June wasn’t a morning person.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmYymvEhd7
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhe7UYAtxC
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10wQv6M32C
That’s when they saw it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDc1xf5ATh
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOSfVT40f6
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDzcletPJ0
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bll5pj4fd
They exchanged a look.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmZCU1NdrV
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlfp8TJaHv
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXX6In8aG3
“She never left,” June replied.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKthBOuiut
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtRA2oahKC
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDSu7MHsn2
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmOowmpRBU
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHv9GE4tr5
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEPMBmrIiz
That was the Mercy they remembered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWus61y3sD
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RZLAWjlQd
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQn9xYe5KJ
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTMp4sBT4i
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNiATl2jQR
Saw the fear. The recognition.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBKWfhCPBz
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzvSrqOEGe
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuafCkHpYB
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlzfpX9yUO
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLsCR9eVnY
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPLgBQqczA
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrn60eHKxNj
She didn’t write much.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5LGzNL0P7
"The serpent returns."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5OxYDSNtF
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7ofLbNMvs
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHIDO7600u
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKRMT59qu0
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgnr9l2tuDY
A buzz.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAnRuL8CNc0
A photo.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyR263mTUUN
A phrase:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQY0KQtTY8I
“The serpent returns.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTpvh8Dv9p
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF9c5aA7Wlp
A slow breath.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbsIR8XvgP
No reply.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrWnHY2tl7
Just movement.
***47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hEtTwrJ0O
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3SrDkTsr3
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAvYoosVlO
Kim nodded slowly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjhcEofVnAU
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0tIePsTkY
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIbGt2QTeQ
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXypyYOTSf
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxSPYTN3Y0
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkeSDzfwxJ
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmKiu96t6V
Her voice dropped lower.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFOml2wNsu
“This school is no longer for games.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIseF5xGKAt
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrRV0aINQh
And this was her first piece.
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2rYTWcHPW
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmn7YGUcgQj
“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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudFfLjMRgM
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hurRMlK5Z
“I think it’s a cipher.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDrkqYp1Kp
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RIpnlFrya
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCpqWvSUrh
But only if rotated ninety degrees.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmoVzGFjRG
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYcfYzv00U
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpF27kQv6Az
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHItxHRbRhB
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcpSdCEjZY
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlv2Iwp90R
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaJLCg0aCh
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcfs8WtPvN
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEAujE7PTd
“I think she left everything there.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWuEcjZXQ71
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2n4321moKf
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYxzcstpAWN
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaYe7qwC1F
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.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5pjz7Mtcb
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVLB2aLO01
Kim almost missed it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYLDKVznH8
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSPx1Fgq2N
Then she heard the whisper.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWEItrPGxK
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42K3S2VNuS
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yMiitzbeb
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScZjI7kJM9
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWj0dmpiSb
“Jabari knows the underground route.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9P4c9R7aX
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuN1vNMeBHo
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWxbK3jC5y
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfrPa82BOn
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFr8qGYkQoi
Her Mind Raced. Why her?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3ypKnYw8v
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OUJqhTYf7
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGD8I06DH5
And how did they even know she was connected to him?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ30zuWPHCl
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtXLQcIiJlA
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfHFBN6lTa
And now this.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYINrN8jZk
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35EDOMQQHr
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQaFAvUPzF
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWYbzN48yB
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RpXSkNsqt
“Jabari knows the underground route.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XEKWbAHfF
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzWv9L9gjl
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudIYQA4fHE
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnfofknUyS
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzJnQUXnR47
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKVTT8rvgQ
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uQgbwJ5VH
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. 47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvU3161K7qa
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCqpztV9vD
Not unless she was hiding something with it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwOS6o5wXy
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4mprZZ0c8j
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3EYUTs5vb
No one noticed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeApo98WkN1
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4afFm8ZEEk
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIulxeoehcg
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIYnNMkNCN
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9dq6WA4Zh
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1Ubcqy5dz
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvpfWWfsRF
She didn’t look back.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRXxa8l9GZ
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?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyqsJUUChs
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KsH2EQHEm
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVy1gHVAKRA
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBBliBswJu
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGRBQVrlNCx
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JGNdwuG0X
Just space. And answers.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB9jEGov7a4
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqh8KXv5gV
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7jSZoeN85
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrtSGKcu0g
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:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOv1YcMjsad
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yNDkQQPWR
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.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NpGjYZOkK
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrPRdhzscU
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuQijkyJN9
A figure.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK47onSNtyK
Alone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RZvS9Wffv
June tapped record.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YKw5piym3
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGc3dYEmwIq
“He’s testing the tunnel.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4gZhq0i1K
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjgihVbppOF
He turned right.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZ7lFR6CMb
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh4W0zQAcwy
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9ZnujHirv
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYkmaFtL46
None of them spoke.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPr1P9sCwI
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2RkuEpj4S
"Follow Water to Truth."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZz25yllIfT
He did.
