The science lab hadn’t been officially used in months — the windows were cracked, the wiring unstable, and the door only locked from the inside. Which made it perfect.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlb4Kif8rBn
Mary adjusted the lens on the UV lamp, flicking the toggle back and forth until the bulb buzzed to life with a dull purple glow.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGzhSUtExO
She spread the black card across the dissection tray — the one Mercy had retrieved from the chapel and handed over without explanation.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLBeX7I8i4
“You know how to look,” Mercy had whispered. “So look.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TBaz6Oosl
So Mary did. At first, nothing.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ65mhCS9CE
Then the ink shifted — faint glowing threads emerging beneath the card’s surface. The lines curled, widened, and gradually began to form structure.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhs8kukVrQT
It wasn’t art. It was architecture.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7197t7ypt
A floor plan. 28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbdBuiGw9o
June leaned in over her shoulder. “That’s not just the chapel…”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1f4LRZ4ei9
Mary nodded. “That’s the tunnel system.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kCVcgqU6r
The map showed multiple levels: A narrow tunnel from the borehole curving beneath the dining wing. Level two: The greenhouse access route — confirmed. Level three: A set of interlocking service paths ending in a room marked by a circle and the letters:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi74JYk9G5Y
C.9 – Cryptus Sacrum.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1h5XyCvFhf
Mary’s breath caught.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVlYuZhUC9
“The chapel has a crypt,” she whispered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxe6xrqQYaK
June’s eyes narrowed. “No one’s spoken about that since Mercy’s expulsion.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsdgr6Ra3U
“No one dared,” Mary replied.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTp12g6swqe
In the bottom left corner of the blueprint, another glow began to rise beneath the UV:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzk3JWgvLRV
“Begin from what you buried.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7F2GYwhYi0
— M.O.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLD4hJJuZ2b
June stepped back slightly. “She’s not just reactivating the tunnels. She’s trying to pull us back in.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSdAR6a0JY
Mary nodded slowly. “Or she never left.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNoqoWY6Um
For the first time in weeks, June didn’t know which side she was on.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvWPcS1isw
Naomi had restored her badge. Reinforced their place in the Order. Offered peace. But what Mercy offered now was truth. Not orderly. Not safe. But real.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyv86D4QkZ
And June had always preferred sharp things to dull ones.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XqUEajoVx
She looked at Mary, who was still tracing the lines of the blueprint with a gloved fingertip.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhEeg1FNGp
“If that’s real,” June whispered, “then we’ve never actually been above ground.”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cmPO0NI7H
Kim didn’t look up when June sat down beside her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXtZMpk7p7
The bench under the jacaranda had become her quiet spot — the only place where questions didn’t buzz in her ears. The petals drifted down like soft ink, blanketing her shoulder, the pages of her notebook, even the edges of her thoughts.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ855dgjTklR
June broke the silence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqjunhtIsC
“You were right about her.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiJCYV9zWw
Kim turned. “Mercy?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaLRn8HK8F
June nodded; her voice taut. “She doesn’t want power back. She wants the Order buried.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIusqw2tTyB
Kim closed her notebook slowly. “What did you find?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6pLWjWP9i8
June didn’t answer at first. She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out a slip of folded paper — not the blueprint itself, but a tracing she’d made in secret, away from Mary, away from Naomi. On it: the outline of the chapel. And beneath it — the crypt, marked in Mercy’s faint symbol: M.O., crossed by three vertical lines.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWJvJoFQDB
“Three verticals,” June whispered. “Three prefects. Mercy’s way of marking a trap.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHfd2IzkWq
Kim stared. “You’re sure?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUO9HqT9hv
“Dead sure. She means to draw them there. Naomi, the others. And seal it. Not physically — symbolically. Shame them. Expose what they covered up about the tunnels, the Walkers, her expulsion. All of it.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8rFwzaaZi
Kim traced one of the drawn lines with her finger.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2V66kEquU
“She’s not exposing history,” she said slowly. “She’s rewriting it.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCC9bgQDmr
June leaned forward.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSsjcTmHZh
“You’re not in the Order. You’re not on anyone’s side. But you’ve seen more than most — and you don’t scare easy.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKhEHaaCmy
Kim gave a small, tired laugh. “You sound like Shiko.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuopwjKwfO
“No. Shiko’s a scout. You’re a witness.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kL8RVLcSe
June paused, then added softly:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESYNavUHMX
“I don’t want to be part of burying people. Not even Naomi.”
