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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4f7xJFR3I
Juma hated this kind of show — too bright, too scripted. But it made for the perfect cover.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTT2peTTST
“Everyone’s looking up,” he whispered.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXzPcttnc8
“No one sees what we’re pinning to their legs.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMTXdAYelcT
Jabari didn’t smile.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlS05yT6gM4
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rolled poster, smooth and stiff. Thick matte ink on thick gray stock.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9dod6FYBLT
ORDER OVER INSURRECTION93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn87VOMWowm
A white wing over a fractured flame.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pD2KdCg4K
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yaWZCe55q
Four in total. No more. Enough to seed rumor, not provoke response.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8T33Bly7k
They weren’t messages for students.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdj7LqLJmGA
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uff0RsMDE
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3pgP8AhtY
He whispered:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2MCZQbfoV
“She wanted an audience. Let’s give her one.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6aWCbJxfd
Behind the hydroponics dome, a girl in Kisumu Girls' tracksuit lowered her phone quietly. Her name wasn’t known to either of them.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwfjHm5xm0
But the notification she sent was clear:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTUjMmV2Ij
“The birds are flying banners again. Mercy will see.”
*****93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQDmAPWnwy
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOo512qmSs
Inside, Jabari and Juma moved fast, pushing through ankle-deep water that had begun pooling around the eastern wall.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4EeaGT4Zv
“This isn't just a chamber,” Juma snapped. “It’s a channel.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvY7VNfMHx
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.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93LTjoGiNI
Repurposed by whom?93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFshoMpQjD4
By Mercy.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0bPlDWyNd
Atop the hidden stairway, two girls in Kisumu Girls’ jackets stood in silence.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2obEgUONP
One wore Mercy’s old prefect sash — though no one had given it to her.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULudQxlkap
The other held the key.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlyY6Az3NA
She waited exactly until her watch ticked to 12:17 a.m.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3FesmhFfC
Then she slid the bolt home and turned it once.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunUSKY79lq
Click.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgMbjdXHr1
The girls didn’t laugh. Didn’t speak.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8vKYjkYRL
They simply walked away.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvBtmKrHO3
Jabari’s light flickered.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkqJ0rVmM5
He and Juma reached the far side — a rusted metal ladder leading up toward the chapel’s north vestibule — welded shut from above.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAAn272sw8
“She locked us in,” Jabari said.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yYFLN21HC
Juma stared at the water now reaching his shins. “That’s not the problem.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Z8fz1KVhz
The sound came next — not fast, not crashing.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zAWwv1y7a
A slow gurgle. A hiss.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3c5rKihUDL
Then the unmistakable suction of redirected flow.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHk1sb2Fih
Juma turned to Jabari.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVBsKXH17q
“She's opened the borehole line.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdF2D9t2lIJ
And sure enough, behind the sealed hatch, where the borehole channel fed under the school… the grate now trembled.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfv8Fci3nC
Then the water began to rise.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlt0Ua66B1
From the high choir loft, Mercy stood silent, eyes calm, watching the stained glass as shadows shifted across it.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3l3TeYqmj
Behind her, a girl whispered, “They’re in.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtP6W9ae2FO
Mercy didn’t reply at first. Then:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5w0Z7LdL2j
“They came looking for a lie. Let them leave soaked in truth.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nwyCgPAVR
She turned away and walked down the spiral staircase, vanishing into the dark.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVIor2aSxJ
The water rose like a slow betrayal.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxtR20LHi7
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGQvpQU1LX
Then — a sound.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooxVIamij5
Bang. Bang. Clank.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsEang5R4EN
A screech of iron echoed from behind the north wall.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGT22fRYGDV
Juma froze. “Did you hear that?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJzJwXyh6f
Clank. Slam.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡos2scnUy2J
Then a voice, muffled by metal and rage:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHNpkx4bD2
“Get back!”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡico5n0psFs
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmmOMQMFPdb
And through the water— Musa crawled through.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKobdsYJaiR
Soaked. Grit-covered. Grinning like a man who had wrestled a pipe system and won.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡELfyAbOiUA
“I told you I was the better swimmer,” he coughed.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIOZP0cQOS
As the water drained and light returned, Juma leaned against the far wall, breathing hard.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZfCPOlSoA
“We were seconds from blacking out.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcdLMvdPDk
Jabari, still quiet, turned his torch toward the south chamber — a small alcove half-submerged behind a collapsed marble panel.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50fSRCMCO2
Musa followed his gaze. “What’s that?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oXzN7GkyQ
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTmVT1bQ4C
Behind it, half-sunken and chained inside a rusted cage:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNXJt3hjsQ
Three black ledger boxes, stamped with faded silver initials: “M.O.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpASE44d6A
Juma slowly unlocked one latch. Inside: letters, class registers, intercepted prefect reports, old Order rosters — all annotated in Mercy’s handwriting.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nRKH3A1n8
