“Water’s Path”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt03jVOb3C1
The grate groaned louder this time.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRkvvS5k5I
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmfqxZajTT
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9hgHl3O3A
Because he had.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYY99Sqb2z
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLRhoRhbz3
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4VNWwWhZs
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ992dJq0Fln
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoLZCfmWvw
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskjBJAW73y
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJB9lP8CZqm
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHodvEurDZ
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4vOKavPW6
They walked for seven more minutes.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrOFRy9txE
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2PQ36stg6
Jabari stopped.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEkVvBIVZF
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLkxgwes9M
Jabari placed his hand against it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgIoBkZSUI
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWvwqJWWeh
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkBWmfZRJT
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJgIPcJG7Y
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZeQpa2l45s
They opened it.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82SYLqzkAn
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlj4X1bUNs
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJuSBuh9Cc
It was quiet. But not still.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWLsWo8DEG
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsn6ofQ6Af
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFBKM3wC7JS
Jabari’s breath slowed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IAh807glQ
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAW0PmVpPuf
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡML0bvZ05bE
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEsr6oo38O
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDGXoaECgO
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmZdqY6i7g
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6WtkGjicY
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8wYOxeC2v
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuPRkAdvhE
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0o2a6AeDT
He wasn’t meant to be there.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ofASrWgtq
He hadn’t been invited.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZlegQ7MsI
Hadn’t even been told.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJgiNLIvs8t
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Otooo9yxy
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCeIEAbTwO
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaCFenJelWY
The tunnel.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIofv99fhU
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEmCoIdD8G
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccyo2wItoG
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxyJleBLQg
Now it felt like betrayal.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDPp5VDQ7oZ
Crossing into the girls’ side?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9c1TmWavx
For what? Information? Or for someone?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6p29EnUGAD
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?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzeBrBHzSuP
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPXLiYIgxfU
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJaxvVRspU6
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkxqwnDrhM
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmPuCnrFA6
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NfkcTmebE
They never heard them coming.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsXUCkl3r7
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrGksU4Bob
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBNFVlxa9xH
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PZEXB8FbR
Kerosene.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQRwG1Jj7S
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhatV3tgV3P
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfT6KVtf59
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1j4hCx7GfR
Small. Orange.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlifDlgLl7
Then the flare lit.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrGOabdXgHR
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9k4jQC0Zu
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzu1PI410su
Otieno dove back into the bend.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJrc9rzz4U
And then they heard it— A voice.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcemxDgHf8
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyLcL4Grqo
“You were warned.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBYC6Itw1v
The light died as quickly as it came.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhYOA3sLQ9
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:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71wWFKYr0Z
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWdfYjtTFW
Jabari said nothing for a long time.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBE769jRMl
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPipP6Sv6hp
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTo2guvQcYq
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkntBvuS9wm
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eAMm3WnjD
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiv33Ima6J
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0e1bTwD9sk
“Was that really necessary?”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFfLRx0jJs
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfRCqlRxaGn
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINYDxWCXIU
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsM3yyaqcW
No hood. No bluff.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlPleElL8j
Just him — tall, furious, silent.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6E8v9iZH3b
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrYw9gNv1M
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw3FPqdbU4L
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG32e5AmOc
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCuDsYQZU2
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssaGZub8jY
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRczoZjcbXq
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqZ3i1UfJU
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7enuLaRAb
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2TMEWZ4d9
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaGdNfxEhK
Black. Crisp.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuD5N9aipDO
Stamped with a mark: M.O.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBXho30fKs9
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEFznZQ3sl
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8aodQ1ij3O
Mercy’s initials.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YscODvArW
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRpBuDWkUg
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cjFshqc7R
Daring him to guess how deep this went.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgaZ0FcVvI
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDIcnkFRyJ
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1bhgsZ6yF
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0hlT1eJRx
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv8AN4JsPlB
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bzmnETVbA
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMufg9Z0qK9
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTqfOxoSjC
Her initials. But not her handwriting.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SU5Iu1NdC
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXIy2n4zb6
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroxd2A7IT9
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX9x72SpzG
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZNyr5p97o
Then it clicked.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV4GSfvXc7
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:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1K05H6xhnv
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFnRfCNNVW
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDuP23TAmH
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMpMLBmBeC
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ96ssyrtJn
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JZmYaE4OE
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70WqDq9rVc
And what she saw?28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NoGOrZWXv
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHyLn6X8Gj
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0GYFC34Fa
Knowingly.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt98IuHCvAp
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlPoutUL1u
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8d34SntVw
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYc5mOApGd4
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkuHzFezYmg
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.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdDJqEbJbl
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5zXZ70VCk
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDGxI3eYDR
28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5D4SPiU2xO
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