“Water’s Path”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9sfB6LSWd
The grate groaned louder this time.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIqgKG84EE
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnltjJwbqHs
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs2Tlr6nQNS
Because he had.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWCimEqXVS
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdQEse6tLe
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzhlHdIVp7
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNejHEu4Wr4
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sw81tfw1V
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbDhlum9eJ
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLrcXQa8m2
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjpr5ibgtY
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe09JhI9hep
They walked for seven more minutes.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWk5ESzaBU
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjaTZtMGgo
Jabari stopped.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTs9mfVd2fq
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj6zG9th5m
Jabari placed his hand against it.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KMJTeWu40
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCjPRMaKZz
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VjIUI3WTN
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPDQ7AVaZp
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHySWPa9RRP
They opened it.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mGSAJyd9z
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiOZMYUzGK
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kYWKEZAyh
It was quiet. But not still.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVG7hzkA6i
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCywKV7Q9a
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWUijuzetLP
Jabari’s breath slowed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9DOkflIcHP
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVpIqnthWx
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxfM3mxbHS
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcua6z0HBrr
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzd7U2AiYYL
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvzfMFpPaF
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICIhaj5xjB
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jyX66n7Tg
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeMWWrRzTV
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX2XXJ5udB
He wasn’t meant to be there.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpxsLMwB3U
He hadn’t been invited.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2GfNxUuN4
Hadn’t even been told.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOjZKw9JjT
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjWIsukpQk
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAnrgPHB8f
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4C75G9GaxQ
The tunnel.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaEkQrU9rJ
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0DXkunokv
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0ea3vuw3X
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchx6fkmr0o
Now it felt like betrayal.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRP2SVHEQJ
Crossing into the girls’ side?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVhVu5nGti
For what? Information? Or for someone?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4g9A4nHyjw
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?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5jFAxpVdP
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnExh9WNcS
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iNOaK111H
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXVsPxgpfI
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGZSXGcqqr
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2x51YfpPS
They never heard them coming.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWZEYTCx5v
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7UmE9pmXI5
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQkB11aPPx
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrICzWcWkf
Kerosene.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5BchXPDPF
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2SHnpb7bD
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqE9zfzQ8b
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVhRxrKGZ4
Small. Orange.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAyHBVNPIE
Then the flare lit.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvw995ITrJK
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYLQUOW8p2
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9Z4OdMNAS
Otieno dove back into the bend.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdI8iwahQln
And then they heard it— A voice.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgamWpWQp9
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hzFBtCgDe
“You were warned.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8Mp57ovuB
The light died as quickly as it came.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvZK76nc3Q
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:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeod5wVRVWj
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasGXHrMiQS
Jabari said nothing for a long time.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcFmLb0XwU
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVFnskOm15
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGoatVidPC
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9X5AoppOYq
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuTeLoBlPX
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkScMGLQrxV
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMwwiNLoCV
“Was that really necessary?”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8bgO7ythH
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyHbeN2F3q
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnxgQ1fNQx
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiGKkJEOi0
No hood. No bluff.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYl9jtdTv25
Just him — tall, furious, silent.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivLBEY7HEG
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCBGzClmkf
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqngMotaqq
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RWg4aRGLm
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KFvMDmsBW
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgubkEpraSC
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQFIwMEPmf
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfk3Tcw8kR
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zE8ntVVK2
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwoC1aFljYO
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZUoj4ZVOU
Black. Crisp.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIod2FY0jNP
Stamped with a mark: M.O.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bKHsynWWP
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDuOpaXBJl
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKaEBhWWko
Mercy’s initials.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oasIwnDm1
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMMqdqsnZR
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpc1i848bC
Daring him to guess how deep this went.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOzImoQXty
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18UEDy7Q8A
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L6kOiJxx9
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYi36JWcQYr
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZ4Bd0cl4z
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZHjGBVwNU
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvCIiGADUA
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1ybPAPBLi
Her initials. But not her handwriting.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyp4LjChfRM
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1Oy0dkHQy
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEixsyOcEI
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NlyYneuJl
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZWi2GsIS0
Then it clicked.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamApbVnpuU
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:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hZc3veuI7
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9PlbEO6lq
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0oKEEPGO5s
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxFgDFb22b
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFS5IgWRrwA
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzTDPDdpPT
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZft8gJfAAt
And what she saw?34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nd5LSvQj6
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3771171JT
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBlORN2P1b
Knowingly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBM7KQnIqH
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0eQVR5wuZc
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPmi6BrFmg
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdqn9btf0n
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWK5Qhlg9jt
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ux6oM1HJu
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCc3mC423sV
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAkPqg9jnX
34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSEHt3EkBC
