“Water’s Path”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYuvgCu6pW
The grate groaned louder this time.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlYIqXy6Y2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiii83e8k4
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ313OVjnqQ
Because he had.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6R8ytE51WB
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnW1B3rJBI
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG06lCx3FhL
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSFYMXV1SF
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpyTgEefVlr
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyI5eX5rPCz
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtP3gnMM0ao
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvXCQY7y20
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5p9NavNCb3
They walked for seven more minutes.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDnwEcKu6Z
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCqs0cWPhQ4
Jabari stopped.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGev22yLL3Y
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0RwJC76t2
Jabari placed his hand against it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1ymEH5aiS
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwszHu3OPp2
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiE15tzbepH
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm2DxJpxEz
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2s94ksbbX
They opened it.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpLhK2CPMw
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnysTqwAhSM
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyo24W5XyFr
It was quiet. But not still.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHY7TE04CW4
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nxZUa9szE
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVd7WdaHdRW
Jabari’s breath slowed.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfIeILa5Bp
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNXcWs9HCA
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvixStNJ9zr
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQr3qVucHzA
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE4zmyJHe3
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoTvLNLXXc
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnkQO5pWNd
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESo9EC3pr2
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPzzSHuXQq
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7coBH5VhPo
He wasn’t meant to be there.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ998ez6CHJi
He hadn’t been invited.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQGJ8I2mdp
Hadn’t even been told.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvAzGalhyM
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdXRDroy60
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBr9igRJ02D
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PNRICRYjF
The tunnel.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OxNV04m6H
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzEsIC3Qa7i
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedcI7vX0sP
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsazrtzC5Z
Now it felt like betrayal.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg76tewBatE
Crossing into the girls’ side?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfTxPAPis5
For what? Information? Or for someone?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRlp430TG8
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFIpBzOgIix
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyBi6qTXvA
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSEsXCfnTD
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HH9ot0sft
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmz1CHKCCY
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMERMRyks4R
They never heard them coming.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ811t7gP8ky
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62yfamrOFC
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hUkTUqBuK
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7r2dMVt27h
Kerosene.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8g4fXbqVDw
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzk8LYBXpN
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk2bdKM2rVv
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmvzLkTrJp
Small. Orange.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRs6jzHO6tz
Then the flare lit.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEvE4wZZtiX
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPG6sC4nbel
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aTAZtyXn6
Otieno dove back into the bend.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8FMaHLRii
And then they heard it— A voice.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdnRIL5jZG
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV3nGOBEtbo
“You were warned.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFOd8Pc6SL
The light died as quickly as it came.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSGVhk3WOf
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGis71MPMv
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBNhdiIY96
Jabari said nothing for a long time.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaK1tbWWsM
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4d5adXBGg
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKDdJQpzWB
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGSiAsW6uL
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI41QnsadJU
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGsqzdCibh
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BctKTgdA4
“Was that really necessary?”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcP8i0SGls
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxrxOdkMcq
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBG2mgPMAjE
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5oGmZZy50
No hood. No bluff.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXg1r3P7iM
Just him — tall, furious, silent.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkr0cK6oDza
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrFuRdynPto
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvLeaRfYf5
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXYCdMEhst
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5O6rkCYQx
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uOtJGlMlL
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgR5OqnKSJ
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatPghYFkM7
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCJisIEVvY
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuD9JkbyCWT
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡalOoyULSOK
Black. Crisp.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBdQKv6hT2
Stamped with a mark: M.O.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSox2zb0zYa
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAUBVDkLEY
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Bi3J8yh3h
Mercy’s initials.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1Uh2g6iII
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cP0MpcENv
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQR8kCR6tNE
Daring him to guess how deep this went.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtn9nCzJyRh
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoq3qu0W9T
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmZE8SUf4X
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DVfw1CMlF
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVCGzkecAr
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxvvvuOJXa
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSnvgFyK3z
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡheQ2OUb2AH
Her initials. But not her handwriting.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Fe6tIeIkS
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnf1prqFfeL
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrM3uJIPes
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaaO468RMM
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42NajOietw
Then it clicked.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVR7RQb9kM
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtvURUv5Rk
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyNxCkbeVZ
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXObK1wOWcv
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5dIHcQLqI
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HhDP2tuYF
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAicpEnH2P6
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8hiiN5spT
And what she saw?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDdNW0I3MR
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgrUJkFP5g
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsrkhS61H2
Knowingly.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPuLLIbu48
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQca9CIGpE2
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN28HiY185Q
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7RVIbVUqa
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB33X0PCkDS
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.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YQtCAyP5o
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDj7uOufHZ
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZ1BKAOjUO
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHWj1excgg