Jabari picking one up and reading aloud:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGtwqiz6gwR
“She was never exiled. She was buried.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7fbwQHvlCS
Musa whispered “She didn’t build a trap. She built an archive.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWYqmnwNgq
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHqqcSuGhH
Jabari looked up sharply.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1SdfbXo5X
“You followed us.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynH5QKyiVc
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uJtHjhygU
“You need this one,” he said. “It’s the only one with dates after Mercy’s expulsion.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2apkzND2D
Juma narrowed his eyes. “Why help us?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbG6DVXUIe
Ayo hesitated, then looked directly at Jabari.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5zlZxFvmR
“Because I’ve seen what Kwame would do with it.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡduNhsgE8io
The silence cracked with the sound of metal boots on water-slick stone.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bcNczt6hM
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzx7ar90NS
The one marked “Staff Correspondences: 2007–2014.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0LFd3KXx2
Jabari stood. “What are you doing?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmNMVv6eVq
Otieno held his gaze. “You know I follow the truth.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAu04G7ACMv
Then turned and walked out — no rush, no guilt.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMMSnV1rtL
One box in Jabari’s hands. One box in Ayo’s grip. One box now leaving with Otieno.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2vhL0nIaP
Musa broke the silence.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQp2oXpQjIA
“That’s it, then. The lines are drawn.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWqeyPNPfJD
Juma added, “And Mercy didn’t even have to choose sides. She just lit the match.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8jySYqeba
Jabari watched Otieno disappear into the crypt tunnel, Ayo still standing beside him, conflicted but present.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4j5DIdDZo
Musa whispered, “This isn't just about the wall anymore. This is a war over what gets remembered.”
******93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46Ue7cHzCe
The video was less than ninety seconds long.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZrIvGP43a
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tO37OCYRE
The screen opened on dim light, stone, water glinting along the floor like liquid glass.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSpSE1ZNak
The voice was unmistakable.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdE2Ir4r3q2
“This is what they called leadership. This is what they built walls to protect. Jabari’s Order — drowning in Mercy’s revenge.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiqVcICHQs
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO22wSKD9Fq
Then:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRN9bz5uGy
Freeze frame.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQZ41ha14y
Jabari, back turned, lifting a rusted ledger box.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhon6j88kh
The words flashed over the image in blood-red type:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmX078tKumd
"The Order is underwater."93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTE2rxztRC
Then black.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQvrmoWhdP
By 7:00 a.m., the dorm corridors buzzed like electric wires.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lIfsEKvNk
“Who recorded it? There are no phones allowed—how did it get out? Was it staged? Is Mercy back? Was the flooding real?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4cmor38l6
In the Kisumu Girls library, Shiko watched Kim watching the terminal.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZWYORNA89
“That’s the tunnel. That’s the crypt,” Kim whispered. And that—is a declaration.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hrPd8w5OS
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mo1yKroar
Kwame stood outside, eyes on the sky, arms folded.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6YpfbWGoq
He didn’t need a phone.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmlxdsfBcW
He just needed a network Mercy built…and a reason to set it on fire.
**********93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgzZV7kWBa
June pushed the heavy doors open just as Mary arrived from the science wing.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2mxtdIVvR
“The boys have seen it?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MeKs4Kwh4
“Everyone has.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKWbkbCWpM
Kim entered last, silent.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniun5rmGEn
Shiko hovered in the corridor, uninvited but listening.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0BWqiO7b2
On the old Order wall board, Naomi stood still.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3SpwEt1Ph
Below her — pinned with blue tacks — were printed stills from the Kwame video. One showed the crypt grate. Another, Jabari holding the ledger.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VSeSe5jov
“This wasn’t Mercy’s trap anymore,” Naomi said quietly.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQb2aTkQiTS
“It was her signal.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFHHFsV4PZ
Naomi turned to them — prefects.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7vkQwewWU
“There’s at least one ledger still moving. Probably being moved to St. Theresa’s. Possibly Maseno.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQGwpLkbkb
Mary stepped forward. “So, what do we do?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySyIIdUWHc
Naomi tapped the board.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPv5uHVlCW
“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.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9aJtdVovB
June’s voice was cold.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqPHk7JdCZ
“You think Mercy would use one of us?”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VnlePZ38w
Naomi didn’t blink.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2coQIHt15
“Mercy doesn’t use people. She recruits them.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRfq1BwopF
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:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEoUYF3wkG
“Don’t trust who enters first. Trust who stays behind.”93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWA8esetU4a
The Order Hall is locked though Naomi stays inside, assembling the remaining cipher logs and pulling names off Mercy’s old class rosters.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0X09ZKi6v7
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.93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUo2cxty9q
She has only one instruction:93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLkjqUCvBkV
“Deliver it by dusk. If you’re stopped — deny you ever knew.”
93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJrEgs3xQd
93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63qNQpLUAp
