANA1NEWsXrOI4
“I do watch. I watched what happened when the last war between Orders wasn’t stopped. I watched Jabari get blamed for things he never did. I watched you use Mercy’s name like a weapon — without carrying any of her burden.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAHK7spsOprJ
Kwame’s smile faded slightly.65Please respect copyright.PENANAu3RLH4Cv7C
“She’s rewriting history,” Otieno said. “And you think you’re the editor. But she’ll erase you the second you stop being useful.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAVaVCn9gWJl
Kwame raised an eyebrow. “And you think Jabari won’t?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAm9vS1reUDq
Otieno stepped closer.65Please respect copyright.PENANAzMpIJTWOeY
“If we help Jabari now, we keep Mercy’s revenge from destroying us all. Not for Naomi. Not for orders. Not for walls.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA88QuojogB7
He paused. “For survival.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA8O48xQK11P
Kwame scoffed lightly. “You sound like you’re preparing for a funeral.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAMpawagL95x
Otieno turned away, sliding the copper ring into place.65Please respect copyright.PENANADoHJCSPqdo
“I am. The old war never ended. This time, I just want to know which side I buried my friends on.”
**********65Please respect copyright.PENANAojewC7asqF
The ledger crate was lighter than expected.65Please respect copyright.PENANAu1QJxr8Fsl
Musa tested its weight once more as he crouched beneath the courtyard arch. The M.O.3 chalk mark had been carefully redrawn. The false ledgers inside were wrapped in canvas, just enough heft to feel real.65Please respect copyright.PENANA3Q54e577uk
Jabari stood beside him in the hallway shadows. “You’re sure?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAj0attLmp3G
Musa gave a half-smile. “You trust me with a busted borehole and a map that doesn’t exist, but not a box full of air?”65Please respect copyright.PENANA32BhfSGc2T
Juma, standing nearby, muttered, “It’s not the box I don’t trust. It’s the gate it’s going through.”65Please respect copyright.PENANACJvEmQAkHV
Musa turned to Jabari.65Please respect copyright.PENANA1rbYfy9wNv
“Let me take it. If we send a signal through anyone else, they’ll second-guess it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAVS9oaPXJWt
He gripped the crate.65Please respect copyright.PENANALsLERGxeE5
“I’m neutral enough to walk through fire.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAIi91j1SrYc
From behind him, Ayo appeared silently, holding a folded black card — flat, thin, almost forgettable.65Please respect copyright.PENANAiJ4N9GZQC6
“For insurance,” Ayo said, sliding it beneath the top canvas.65Please respect copyright.PENANAPtXcVQLZxQ
Musa frowned. “We’re not sending threats.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA16Vzte4wEK
Ayo’s voice was smooth. “It’s not a threat. Just… a reminder. She needs to know she’s still being watched.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAPlk6qBHJ8V
“No names. Just the old cipher. Mercy’s mark.”65Please respect copyright.PENANA159z6NBD8u
Musa hesitated, then said nothing. There wasn’t time. Jabari was still briefing the wall runners. No one else saw.65Please respect copyright.PENANA0r25DYQt7U
At 5:48 p.m., beneath the buzz of Science Week cleanup, Musa rolled the AV cart up to the old drain-slot gate in the concrete wall.65Please respect copyright.PENANAeDN3mvBauw
He stood still, adjusted his sleeves. Waited.65Please respect copyright.PENANAok2JTpOY3o
The grate shifted open. Two gloved hands — Mary’s, if he had to guess — pulled the crate silently inside.65Please respect copyright.PENANA8P5vovPXep
No words. Only a single origami triangle left behind, folded from printed timetable paper.65Please respect copyright.PENANAAtAonLXkZW
He picked it up, unfolded it.65Please respect copyright.PENANA4lJkSv9uH3
“Drop scheduled. Second chime. No shadows.”65Please respect copyright.PENANArapOo4sEiP
The plan was live.65Please respect copyright.PENANAN09MU7uPX4
Inside the crate, beneath the false ledgers and canvas, Naomi’s hand paused when she reached the black card. It bore Mercy’s old cipher — a twisting serpent swallowing its tail — stamped in silver ink.65Please respect copyright.PENANAi01HDwxOcW
Below it: one line in tight handwriting.65Please respect copyright.PENANAaY0yD8ImQ2
“She buried you once. Don’t let her bury you again.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAhQSYPWtNJL
Mary looked up at Naomi.65Please respect copyright.PENANAJUkoJ6hBDT
“Did you put this in?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAderzQ11nRD
Naomi said nothing.65Please respect copyright.PENANAnPrcS8uzBa
Her fingers tightened.
