“Water’s Path”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRSS4IJLfD
The grate groaned louder this time.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFapK6MKFd
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1DVNhjPWz
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MsgwCTKs6
Because he had.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhmru8mxOd
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCYis0W75R
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXQgxrsvuP
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWjXNRu7zg
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVEd2lNIWk
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0urFl24Ed
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDylIVmcAn5
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4k3XuJdyTK
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2Ny6FvsuF
They walked for seven more minutes.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQquXAL3cV
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqEZ8AUNQH
Jabari stopped.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCeq2omdrA
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxY7Tc9xaF
Jabari placed his hand against it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmMTo2Zp6c
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwYVBLp8Vz
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzxHaOD8pI
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv64nTZeWVQ
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjtB7O66gk
They opened it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjXEpmq3EI
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1J54skzjvD
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaCdcdGddj
It was quiet. But not still.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE2hc6JHg3
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbu3YWqq4U
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoHK7gvVsZ
Jabari’s breath slowed.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRJTaR2Xmi
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRBstrCoed
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNEjZMu447
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb65lHZVH8x
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyeJnYXUUg
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcV5958dXv
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUz3Ro86Z2p
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEyEf0FgeU
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8JHaVcOVq6
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0CVL4qz4J
He wasn’t meant to be there.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RYWHN4uoq
He hadn’t been invited.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrdzyAXfkC
Hadn’t even been told.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgphL7atum4
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNvPxiRBxG
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kjoFV6WfX
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPrNHNe4N3
The tunnel.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtss0KBhNW
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GX74VyFT0
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrciYcewFz
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgF4jf4jonz
Now it felt like betrayal.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMzp3l5EZ5
Crossing into the girls’ side?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MPspYSXsu
For what? Information? Or for someone?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZUzUmgHBk
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?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxH3bmsNrwX
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGuj1bfEl2
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04Am3DzW3X
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnai6c6ycp
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRy5SmqE1xo
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiPKVWQajT
They never heard them coming.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFqnaV4gK8
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMH1drHh6t
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqfVo8Dzhv
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsj0lXXjpO
Kerosene.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30YEt6Jglc
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXICkr7A5u
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIlKRG4CAEm
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxVGsKawg9
Small. Orange.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmdOcLKQ10
Then the flare lit.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwhvQ3yvFMS
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKO5xvHF2YL
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVLImiT4Ypb
Otieno dove back into the bend.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQnJPj0YHx
And then they heard it— A voice.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm13C1BgjIQ
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UfNOntt26
“You were warned.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBSmPgfX4r
The light died as quickly as it came.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FxBxAfmrL
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:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGWiLSN4n66
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2BrzaLWR1
Jabari said nothing for a long time.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTQ3gQ3qluS
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOoVpHr0TD
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJlYpB9irln
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWjIlLln5o
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6eRlPiXTh
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34YForulqh
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8mokcgY4d6
“Was that really necessary?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV5tjWgCJg
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRbc614lC5
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4yS6lqQFy
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLRZzulTbP
No hood. No bluff.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJPxk8AmvN5
Just him — tall, furious, silent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuo6UFc9QNy
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjmuzZKu2p
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4U3E7nojiB
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uVhzGlB90
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdgMSx9CyP
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvE5uAINsf
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82ZkJ6mF4m
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIQ4eFiqzj
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXI1gXXKKgE
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7hmcDZytp
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnkntnagsEz
Black. Crisp.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7ELr4TnM9
Stamped with a mark: M.O.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAkiDTY4q5
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgvsEepoG5
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ837zp33G8A
Mercy’s initials.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQON3xnsnkO
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJUTdQ6c7O
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWo56ELajO
Daring him to guess how deep this went.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0SflA79oB
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkXlV3Ddju
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojTk1gYZHg
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTTbH0i7c5
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6x4070llPu
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9C1ujxY7e9
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tmZLVXqwY
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9W9oismUIq
Her initials. But not her handwriting.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVvX8RTXhew
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpevMzG2CFP
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSNlwQeEYx
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bH8F8V4nN
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBlZa83Fqs
Then it clicked.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vlIqOfYmi
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:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfB4k3p3Mg
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkkXSccsHN
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqb2Tk47ywx
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqckGgiP5G
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxBfW6AzAE
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lHTMPFHad
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nawqkoKb3
And what she saw?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8SaTcuJxe
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCJJz0yMg9
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKOavuFi67
Knowingly.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQG5vPCzdGk
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2L52NpRhus
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oFLzLc9XV
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCOOYNPbEVa
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXziH3kTum
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.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPWVS47g31
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeup6I2ikqq
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdWxb7gauh
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKkQqoUUkw
