“Water’s Path”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQHejJclY3
The grate groaned louder this time.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5RfWAtZkxR
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDX8YdUOR9F
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZrWndPtLq
Because he had.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEi5ER1RjB
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigsRlclVuS
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadW610JzOy
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxAY2VrGibJ
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhhzczHxt7
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQUw39TPte
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5aGuBnWSVe
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8V46ttWCp
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWJJNqtJrB
They walked for seven more minutes.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbh2W36uIy
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUCeraIaiY
Jabari stopped.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsEWbPQy5J
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmu9JGQaXg
Jabari placed his hand against it.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1RuIXU612
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFKljFKub5
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8i50z2UOP
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡviY36Ouo58
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuwga5qNGha
They opened it.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAypPTQsVP7
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMHsklkJz8
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTsSn8FCEi
It was quiet. But not still.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkr8O53pPr1
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZtrfZ04H1
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTGLtFUBzH
Jabari’s breath slowed.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWilvmRGvbV
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpnGsCcoEF
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfi2JomXqS
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQzvEVHoVKj
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9SoIsdO5kQ
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TBpIx5Jvi
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9PqsbM3dlK
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fjjBaswNL
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HtTEYD3JB
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOA0Di7wyxD
He wasn’t meant to be there.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfAn7m29YDX
He hadn’t been invited.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozv327wSe4
Hadn’t even been told.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYOnNlm1qRb
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ztwmb4ixU
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIa3ApKswB
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPMQPsUk2a
The tunnel.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19RKNhYEOf
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUsHqSxkQj
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2fyE6f0Ph
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCxOnYHcZo
Now it felt like betrayal.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGVSFfNlaa
Crossing into the girls’ side?91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtkXMIXH3n
For what? Information? Or for someone?91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7E31pBqt8K
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?91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoc5aQuaT4
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSvf3tV14G
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAZBKWIT6P
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTetqIgBvmX
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2JtCrIOLI
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YQfA1vqrU
They never heard them coming.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH40ndajcM3
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9HoPzoAZx
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzGbDoYW8u
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazUERugH3K
Kerosene.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyVZ0oM9gc
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FKyEtVpiA
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTeF4P27z7
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZSvgCqY2X
Small. Orange.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn069tubWI5
Then the flare lit.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPXbhFOOn2
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtpnnJRio6
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4LmhwCjuD
Otieno dove back into the bend.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs47ToVKOI1
And then they heard it— A voice.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFdIoXiSLU
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKiCRuCNQi
“You were warned.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rxv3OLnPi
The light died as quickly as it came.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT85JoHLDIY
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:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KvHXVnCPq
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BbU6mwbVN
Jabari said nothing for a long time.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHC8hVoxTX
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFZbUpOjpS
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CAh38SH9J
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAbXianAnQ
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVV3oB89v3
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CgociJC1N
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebRclqs21m
“Was that really necessary?”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJr30QfzwW
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkyLeQPDJi
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig2q6NWmTu
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwUOpVQv67
No hood. No bluff.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVCG98DFe5
Just him — tall, furious, silent.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡam5Le0MvpV
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdFaITiRJw
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9Klk1yw1N
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE0OHMIy1TV
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk83TS6WYuF
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzTfOodda9
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwlMJou2j2
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVXFpjH8Xh
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRcOcpwzd1
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNjwdhxB4w
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2K643GslB1
Black. Crisp.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00koCdtoiJ
Stamped with a mark: M.O.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmH0BhNgbPS
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8P6Jg2fT0e
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFDKExUiBk
Mercy’s initials.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QmY2jccYv
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbbL99dnNr
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlE4BPcIe9
Daring him to guess how deep this went.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFhrvBQf0W
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvXPcvhw73
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUe8FiaY4wL
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQw7UVj9Q3z
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzHssoNS0W
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzApvCSMX5
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WGA23SDIV
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlypLhug4Am
Her initials. But not her handwriting.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplgUWh07OL
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WbME0FVWZ
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVx6ubbY9Vw
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJME8746VbY
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q1IHI4Wix
Then it clicked.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMCm3TYb3J8
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:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbLVSlFWXC
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eS2qJdY38
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbTCvGv4ay
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1E4vJmSma4
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rFI9C5SVv
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflzYXetTuH
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5C8ZxWmHI
And what she saw?91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5cexKxTv6d
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyNKcmEiQt
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bmZSA3YaD
Knowingly.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMtoAPJjUC
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBVy5jTXA9
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhdd3DQ96k
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMzhaadiIi
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBV0WnZELi
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.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mcRAxuPal
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qWJHy0eSW
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KR0X3zetq
91Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiih4Fb5qo
