June wasn’t a morning person.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBHJGosYNv
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jmVraOcRI
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBj8tgrlhxW
That’s when they saw it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeMoYBO3laI
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vKVjxomEH
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6HWd33I9i
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBiJlMITqC
They exchanged a look.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBX5tivzdF
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0lq8t4zYf6
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4nwEO9Pli
“She never left,” June replied.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxSTGrVDRS
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuc6v1E9Wo
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcqhn1Qmss
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChBfZZOx82
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hdI5t4PLc
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLjrtC5h8P
That was the Mercy they remembered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHM6G80Fqj
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdl2mBQdhaW
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UhklwtO58
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6g9lLJEJH
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxVkxCPAmX
Saw the fear. The recognition.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6GbKAqTAj
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tfMGJ93Cj
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYqR0wplJz
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWaXVwC7LK
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAys5zFKiq9
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RToMFF56F
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJ8UXJqW0O
She didn’t write much.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuaclZN1Mu
"The serpent returns."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2VkHfdZhb
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEZxVkjkX7
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2UWagC7t8
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPjfYLin2M
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EZWFISndP
A buzz.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nHjOguSu6
A photo.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrNgWCXDg1
A phrase:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZDMFSszV0
“The serpent returns.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNmldFlt4h
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeNpFmMewD
A slow breath.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8NGE6wd3X
No reply.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUobKh9y1Q
Just movement.
***26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SNUhPpSBH
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH1dofXKgd
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3UX8gprOn
Kim nodded slowly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhS4FBB2bK
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqtC1i4Bmu
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xYICPEWan
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUSLIMSBnT
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dJ1NrK0dp
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡczEC4x7Tmj
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52dQLrQ3Qk
Her voice dropped lower.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmF4XuiWEWK
“This school is no longer for games.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPb6yfE2lv
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA81yoLfOiD
And this was her first piece.
*****26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIcZ7H0As7
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0564nB3Ceq
“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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnciskVu3za
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wgEmeKAjX
“I think it’s a cipher.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuIcRt1enY
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdLwUEM9bN
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aDM4z5wlc
But only if rotated ninety degrees.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAft5NAJrxM
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGllsnpI9xx
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvwPenZNCi
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRUUOiBreW
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbSJ3YtpaT
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kXFnLZ1SQ
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3nlts8Rvs
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPGd4hcMdm
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8MQwbJ7iFG
“I think she left everything there.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWGTjnBINn
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRdUvpVQkv
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO6eV6fKsbm
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiYmN0GJcO
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.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgT0Sqje01c
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIaVh41Iiy
Kim almost missed it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvDkbThRpT
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvrfjVJ1uN
Then she heard the whisper.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0uDOhlp1W
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtNCVtD92G
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xUoOh1jCu
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MBTBPOEan
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KAuol8uB2
“Jabari knows the underground route.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0W72HhXWO
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrtJbr9Uny
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbQVZcUBcM
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ssYKC3mJw
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNosc2mKiK
Her Mind Raced. Why her?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3RH7dKWb8
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12DxDh0PYZ
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHaCCTZfd3
And how did they even know she was connected to him?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pSTludmtO
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡULID6W2tiQ
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lRzLWXK8e
And now this.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnUKN7vqIr
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fOPGemzdC
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBdnh8opMt
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfr8fLhHQq
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBvjIaFvp9w
“Jabari knows the underground route.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXh7ZzT30dh
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfJzoo79NA
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRUwTluYv9
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsya8NQkhIT
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRuDC33pEHJ
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7atFrAz3Zy
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3SHvM7YIc
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. 26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ThUg39mUC
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWndC6v13iy
Not unless she was hiding something with it.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7pOZj59gq
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZNmRLVtSX
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmCJUhMIxXS
No one noticed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBrmsRLPWy
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrfKIL7Y4M
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTQjlqBgCo
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ667d63sGap
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsbAXKoB50
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1l0wcQMPL
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7kkz1Xs9k
She didn’t look back.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGYPKxyILl
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?26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlTL27lMPb
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnPRlIV06a
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6IVcK3tRr
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrT0Q4VCOnI
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKxgTBzyFn
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GkPtPtTSj
Just space. And answers.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdvHZpinHw
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7ZzcKX8WA
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBsfVeQKcF
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3CyQdx3CRD
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:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBraoGsqJ73
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDRnZv9bAIY
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAjz72qAv5
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXTFVh4dNo
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVyICtdjN0
A figure.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nOONcqTUT
Alone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmm4vo33pkt
June tapped record.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4YjYJGcpJ
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEJGcdQYxB
“He’s testing the tunnel.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVteFq4z4d
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHB8sk3PTH
He turned right.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT61RKHIg1N
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJThr1HsKIG
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aeKRS68cK
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuk1tAMmRG
None of them spoke.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqF4qp9WRz
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEaDM8A0fE
"Follow Water to Truth."26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhMT3OkKlt
He did.
