June wasn’t a morning person.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaabhYnmw9
But patrols weren’t optional—not for someone recently readmitted into Naomi’s restructured Order. The cold air bit through her sweater as she rounded the far edge of the compound, Mary close behind her, yawning silently.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpfXEWb8ouU
The borehole wasn’t on their official route. But June always checked it. Something about the way it sat—unwatched, forgotten, fenced in by banana trees—made her wary.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RNkxOvNNH
That’s when they saw it.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AAkZheLOb
On the concrete lip of the borehole grate, curving like a forgotten crescent, was a thick arc of blue ink. Fresh. Still glistening. Perfectly symmetrical.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEvSye4S50
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbuFEGYRFe
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ldhecBK2R
They exchanged a look.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWma9Ow9wQ
Not just blue. Mercy’s blue. The same shade that once bled into Order memos, laced warnings, signed forged rosters — and marked betrayals that had cost people dearly.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq79Wv5tTDY
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMF7s4iuQQ
“She never left,” June replied.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOTd6axOp5
June didn’t touch it, but she knew. The curve wasn’t random. It was a symbol—half of one, maybe. A cipher. A signal. She glanced around. No footprints. No scent. No wind. Mercy had always been a step ahead. Even when she wasn't present, she was somehow already watching.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQ6BL0TeBp
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUxe7VTpzY
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡourfw7hNIc
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5pGR0wpPC
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqwro2KwKG
That was the Mercy they remembered.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQVcXuJPB8
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCoaFXhZYaJ
She hadn’t followed them intentionally. But she’d noticed June’s pattern — always checking things that no one cared to. Today, curiosity had won.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivqo3wqA55
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4N52eoJHOA
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTheUzrf9J
Saw the fear. The recognition.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzsRTCKQyK
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkaiGGCyFk
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOT2lK6rqS
She hadn’t planned to follow June. But it was hard not to notice how she and Mary had vanished right after fifth bell, slipping off in the direction of the borehole like ghosts on assignment. Old habits die slowly—and jealousy dies slower.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSeEQXHdSF
She waited until the path was empty again. The ink mark was still there. Drier now, darker around the edges. She crouched beside it, tilting her head.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQAcnouz5o
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6oD8Jc5Mj
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgZcTk7FTE
She didn’t write much.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡauUwMLt3kL
"The serpent returns."70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJLI2vISdq
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aCayp33cS
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtA6tdXguk
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHv7i33nNHs
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbvwppQXXR
A buzz.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KsxIlBvVm
A photo.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE889GqkGJl
A phrase:70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemMTNcesDK
“The serpent returns.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqzCry7lD3f
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdGaQ9dDCv
A slow breath.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cKF8l7HQu
No reply.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4N3pGbtqG
Just movement.
***70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJUS0g3opo
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2iLgCFcdQ
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutOdlCfM2I
Kim nodded slowly.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIiPmAiFYL
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8Jj0MpQtc
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZebvCB1dT
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZLZ0Ydl7W
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xgsyAxItg
That evening, Naomi stood at the front of the assembly hall, her face pale but composed. She held up a photo printout of the inked mark, shaking it once for emphasis.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKjXKdzfsD
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo40Snotl2t
Her voice dropped lower.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTqhvryyht
“This school is no longer for games.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbk2mkV4yO
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZWOi52iYs
And this was her first piece.
*****70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLNf0pu98l
June stared at the photo of the blue ink arc again, this time under the glow of a cracked desk lamp in the old arts room. The photo was blurry around the edges, but something in the shape felt… off. Not incomplete. Segmented.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBpFVdLpUA
“Look,” she murmured, pointing to where the arc wasn’t a perfect curve. It dipped and rose in odd places, like a pulse frozen in motion.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMNtxmhQVA
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC99CckSJSO
“I think it’s a cipher.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziyG6yNxap
June opened her leather notebook and flipped to the final pages, where she’d kept sketches from Mercy’s last term in power — drawings that didn’t fit into normal Order documentation. Half-symbols. Curves. Broken sigils.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugYM9IoWbe
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQiBKffjPH
But only if rotated ninety degrees.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ424vUFx2A7
As she turned the photo on its side, the image changed — suddenly the arc wasn’t a shape. It was writing. Cursive. Twisted. Stylized like Mercy’s notes used to be.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZIyhAxh85
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RkdskTXCz
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIRmXX5HgR
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOl8ofhlJHP
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwfCRiPnje
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowhCiPDSYV
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbX9ol5y0f
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlH8yXwA8Wp
“I think she left everything there.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnduHctWc7
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnX44yogfJO
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy0BOrq6QV
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pCWxWUDMB
June turned fully toward her. “We both joined the Order thinking it meant loyalty. But Mercy’s truths were never above ground. She wrote in the dust, not in the books.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOIffXPtTy
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbHuc5C94U
Kim almost missed it.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHVRnsyDwh
The wind had picked up again, brushing banana leaves against the cement like fingers against drum skin. Her roommates were out, still at group studies or filling water before curfew. She sat cross-legged on her bed, flipping through old pages of a forgotten literature book.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRv8JdEcc7q
Then she heard the whisper.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1eK87BmTt
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivu3z8qCgF
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMC5nDMkq50
Nothing. But when she looked down, a folded strip of paper lay just inside the frame — flattened from the crawl beneath the shutters. No name. No seal. No color.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbPhP5r6tos
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz27LuFH9QB
“Jabari knows the underground route.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OiOlGxdz6
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEVZhGvrXM
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86I67k1f1Q
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NViuJoV4y
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaByBSCz7eZ
Her Mind Raced. Why her?70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXyBxNLy6W
If it was true—if Jabari really did know about the tunnel, about the underground paths—why would he let that slip? Unless he hadn’t. Unless someone else wanted her to know.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ewyVUVE7y
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0m6XoRbb4
And how did they even know she was connected to him?70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXpcyzTUr3
She thought about the night she saw the boys run across the wall. The half-glimpsed shadows. The torn tie. The hooded girl who didn’t stop her.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YvpYN4UuZ
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsyehCzFnWe
And now this.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS95kI9Bsw
Kim sat down on the bed; the note clenched in her hand. It wasn’t just about her and Jabari anymore. It wasn’t just curiosity or codes or a shared suspicion that the wall wasn’t as solid as it pretended to be.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd5uHsfS1oA
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdNMCrrHf4
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsG4uu8niq
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjIFAFEqbF
“Jabari knows the underground route.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEczeRxiuWv
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmzTsHihXL
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9iNDi3BF1
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftIHRs0IC7
Seline had stormed out in one of her usual flourishes after Naomi’s address — her camera slung over her shoulder, muttering about respect and surveillance. She left it briefly unattended near the altar, in the row where she always kept her things during meetings.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVK0FKRIpr
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlexYysN6i9
She moved like she was going to tie her shoe — bent near the camera bag, fingers slipping past the zipper with a smoothness that surprised even herself.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBitR5pmzrs
Inside: A small DSLR camera, just as expected. A micro-SD card, exposed in the side pouch. And next to it — Seline’s school phone. 70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkbCwvBS6Z
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHmlEVDpnc
Not unless she was hiding something with it.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKosbEwvAFS
Shiko pulled the memory card carefully and slid a blank duplicate in its place — identical in color and make. She didn’t check what was on it. Not yet. Not here.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfdqzT30e9
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIT1I5VmGYs
No one noticed.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1nxgUJMQd
She rose slowly and walked down the side aisle of the chapel, silent shoes on stone tiles. The old wooden pews creaked just slightly beneath her as she crouched near the third from the front — the one with the broken hymn book shelf.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFjCQDMvSb
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovvvSNCJSX
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgXjNXG0sS
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0HeyycXvm9
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjxMRW4kBg
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡznxegG2pHg
She didn’t look back.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5B0hGVqgzR
That night, Shiko inserted the stolen SD card into her hidden reader. The screen lit up. Hundreds of images. Blue ink. Borehole arc. Snapshots of June’s notebook. A blurred image of Kim and Shiko whispering near the map. Even a shadowed photo of what looked like… Mercy?70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVH33wVnCjL
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlaUFCnpsC
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dudsasFMk
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cyTDHEGW0
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfiQ2H6rGS
He told Musa he was doing a pre-inspection for the upcoming Board visit. He told Ayo he needed quiet. In truth, he wanted no shadows behind him.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeg21uBWklB
Just space. And answers.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTlwE6W1N3
The grate behind the dormitories hadn’t been used in years. It squealed as he forced it open, the hinges moaning like an old confession. The tunnel beneath was narrow — concrete ribs curved above his head, lined with mildew and spiderwebs that tugged at his shoulders.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dXFXg2Rqi
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zfEHG0qo0
The tunnel sloped slightly downward, toward the foundation of the old water system — long disconnected, now only half-remembered by the school’s plumbers. But Jabari had seen the diagrams. The colonial maps. The blue line that started here and ran... beyond.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWLxJw2N3e
He moved slowly, the torchlight sweeping across old pipe valves and chalk markings etched along the walls. Most were faded. One still glowed faintly under his beam:70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡptIVm4WrNN
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkulPERonw
In the overgrown greenhouse behind the girls' science wing, June steadied her hand, holding her official Order-issued phone — the one Naomi had reluctantly reinstated when they returned to duty.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SUAXrUoki
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsocmCZLJcJ
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4N1GHcmT1
A figure.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjl9wyz6r3D
Alone.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmNvkTdSly
June tapped record.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5i5pvAdaq
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLRMlKnYou
“He’s testing the tunnel.”70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EhVZFN5ul
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3KkdxILJB
He turned right.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkCyylA8Jg
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeNpoJOCUZS
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMI5otAavdV
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbwpUCWAa0
None of them spoke.70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuOE3WBStL
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYI1F2t8kZA
"Follow Water to Truth."70Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfdvq6mYXuF
He did.