*****65Please respect copyright.PENANASuBMnOmobg
On the girls’ side. After dark. Naomi’s inner circle meets in the underground storage room behind the old library annex. The crate sits unopened on a long metal table.65Please respect copyright.PENANAYKA7u2V9fO
The room smelled like old pine and chalk dust.65Please respect copyright.PENANAE0KBvx52sq
June, Mary, and Naomi stood around the crate. No one had spoken since the door shut.65Please respect copyright.PENANAY1ooUUsDht
The origami triangle Musa left sat neatly beside the latch. Naomi’s hands hovered above it.65Please respect copyright.PENANAMPejEghc6a
“We open it now,” she said.65Please respect copyright.PENANAnODN2aLnEj
“We can’t afford another surprise at the Tribunal.”65Please respect copyright.PENANArFT8tNP3LK
She glanced at Mary. “Gloves.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAP5HE8BKtNS
Mary handed them over — clean surgical pairs swiped from the chem lab.65Please respect copyright.PENANABaES5lM0nE
Inside, the ledgers were exactly as expected — wrapped, unmarked, blank. But under the first canvas fold, June’s hand paused.65Please respect copyright.PENANAjVk61xLJrY
“Something’s here.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAcdLUexg5RP
She pulled out the black card.65Please respect copyright.PENANAZAjA9BZYh6
The serpent. Silver ink. Old cipher.65Please respect copyright.PENANAn1zmW1Mwfx
Naomi took it. Kim read the line aloud:65Please respect copyright.PENANAOcggfGnCgF
“She buried you once. Don’t let her bury you again.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAgNOLmOGqpe
A beat of silence.65Please respect copyright.PENANAHJ7aKPN5rY
Naomi’s face stayed blank, but her pulse visibly jumped.65Please respect copyright.PENANAdfkqcECiOf
“It’s not hers,” she said flatly. “She never wrote in third person.”65Please respect copyright.PENANApMj9TYSZg9
June stepped in. “Then it’s meant to make it look like it is.”65Please respect copyright.PENANALjwdbS6dqK
Mary whispered, “Could it be a warning? From the boys?”65Please respect copyright.PENANAM3d8YHoxlH
Naomi shook her head. 65Please respect copyright.PENANAIXXG3QAxzh
“Too calculated. This isn’t warning. It’s planting doubt. Whoever slipped it in wanted us to panic in front of the school.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAluYY2t6Hkh
June laid the card flat on the table.65Please respect copyright.PENANA6zqgdVKmpz
“We pull it now. Quietly. And we never say a word.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAeieD6tFazQ
Naomi finally nodded. “Burn it.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAOH2vcLGvmH
Mary hesitated. “That’s a Mercy move.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAG1hG2z1y6T
Naomi replied coldly: 65Please respect copyright.PENANA9ZjQ9fyjKR
“Then maybe she taught us well.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAR7goNwz7wS
The card was burning in a lab beaker, the serpent curling into ash by the time they were done, Naomi staring into the flame longer than the others.65Please respect copyright.PENANAQV4y8vkqfP
June turned to Naomi. 65Please respect copyright.PENANAWBCy5dPt9S
“When you open that crate tomorrow, make sure your voice doesn’t shake.”65Please respect copyright.PENANAPGty82n8wZ
Naomi said nothing.65Please respect copyright.PENANAvnOswFHHYO
But her jaw was set.