“Water’s Path”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMpHvEm6bc
The grate groaned louder this time.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiXMYyTSpV
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58G6d3Ow4o
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5DnshXDui
Because he had.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfwUQSP9vC
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVyl5Mqch8
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXuDCft2ez
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuZPWpgzRE
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWsa8PL3qU
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VN4T5hEmD
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZzhmB2i74
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhjpTcf71p
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9jM67U33t
They walked for seven more minutes.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUERqWlsEG
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSNJVxFd8w
Jabari stopped.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSMnGCkBeL
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HpDbGLAKk
Jabari placed his hand against it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLBjZq1nwV
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV5FKBH5oh
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15dNdtToRO
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9ymL9RZtR
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmW1oqBqwMa
They opened it.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFJbZEZgAya
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCMr6cFV07
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJLzFkAlO8
It was quiet. But not still.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmngFT75y5b
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9M6LB2EHb
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUKGeRLdhe
Jabari’s breath slowed.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fmwZP7ajb
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqO3etfG0Qr
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7ebkvX9U5
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXPFE2uK5Z
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmgZVFXvcp
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnjVw3L46k
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8ylWQGC4O
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLZExAsrKG
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW57gDH9WCL
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqWKTIJ2rW
He wasn’t meant to be there.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz72lVEDfXx
He hadn’t been invited.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXOnJK5sc5
Hadn’t even been told.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHue4KlaRg
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq6PFsg5FGX
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIZkRwKsv0
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWASap48Cy
The tunnel.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKY8luDl440
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRy54RBJcw
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhsPdDpFYw
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ918svbLAsR
Now it felt like betrayal.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbVbZB6uIld
Crossing into the girls’ side?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFppdQbhqSj
For what? Information? Or for someone?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAap1YkMZG
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?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj3hiTleSoz
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7opFMMLJTJ
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7x6MTqfud
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HqQKDQW6T
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdaSJkPkpG
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDSCh9aiPe
They never heard them coming.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFYCjbS9jH
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2cfpNYHIw
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3wkWCkvox
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfH9ntGbOyo
Kerosene.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1mf7FjMb6
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JjYqFdHla
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzFvAZrb6e
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIaF42GJKK
Small. Orange.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQAX2hnoPe
Then the flare lit.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3WWbv1G6k
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVkoLbCAV47
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVs6cEG3SGA
Otieno dove back into the bend.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoCyDEeFm2
And then they heard it— A voice.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtFsFVa10f
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGwPPAErUB
“You were warned.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0YzlOk4ypr
The light died as quickly as it came.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyshvxxaNQZ
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:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHCoULgN8D
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDATyc0nu6
Jabari said nothing for a long time.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ibCZlGSpc
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyECPP6pNGs
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGydj8J3X6p
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXwSto0HUA
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcAhikASs0
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFMAu2ZtgF
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP8aQfXAJAJ
“Was that really necessary?”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsplqqj23Oh
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Erg6ZuVuo
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ536OiAZO3D
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvP3x48acM
No hood. No bluff.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRQeNGyI56
Just him — tall, furious, silent.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEhHAkq5bE
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5Mb0fsFwf
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWnzDGLAyi
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1DAVrIull
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7iKLJPgsEh
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXo9BoGMiu
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjsYijP0ag
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztNGtJlmhK
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0pg8g4ySm
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUkCQRPX79
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75FW9bwkrG
Black. Crisp.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g9iuuKBz9
Stamped with a mark: M.O.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRvtvxdeZD7
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJL7LmKp88
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbXPU5mtre
Mercy’s initials.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2DsfU7xSr
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo5vY32zSq
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3PVgvEQ5Z
Daring him to guess how deep this went.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7d99Bbfd4
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NlKezwPXy
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6a5bWbWCqt
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ05bOOlVJLe
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrEH1I51qt
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNY9XjNTsXR
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsHtKlXpR5
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdO0rSbg0jK
Her initials. But not her handwriting.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGQigvBhRV
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXUcY4Co3k
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEjKvKbtPO
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzshQVKbSD
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbGJ18TmdL
Then it clicked.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tygmPB6Ex
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:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndKjGEE1aX
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpx0sqPFfbb
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BDrnYWXlu
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Pru0A5rgK
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡue0KRVF6bh
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPSWwpRjJc
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykqaIPWGgM
And what she saw?27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJRHB10AEp
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡprhEhbAxuU
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeYWNtD2xB
Knowingly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFpZOJXftZI
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccPovb4QXE
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIWv7qPCMX
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0YNvCzuvB
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2e6tdDXHxr
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEYpZ8r42o
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgDgALAhgG
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3U5r1Rb55
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xah2DV5yK
