June wasn’t a morning person.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BGmwC78XZ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAe0AR8t6TS
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFz9Y1IO1H
That’s when they saw it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxm3OlQFAO
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMbEjER7h5S
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRn2QaLCMNx
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXO5k1rlhgC
They exchanged a look.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjMVwWNdAT
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFcwAsumM0
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NqFoZNtJT
“She never left,” June replied.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOfcCXFVF0H
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGFAR8Go7h
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIpj25D5A3
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOgT7X4EYmy
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dUCrcgkAZ
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JoWVuzOwn
That was the Mercy they remembered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSa6dTMkyVy
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYV8XjvmxWl
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRkZS4RfcN
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFB80FPa32
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIR9vNYPU4
Saw the fear. The recognition.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZheddzhvZ8
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLzajAa0Lx
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKl4oUHGNK
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fsCCYBZQs
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbO8yMeF8h
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNlXM4U1Hz
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPrdtEYSKk
She didn’t write much.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNby6qHVohZ
"The serpent returns."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0DYXkebPU
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn8VZHggfMv
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLaDf4je3W
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHN7UUDpLN
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFaXtyutRD
A buzz.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtmOoVSzGM
A photo.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93V6urCjJp
A phrase:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqbMOkXljZd
“The serpent returns.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccB5ItKWPv
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5FQPNLRVL
A slow breath.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfEZX5VzOZ
No reply.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIx8tyEoEr3
Just movement.
***47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KC6jTKcy5
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0y3DU29aY
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH8Q0m6p6P8
Kim nodded slowly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUWrVCH0yA
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXJCrFgHy4
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUDa2c1zQ3
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyezxS6SXm
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ntPa933Kp
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSmX60bmOU
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0okPLQAxH
Her voice dropped lower.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRsp6xEIJ2
“This school is no longer for games.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Uz5ppOBZa
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6yKP0tFpDn
And this was her first piece.
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTPmKrKmNA
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eAB8eWwLo
“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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdC40Gqoyi
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5I0vrP29J
“I think it’s a cipher.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MCz0wl3KL
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDzy25SNj7z
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTZrDcuBtS
But only if rotated ninety degrees.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXeZHZmCBJi
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQDmod2axmy
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPr9lrLSB4Z
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnvrxrgiU2
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUN3tp1jdsv
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPHAJxczF9
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTf8JraPVOF
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLlh7XZNvM
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunVJvubrvK
“I think she left everything there.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPErJBtXrMZ
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpgJ5yVTa8
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSndsKBUi4
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jtAn2iofn
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd748qwVvTg
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiPIJS94Io
Kim almost missed it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxdiyXmrc4
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHDuA2fpiP
Then she heard the whisper.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqWaRC8s0l
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJPZeXuyvS
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6pHHVxNBR
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDwKZfg161
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SRKrE72Fl
“Jabari knows the underground route.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwrtzkT196d
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALziIaSPLd
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9naIztoGXq
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1dCMcIyXNt
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZso4UjL2b
Her Mind Raced. Why her?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJf8WLmSh2o
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWjADZDnFS
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡug6MMfLHQ6
And how did they even know she was connected to him?47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRScrbyFkz
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoUTpRA5kCE
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BIj5QCneJ
And now this.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8z4LlWrUmT
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Cl2M7Kfiq
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTR4DiZCaXc
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxziXsZZKf8
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ83dhBM0yf
“Jabari knows the underground route.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HIZXk1kxS
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoot9RFxNMD
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKZblqiavr
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVaZDmiGj1
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EYSFuQru9
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOApbyrJXaL
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcEb0k7fw7
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYLMMDlk82
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4fIzkGmEEb
Not unless she was hiding something with it.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR29aK0SrLW
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMnYmK2gB5
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYFNhmBv35
No one noticed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1y8ywcR43
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQm8A9XQ6A7
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Hklgrm138
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7YLdX32bs
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBikrgPvHK
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13IlsfulFi
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MJuUNQaCq
She didn’t look back.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLaWjmoUY5D
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEcUAImFBT
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOUpCLuvQM
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUoTwzSj4b
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxE56CpHuli
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrC85Et4ona
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71i1O8wPK0
Just space. And answers.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERGdFkVLal
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlrNSgpPXGX
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrLehleCBA
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacJKh8Sghj
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfaStUJC9u
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4AsD0AOJa
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8c8EkjuwS
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBgX4WErK4
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMJ95mVPSQ
A figure.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLze9EKLWRq
Alone.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2H9Ww0dqb4
June tapped record.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyaN4kz7P5
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2agNkqTHWI
“He’s testing the tunnel.”47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVX7wqx4XAQ
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnQuJyU8c7
He turned right.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPokpN1ur8S
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrXP48vB4n
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8eLtOiVqJy
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9DIKc5jJx
None of them spoke.47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71iYYbfJUx
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkORU6xheu
"Follow Water to Truth."47Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmzJWe9pft
He did.
