June wasn’t a morning person.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCllEqyaVN3
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4w7u7FjI9
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzh7yGwEON5
That’s when they saw it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24deqqCBCV
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMDOAYkA9X
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2m1c8J9bkd
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwbsONJysx2
They exchanged a look.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAkAr0ZtS2
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡob8BVThIrw
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FUiqRUaia
“She never left,” June replied.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡux0t06w5XT
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfBdWVutYZ
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6CG0bATUZc
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSzoimuSUP
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGIfyEsNLI
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqxKQNqYEl
That was the Mercy they remembered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxmrVyMNiJ
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuPle9Rvyg
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3vYylXSyS0
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgoq4taCKV
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOY25Wr6k0
Saw the fear. The recognition.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtxI5EklxE
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAZYUoQsZJ
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2s8Wr9BgqD
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70HZo56ppX
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcqazIoLsf
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmWavsAWP5
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazrPNBveqf
She didn’t write much.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTprm7G4rVI
"The serpent returns."28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ46otLxLvon
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38iMJeAqqf
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYHrnpAnzm
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNS6bp6P0I
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQO92MJVxJL
A buzz.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXEGlY7mGf
A photo.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LqzwKYXxm
A phrase:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFuygveI0U
“The serpent returns.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zw0ESsBAu
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmN0LWmSpGX
A slow breath.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jZ4WMEDxj
No reply.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnKPJBadwBL
Just movement.
***28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxt7sUQ1Xp8
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbTwkWXt52
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYvCF0yFgCg
Kim nodded slowly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwmmJnJP2j
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlECAog0aiz
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyV2iRKifAC
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tvbZPAfFd
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxv1CBRI47U
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVvs1f36c5
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6iwNQueFI
Her voice dropped lower.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUhFfnm50I
“This school is no longer for games.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqFcv47j8v
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHjs03fPGY
And this was her first piece.
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsKTumGFbf
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMXt1aIPAe
“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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CFrlgOb1O
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhFYAdyxjM
“I think it’s a cipher.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ozS2HnPtL
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsN6YZvkS8
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrr6RTWx9Y9
But only if rotated ninety degrees.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5ylT370SV
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4zJIYJdSTZ
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrMZSUe3GR
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKqRuiEEzt
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyM3YmjTrf
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbUQxOVKNm0
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpX6eJIc6O
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR10zv3bpbS
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtBQBY8ZVM
“I think she left everything there.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdLM2zIyeT
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfEQrSSr1x
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr0MisZmM5
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0MQIZAWh9j
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.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW4L5YlOkiz
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE4XsF5wu3V
Kim almost missed it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvctilBu3ZL
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm2X3gkDnbC
Then she heard the whisper.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpnwpBhwq9
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQQ1yzgenq
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzHtcXzoLl
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1in1TYblB
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsXYygjuJ3j
“Jabari knows the underground route.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3H5A6P9uT
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzejDWINIk
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXvKrJQhvH
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfS4fFSegoQ
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPq7tUEsyeX
Her Mind Raced. Why her?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsRSjDVs3Nt
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3y1jsL1k48
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaGZ5paJRr
And how did they even know she was connected to him?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4ruhDW3Nj
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJ3k4hzAD3
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFlL5o7mTs
And now this.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyv4zpUFRZt
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPEHGYSR5I
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWfclDQWki
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLN6bMyYzsN
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0GgTdPm66
“Jabari knows the underground route.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiluUK7osA
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhU6EFLo58
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVteeyRdbO
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFe4TSfJS1w
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFS5NiZ3vPQ
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XK96IjdXX
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljSNMtlLvz
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. 28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrUMAkZqIb
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNfH0xYjacX
Not unless she was hiding something with it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMeWtStKsV2
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkEfahzNEJ
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzWL9Jiu8Z
No one noticed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94kqBp2lIy
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqMPRQCooY
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrff1i4EQG
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lhpRvJEpD
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMKXmuBcJE
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5AkMu0Dr0
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFZ3JXipE4
She didn’t look back.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡreVTeSJLH3
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?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1byDkeMG6
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwozdFQgCFu
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOhEUl8q7l
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡldgwNXuYoa
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr2YLLrhTAT
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsL0mvMm0hO
Just space. And answers.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uBNaMsTci
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYlCkEjHf3
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdtHZnUfKU
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsnASeLui3
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:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZAs6Uy4Gd
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcPAXuyAFY
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OA6BAbXFn
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S6w9sptXz
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkxmb25pWU
A figure.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr922dXXNP6
Alone.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOq9tSFe0f
June tapped record.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizdEY4OiS5
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHkzqpRBjZ
“He’s testing the tunnel.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNl4wbXHzX
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsJLEoQa01
He turned right.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5Dz4YMT4b
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jbqJU3yXM
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSc1Btdk96
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPch3e03FdE
None of them spoke.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqdEEM0vWh9
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yTsNHspFx
"Follow Water to Truth."28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9UxDq2D8F
He did.
然後按「加至主畫面」