June wasn’t a morning person.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOEe5Apm42
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE2d10VLtPC
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28irPUvtG6
That’s when they saw it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4pdlaQ7P3
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniZO5yvSIA
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhI0NogRiJ
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7ekXX2YZ2
They exchanged a look.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOof2IwTvjv
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKnvbaBtb6
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcxCTQMR2zc
“She never left,” June replied.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79bjWxgErj
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yGCrLBYaQ
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXFxMlONyq
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNYlWsBYB9
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNepecF9XKH
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpt9pbLPDF
That was the Mercy they remembered.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizz12Gai3E
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdM91VwkMm
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYerjdzFEFd
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnL1FpA2sgG
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqpLg334Do
Saw the fear. The recognition.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj50IaJqM4T
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSnJ0UW4QR
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YPRmyklBc
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonqdkpWLIS
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RHUg9yx9B
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguuWyuWNan
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8oRaGyusSa
She didn’t write much.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8rGyI922o
"The serpent returns."39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9HhmaEWnC
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdgIB3Mdn7
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtJJCgMHs3
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODZpr7pGyl
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLO0aayquK
A buzz.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDqQ1WZ0o2
A photo.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3NSTvR2qw
A phrase:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzAzaw8fzw
“The serpent returns.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYMynO0Pfz
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bVrgSNFCW
A slow breath.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8nYMZpHky4
No reply.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcALMNmF9YM
Just movement.
***39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2GuhfmNgc
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLm9E6yhC6t
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZCpsfV7sz
Kim nodded slowly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRnk8wWRUTx
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd2mreHpsOw
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZJP8Yx6Tx
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDNc31KJ27
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgiy0KayLF
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnN01yyEc2
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaYImfDST1
Her voice dropped lower.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99sjbM539L
“This school is no longer for games.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3m5m1xSKy
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87V5fjR21n
And this was her first piece.
*****39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufrgqjb9m5
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0caNQ7ngSo
“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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEULgq8BSw
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckUJMVYqEi
“I think it’s a cipher.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXIRsOXM0E
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZVnOexOTz
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEkrjurx5A
But only if rotated ninety degrees.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqAckeM9Vk
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR72qnIJsqf
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicniQP1ktk
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoy4KjSszHp
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuAWbSWCaq
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA1mvmgJU4I
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjXg9xL05l
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAK9ywk37w
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy76oC0CLTo
“I think she left everything there.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcAdLRdL9R
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IWWb1TwXL
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSyJleLQXB
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdT2rnVxdG8
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.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4GJHnL4JR
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiQPTY6i3q
Kim almost missed it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXirGf67NR
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqrI1pYtvr
Then she heard the whisper.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG305XLYkI
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq1O153OIt
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrWzDu7EtU
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUqfzN9LQ4
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZvaN39Qd1
“Jabari knows the underground route.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucdBdN7tzN
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtiMyabpac
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuEXcoGdtp
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRCl5QeTGz
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQ1KsTVxnZ
Her Mind Raced. Why her?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fntwpX5iY
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7jePblPDg
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6IRb0vLs62
And how did they even know she was connected to him?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSn1qTh0pQh
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadixRnr3Jf
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYsbUTMJK0
And now this.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAnz2F8fWB
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JcH7EHBMh
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2VhIp2pQH
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVrbPVdlpt
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEr7m6AS84
“Jabari knows the underground route.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1k0wlruZla
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Stj52a1le
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuixRTqn2Zy
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9JfVIxfWG
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyU3q7oOJer
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF3hXVLRhE
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cb9BwhWvx
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. 39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzS5UbU4V2
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRdMYsDYFW
Not unless she was hiding something with it.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAx8wf1H8U
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNS5mNPlyea
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmcKJZijOL
No one noticed.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPe9gzxEwts
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5tW3BWsLIS
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1x3XDJL8oN
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWtP0GWhXd
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMapb44AuvA
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACRmF7geky
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F5FGJBGUB
She didn’t look back.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpwOyd8QkZ
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?39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJJkWwb8mS
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95vThphXhJ
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ45LtKIE4zq
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2E7JVrTel
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwdCOeBPiH
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJoK6YICSd
Just space. And answers.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg37oS3hhRN
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvQJFicw1y
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡze9ZDbT7Zl
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsxcktMZ6E
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:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1swzYn7ka
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDh79dt3MbN
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.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazMqPorrMF
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVwLltziFv
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRGHScFYwO
A figure.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz59e8PGu6m
Alone.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0OOvjnjZd
June tapped record.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWqARzobdp
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSwG5daP8c
“He’s testing the tunnel.”39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhiMEnJhYIb
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6DsNcoIem
He turned right.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhOOV0RdyhG
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdKVsZEdSz
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykDVZHXlOb
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdT19kM8Kd
None of them spoke.39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSL1HgXKnN
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKLeJHrG4I
"Follow Water to Truth."39Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FlYDijT1R
He did.
