June wasn’t a morning person.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9L5pe23fP
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4jWE9e5Rg
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rJvcHlHxN
That’s when they saw it.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzh8xa7Tbn3
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OS7CfkQ6v
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt31C4K6Xvo
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9Z3hs1aVa
They exchanged a look.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5TwWmtTfA
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RBiCan60x
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1S2jlo3BP7
“She never left,” June replied.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjAOKYYwmB
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi05PHCbnW9
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96p3oUCPd3
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyd8SOiK7KU
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5e7NJkcbEv
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDI2rXBWPOz
That was the Mercy they remembered.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyELiXMAjn
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQha4gOY9de
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJOyBXcQmp
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJM0KC5phyB
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtGLULiuUT
Saw the fear. The recognition.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4oUolcjIu0
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0b7Po4Hxra
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XIi5BxFXR
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXHYFyU4hh
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5qMpTUViJb
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFt8rcpRWP1
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwiI0h0Po5
She didn’t write much.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnIkdId73R
"The serpent returns."46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7R05qxMQgg
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLWUSACHBg
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUn5exOX51
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsRzOjPlcB
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi9aCmhjPUQ
A buzz.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96ffBl9exh
A photo.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xLHmNq84K
A phrase:46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDUAYPB8Qp
“The serpent returns.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5eDGKVJWA
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQU3H4XXLS
A slow breath.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaYsOM615y
No reply.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡru5QJso9CK
Just movement.
***46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAYAKrdQXz
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyn9p9tEfVU
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFYnIgX1Tn
Kim nodded slowly.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRK2usmk0gm
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnquXddy6D
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRv2C8W9lez
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMseKpgHHP
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHsO8LBDss
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSnsXqv3YM0
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJRZr6iKKf
Her voice dropped lower.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XhcULZNBH
“This school is no longer for games.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WHCq6FcYj
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Wj651tAKF
And this was her first piece.
*****46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87RBW3X6We
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5EGNuRwd1x
“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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5Xi8d3xMO
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqp0A5fdPeE
“I think it’s a cipher.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjEYqTJt4T
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkI4Wt1oUvK
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHK2vR3zlo
But only if rotated ninety degrees.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruwAN18Dhy
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kDJHkdKGb
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknHysSjxAv
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFRsPzzhoo
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5U8NUuS8pp
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0grw6E5fR
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8Kk4KftAB
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFb3mw52T4
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboM86QK0ks
“I think she left everything there.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7eaNWs4kzb
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFj5T8I16Ud
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVS5J4TUZDM
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvUDvPPmwy
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.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcMRiokDnR
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4ATg5dE4R
Kim almost missed it.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA82yGqitz5
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjq5MqgKvW
Then she heard the whisper.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbz8qAmDKpj
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo55C2C0cnE
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeEreJFT8z
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Qrqb5T0tL
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa6xF18ZXVc
“Jabari knows the underground route.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8ArVRBJW4
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHd05ROWIv
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPSLqYZAnl
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhM7XqrGGtY
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYbzOCVcfX
Her Mind Raced. Why her?46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEnHKFNMyl
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4EXjNeOQj6
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxwU2AdnsD
And how did they even know she was connected to him?46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvl9npru7jS
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBp6CqVTwtI
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMjt7X81ef
And now this.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXK0pJWNjN
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbcjecSI2x
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXy3ITy5at
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCeK7QRhgt
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKZ08pDoZI8
“Jabari knows the underground route.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIv8i6hYwXD
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSeTIrSrouD
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIkWnT4TH4
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoF4HzCX7G9
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8TLg4zyxGB
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniMQG3Vjr6
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VqLX3xrmC
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. 46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBnWc9e2Xf
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXmj7ryMbZ
Not unless she was hiding something with it.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGbbbqzGGE
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uCKKougnH
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHlUsVT3Qa
No one noticed.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpCimLs8R6
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrYuTRtLFd
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYyvweBcJj
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhrKnAqPl6
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVHUg4IRIa
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwy7loXgoz
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lr0QCtgma
She didn’t look back.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdyG5C53BK
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?46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRn00X9WxZg
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDEUzv7OzP
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2DKWok7xq
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsy4A4yFhVh
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnq3FTAKULU
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYYL1WZbYb
Just space. And answers.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6zKTNArZ1
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNCytnyqHj
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTiR4mwmSo
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkH7EmLeowR
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:46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTnVvzI8PQ
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5U18xLDnpo
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.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0AR5davZt
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmR9oTi2bDe
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxeeaUT8Tm
A figure.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDE4xwPuztj
Alone.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqQaOxBmeI
June tapped record.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUaCxcg8pP
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJGzm6IQMd
“He’s testing the tunnel.”46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPD6DT5rXt
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu08MQxTQGA
He turned right.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHL1Q58YClr
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKGbwE1eBT
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV5pmraoeT
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKTBqE7ZawU
None of them spoke.46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAah9xM6tIE
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsehwEkeae
"Follow Water to Truth."46Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtacVsjZFa
He did.