They sat in silence for a moment, petals collecting like snow.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbMKVxcGdt
Then Kim asked, “What do you want me to do?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt97BjodoeK
June looked up. Her voice was quieter now. Less prefect. More person.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuFeHgMKGM
“If anything happens in the crypt... if I can’t stop it... you tell the others. Shiko. Seline. Even Jabari, if you have to.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvjXUq6f6f
Kim stared at her. “That could expose you.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwzjRhWOsV
June nodded once.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLmjtgNHbr
“Better me than them.”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqKryZoydS
The corridor was nearly empty when Seline appeared.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbEus8aDO3
She didn’t slam her locker or call Kim’s name. She just stood there, leaning against the doorway like someone who had waited long enough for the exact moment to arrive.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhZhtZmroc
“You’ve been busy.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzabQJd80F
Kim turned slowly, not startled — just tired.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPolU1ZcUM
“So have you.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2aRGOvFcy
Seline’s eyes were cold, but not cruel.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpjEZ4Glwg
“Let’s skip the pretend part.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoE6iSXQNbx
Kim raised an eyebrow. “Which part?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVXq4lfpPj
“The part where you pretend, you’re not helping Mercy. Or June. Or whoever it is this week.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGoZJFit4JX
Kim closed her locker slowly. “I’m not helping anyone. I’m trying to understand what’s happening.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7uOC6O7g4
“That’s exactly what makes you useful.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtNCjUqTb6
Seline stepped closer, her voice low and measured.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2sMHQN31f
“Help me expose Mercy before this thing in the chapel happens — and I’ll show you something.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBc0Tm5kp6
Kim didn’t move. “Something about Juma.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyXMBGni54
That stopped her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvOJW2GZ5x
“Juma?” she said, sharper than she meant.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovVEtoTfVF
Seline nodded. “Something you’ve clearly been dancing around since last term. Don’t look so surprised, Kim. You don’t hide infatuation well.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNekA3bn8uU
Kim crossed her arms. “And you just happened to be saving this for a rainy day?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKoNhE597v
“No. I was saving it for the right pressure point.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xwgWXJWrI
Seline reached into her sweater pocket and tapped a folded sheet. Thick. A printout? A photo?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡof6dIRvDjl
“You help me shut this down — expose Mercy, burn the tunnels, force Naomi to act — and you’ll get the truth about what Juma’s really doing when he says he’s ‘off-grid.’”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyfjQCKNOT
The corridor felt suddenly colder. Kim stared at the folded paper, then at Seline’s face. Not smug. Not even manipulative. Just… determined.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyglfGMegI
Like a girl who had once been close to Mercy. Like a girl who knew betrayal personally — and intended to weaponize it back.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyfLqmDUyn
“You don’t even care about Naomi,” Kim said.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5bAd1HFJS
Seline’s voice softened. “I care about not being erased.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTM2DHMbqo2
When Kim returned to her desk in the class, there was another mystery to follow waiting up on her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWg7JtuJHn
There was no envelope.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYvIOsSZnO
Just a folded note, slipped between the spine of Kim’s literature textbook and the dusty edge of her locker wall.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yKcesHkQv
She knew it was Shiko’s. The paper was squared at the corners. Neat. Dry. No handwriting on the outside. Just careful silence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikPVg8yHB0
Inside, a short message:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx97shsaA9v
“Meet at Science Week’s midnight demonstration. No one else. No delay.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ig2exAM5I
— S28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLK3QKXXHx5
Kim stared at the paper, rereading the curves in the "S" — round and sharp in the way only Shiko's handwriting ever was.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU38sPnhe2n
She folded it twice and slipped it into her sock.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxiIKCeXw4
Outside, thunder rolled low and slow across the lake.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0moI3qMKWd
If Seline was a warning... Shiko was a reminder:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwpxn4f1fD
She wasn’t alone.
