“Water’s Path”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28wUc4Kpf2
The grate groaned louder this time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKpHHrKsM0
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidmbh93Oh5
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB40spCSOhQ
Because he had.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEmVwQHQ5GN
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyeLYGrpLv5
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvcKHIUTja
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBvGZKu4XD
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDb1hWvAOh
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcaHRNOBkq
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vbEYTguaX
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PA9Nuqecl
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4NXXuT23d
They walked for seven more minutes.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6R45t5ABW
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYVx8cLqXm
Jabari stopped.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSs9PXCthP9
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5Ys6Ab3Z9
Jabari placed his hand against it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu9JZ5qR1H
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGNt0TOyWY
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYW6FPMYFir
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwloUrslRq
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjOsYEPHew6
They opened it.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oGY715x8R
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFl6WWYcUsl
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIVg2xMQRz
It was quiet. But not still.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAdzak76Sj
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6rsiw67vR
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYusp39D818
Jabari’s breath slowed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtFxsbWF49
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsw338uAjbn
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFSQe0HJglr
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGaRrDXpn5q
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbv1i5WXwB
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcHQZ4sPDd
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5WtgHlT5z
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq2IVfKVWyn
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nK5DlH0jy
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRiCfMqcmt
He wasn’t meant to be there.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87hAvzfTMF
He hadn’t been invited.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5dKAGOXGF
Hadn’t even been told.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmmr4MM7EI
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvYjLvRLSt
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pYKVeiDZ6
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJ0kUlrrIc
The tunnel.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2Vnw8WTg2
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ6QWimWeHY
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wafUe3LIs
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0Lij0AlZ5
Now it felt like betrayal.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkt3U6V3DG
Crossing into the girls’ side?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8BhSWgAJT
For what? Information? Or for someone?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgTgGZXCcN0
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?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGY7jQdwKwv
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kIO1ChscR
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWucgAI290m
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVK4ByHOpe
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wi9VO8nHf
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8bputKkg1
They never heard them coming.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfuaiHNzw2
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsBWM8njro
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzEnG68cNS
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwa82Y7FRH7
Kerosene.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa7lAM8S7Yd
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUk4B9MXBhh
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPOOMdymBY
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvzdL9lVnt
Small. Orange.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlM4yfV2cE
Then the flare lit.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1gXj75aXF
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPj7I7gdHf
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MwN9U1NKO
Otieno dove back into the bend.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLWDDBiOk7
And then they heard it— A voice.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVelvKjLuJ
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGa9g6gK61i
“You were warned.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoP6k75tNr3
The light died as quickly as it came.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Aj6skRM9M
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:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqRsDuTTcU
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡddd3Mwbsn7
Jabari said nothing for a long time.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyawv13jjy
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMgilOJQs0b
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyICDuKC8d
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdL8Wqiw13p
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI3XSkpwfs
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDIOTKRuTU
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Fy0Bk9Tbz
“Was that really necessary?”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduU4MNRPOl
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJOHRXTE7b
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6OP6OSN9H
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOjDJ1OCv6x
No hood. No bluff.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDc8HrwfPYS
Just him — tall, furious, silent.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlE8s4Y3xvL
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRRTwrai7O
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8BPIRYUwm
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJOsLqj0Uz
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡim8ir4OOTn
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcw0YNtG9x
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1F4f4hCbFc
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAa1EwUFMN
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukPp2vf1A9
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvH1ujpbCK
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0eMgXNarG
Black. Crisp.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHFLREvA79
Stamped with a mark: M.O.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6W9DdwhJj
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlucIXyvWsN
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvz4zt46wV
Mercy’s initials.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwr1AjKOTE
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hQvWhCcwF
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WZjsaRd2I
Daring him to guess how deep this went.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOV7jfhLIzy
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQod2FendJ
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡASHJtafPaE
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtu7pqX9v7
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjJ95Pjvbt
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP7dapaYNp
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvwBxkJTaH
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrYZGil75c
Her initials. But not her handwriting.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZUrCpjYuS
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAKCJIRROi
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKwcOJD10i
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVIqG3oMmT7
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9cP6T6HYU
Then it clicked.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIb4ej2b7Wv
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:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOEGtxRC0i
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqTPZFVCPb
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhySLLsbimO
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgPHNpOhbx
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xl9JgeU2n
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yEloVWCyc
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ZMmuZO37c
And what she saw?62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyufXfgsLOb
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolimG3CGnd
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCaFpPjd0n
Knowingly.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4oU4Lkj4O
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2RObwglSf
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDSApbWmb2
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOrH6s4kqk
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7kbWNDvzx
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yWfSQS8uB
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSlZyfK9gU
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeG4oqhLK9n
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkLI3QzSCg
