“Water’s Path”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR53fJxzIeY
The grate groaned louder this time.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80693FkFz1
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRmcIyusYZp
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvwtxXiyBA
Because he had.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWktsItaLuo
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFn4eQeqEN
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYMoXOfgsf
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3R4oB4t1GR
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHXRBoouWi
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrENgO3Olg
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOfPAAWN3d
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJQ0w35YC6
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE81ER8ICtF
They walked for seven more minutes.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tSDVxAz08
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefaNihJGe3
Jabari stopped.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBduqB0qrw
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSni1TEG2qY
Jabari placed his hand against it.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡArByqTHnAs
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcYQ0t9KBj
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdrAu2QIAM
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCulgZylF3D
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEE9sCkLRh
They opened it.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5m5XIMqJk
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS875ytpNsr
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFj1991zox
It was quiet. But not still.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8iWSaMP5N
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0fQmXasD6
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hNfNs6eEX
Jabari’s breath slowed.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0wCi2IGs3
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4UhxdgPgj
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhpZWUGUobm
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYOIsyRULx
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡah6xftv7br
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqZZr3aKOe
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5A5IeWQAA
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0NvL0ebmF
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡep0wm4Jiw1
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucFvKyNOp6
He wasn’t meant to be there.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0tFyqSggT
He hadn’t been invited.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2ELDlYFZ1
Hadn’t even been told.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJn6Vfc4zC
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSlXO8obYml
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfBYOBrqT6
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKonDuh6RV
The tunnel.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUidGsoWc3P
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGKHsaQx4V
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mKlDMKWhH
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡarwmjcP8h3
Now it felt like betrayal.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPCUnYs4Er
Crossing into the girls’ side?43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99sYeTGfkl
For what? Information? Or for someone?43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtPW3NQtUqv
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?43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0mwphECLzv
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1megvyNJf
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfROrowGHN7
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhS4ytEkWvE
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUKExPSvNh
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkZ1esgZ0p
They never heard them coming.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcMmlDCTtq
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnf5MrVRJ1Y
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxcmfQDaZ2b
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEYg230ijDW
Kerosene.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqMGzQL4hC
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM756RU6OlR
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1X5XpFk4F
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5BT6Ep3Vdk
Small. Orange.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNof8h4qh4
Then the flare lit.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECNxRdrH9j
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37eDxshRRC
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvGNr7yEjJ
Otieno dove back into the bend.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rIUje01UJ
And then they heard it— A voice.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrX8xlYtFfQ
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPW46WJ4XCw
“You were warned.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrJrVGh1eO
The light died as quickly as it came.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzzMwDKsik
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:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmfYKvqZqY
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoLTFF0jHaL
Jabari said nothing for a long time.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gR8FhikUm
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJBvoS4nUs
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQZLWpuo9P
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrH9Yt83uyH
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yY7N6kEMj
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPoGVG12YSa
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQv72TeRBw
“Was that really necessary?”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Eei1JPgPw
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhH1gquNxZx
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLppIts1rb
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6iYB2USjyA
No hood. No bluff.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1iMFfu693u
Just him — tall, furious, silent.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ltDFyrBpb
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xti9Btz3B
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YUZLGOs0S
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUswpHXDq6
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf1dIqsDDlK
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjdzbr54ra
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzHKJt8LrJ
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKd9RA8DNg4
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCHvkuZ4zr
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVt2qhxwwQS
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSLL0OE9bn
Black. Crisp.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKP3JFLPuo
Stamped with a mark: M.O.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPSmVOubuD
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrR0lUMjRGT
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4191Ff2cG
Mercy’s initials.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs9Sj1urnnN
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PbtT60Kxi
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3EU80cUQ5
Daring him to guess how deep this went.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ795ii8A3cY
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCHUwucgykR
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxqc6KqZzk
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjiCfHdfvdk
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iiJCEvxa0
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhZupk6OIc
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNgeRFcdAO
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9BbuUr7vm
Her initials. But not her handwriting.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8s3Xvq2asw
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtq9oELOaIn
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDB5yXq7Q8
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTebDGOTB4
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMWs9xLaD4
Then it clicked.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq8CpNAlkdE
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:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJU2j8muUA
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmcoWBl9XA
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHu8Wur5rs
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHGGSN9x1y
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxpA7RoIpF
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7X7vYApkWq
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPq5ygPMTt
And what she saw?43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsT2tMXGH07
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4HhKx6aPX
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGrrMDeU7p
Knowingly.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnv73YgVYju
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAkji0DrxRD
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Ho22riwvM
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPK7HNSFDAt
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKhLtAi8YQ
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.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO7cv80axjB
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2qctKa12e
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQASl3mWOnh
43Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0L5Z5LFRt