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4uJVxHgvJ
Naomi’s heels echoed unnaturally down the corridor.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRKiWy2gUe
She didn’t bark orders. She never had to.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQC09PAGuf
Two junior prefects flanked her, carrying empty crates. She stopped at the lab entrance and waited until the girls looked up from the bench.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0av21oN67K
“New directive from the principal,” Naomi said evenly. “All ultraviolet lighting equipment is to be removed from the lab facilities effective immediately.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhu9O3uslKq
Mary blinked. “Why?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFr077NbKnm
Naomi held up the clipboard. “Cited: potential risk of chemical interactions. Some of these lamps are over a decade old. Filaments cracking. Possible mercury leaks.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr3tUtonVqs
June stepped forward. “That’s never been a concern before.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMaPgDV777
Naomi raised an eyebrow. “Well, it is now.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx0N4gVrtN
As the juniors moved through the cupboards, one lifting the dusty UV lamp from the back shelf, Mary and June exchanged a look.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2dFZ3FE0s
This wasn’t about safety. This was about control.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkwLhEKE4z
Naomi didn’t glance at the blueprint folder tucked beneath Mary’s stack of textbooks — but her silence was surgical. Her eyes landed on it. Briefly. Knowing.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSKWpZsaWu
Then she turned to go.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYb7fvbQsH
“If you need light,” she said over her shoulder, “try daylight.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1iKSDfBBq
The door clicked shut behind her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Ay3s4dJta
Mary’s fingers dug into the edge of the desk.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpy6B3yCtT
“She knows,” she whispered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhBSffCXZo
June stared at the door. “She doesn’t know everything.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU08sP0QeI
Mary hesitated. “Should we tell Kim?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAACUJ8EY7m
June exhaled.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1sAEFlzE7
“No. Not yet. Not until we find the crypt entrance ourselves.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy6uly6LSoS
She picked up the blueprint sketch, gently smoothed the corner, and whispered under her breath:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTwAJSjSxpr
“We don't need light. We need memory.”
******28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHukpMnWv4
Juma paced just outside the back stage canopy, fists in his jacket pockets. He could feel Jabari before he saw him.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRIk91RAsA
“You’re late,” Juma muttered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwgaim61nk
“You followed me,” Jabari replied calmly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eoAqZ0eft
Juma stepped forward. “You’re walking into a trap. Mercy isn’t just planting symbols — she’s turning them into a net. And Naomi doesn’t see it.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdik4mOjWHt
Jabari’s voice was cold. “Neither did you, until you saw the card.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1L2WlLF2WH
Juma’s jaw clenched. “This isn’t about who saw what first. It’s about stopping a collapse. Tonight. In the chapel.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevqm2cQyzY
Jabari finally turned, locking eyes.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1bbu4b6os
“Then let’s collapse it before she does.”
Beneath the science wing on the girls’ side, Kim and Shiko crouched behind the old reagent shed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoQ9vGOzVT
Shiko passed her the flashlight. “If the crypt’s real, it has to open from somewhere near the annex sub-basement. The original plans placed the drain gate there.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgGgnCT2wO
Kim stared at her. “You sound like you’ve been practicing this.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xyR9buLtE
Shiko gave a faint grin. “You’re not the only one who gets notes.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQWZkWebNU
Kim unfolded hers again: “Midnight. Come quiet.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbgOlIjS2F
There had been no signature — but the direction had been clear. The trap wasn’t just Mercy’s.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJthSbS5iu0
Someone was planning to stop it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxA2w8ksKu
They were just making sure someone else survived it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmYV9182Rx
At 12:06 a.m., while students at the science demo lit hydrogen bubbles and experimented with heat coils, four shadows moved in four separate arcs: Jabari and Juma, slipping behind the stage, through the external water tank corridor. Kim and Shiko, looping behind the incinerator shed toward the chapel annex. Mercy, already beneath the chapel, lighting her candle, placing the final lock in the metal gate.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEDTKbN4CK
And somewhere else — Seline, watching from above the science dome, her eyes flickering with a phone she shouldn’t have had.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrktitkh1w
Jabari reached the tunnel grate first.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PB0NBxOdk
Juma slipped beside him, passing the folded metal rod they’d stashed days ago. Together, for once, they said nothing.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbpcZEPCcV
Inside the tunnel — faint blue paint glowed at the seams.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGmufOLDki
The glyph for “complete.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUhjkXIzSB
Mercy had finished the sequence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uGIKeK32d
On the girls’ side, Kim reached into the drain gate.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPh4thPGsO9
Shiko crouched beside her, prying open a rusted latch.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E5bm4Pszg
Below them, the faint sound of a click echoed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmxV80LAlz
A door opened.
