June wasn’t a morning person.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzWx52cQ4l
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1nMgJBBV2
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQ6X8O1RiP
That’s when they saw it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFKuif2qGn
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWpePuCw5o
Mary stopped. “Is that… paint?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwCQa3hkhJ
June knelt beside it, heart thudding. “No. It’s ink.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98YuPNHcY5
They exchanged a look.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcb7b0mk8i
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXIdTYg94f
“She’s back,” Mary whispered.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zniYE9MsY
“She never left,” June replied.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HTVeciqPr
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0WmD1IMyG
Mary’s voice dropped. “You think she’s starting something again?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRtXLr5gnl9
June stood, jaw tightening. “No. She’s continuing something.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡry0JPNt3qi
The ink hadn’t been meant for teachers. It hadn’t even been meant for the Order.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDjv2oRIMO
It had been meant for someone who would recognize it without explanation.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvPQoqa4xp
That was the Mercy they remembered.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKx5NYCaEZ0
Unknown to them, a few meters away, Seline crouched behind the east-facing banana trees, watching.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDO1H3TU43A
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWORVjsy7J3
Her eyes narrowed as she saw the girls staring at the inked arc.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMUhpfQoqx
She couldn’t hear what they were saying. But she saw the shift in their stances.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7KyNmIi82
Saw the fear. The recognition.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcP9G5ocfCp
And she saw the way June instinctively placed herself between the mark and the morning sun—as if shielding it from exposure.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEG5JV3uEa
That was all Seline needed. She moved with quiet steps and a patient breath.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ25YxQcMaB
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGE9V0w8t0
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQkLyqpNou
Of course it was blue. Mercy’s old color. Mercy’s old tricks. Mercy’s old arrogance.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVeyijcfpm
Seline reached for her journalism club sanctioned phone, snapped a photo, and opened a blank message window.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvP9EyAk4VG
She didn’t write much.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPUpYI8E61
"The serpent returns."42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaQTmL1xi3
She didn’t sign it. She didn’t need to. She hit send.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5FM1ZIdDl
The recipient was someone who’d once told her: "Mercy doesn't leave trails. She leaves traps that look like invitations."42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRDYQqoVgB
Maybe it was time they set one of their own.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0HrE8J40J
Cutaway: Unknown Recipient (unseen, unnamed)42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfERX33ZktU
A buzz.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAR7Pgzpak
A photo.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NCzYmDu8i
A phrase:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8JGFWjEwz
“The serpent returns.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlJniRXQN6
A pair of fingers opened the image, zoomed in on the blue arc, the shadow of the borehole behind it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDY5Tt4jXP
A slow breath.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlDF75b2KP
No reply.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxb7yiNnxis
Just movement.
***42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNz7O4SjzNq
Later that day, Kim sat beneath the loquat tree in the back field, sketching the mark from memory.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25VfJk4LXN
Shiko had redrawn the same on her book. “June found it first. Mary confirmed it was Mercy’s shade.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDN6F3MJwTK
Kim nodded slowly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cukilHRUn
“I’ve seen that curve,” she murmured. “On a stone. The night the boys crossed.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6bWQzimoM
Shiko tilted her head. “You think it’s connected?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXsngQZFwEP
Kim didn’t answer. But her mind whispered the name she hadn’t said aloud in weeks: Juma.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBFnm9izuo
Whatever had passed between them—coded notes, fleeting messages, near-meetings—was now moving again. And it wasn’t just because of the Order.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡax36KjlBp8
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UTtWQCV16
“This,” she said, “is not art. And anyone found tampering with shared spaces will face full investigation.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6RQnYYo1L
Her voice dropped lower.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvqrlJxyxo
“This school is no longer for games.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOZ2ArXaVWG
But June, watching from the fourth row, wasn’t convinced. Because Mercy never played games. Mercy built puzzles.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0JNiypcR6
And this was her first piece.
*****42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2QAXMtTUi
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsURlUHfL5
“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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDep2gpsp8M
Mary leaned in. “You think it’s a pattern?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfyBlwWpSSY
“I think it’s a cipher.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3N9ElbB3y
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6UrOJyHrL
One matched the ink from the borehole exactly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZhFmvMVem
But only if rotated ninety degrees.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8dxVtCOS5W
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUmrebVUAqS
June slowly copied it onto the desk’s surface with a whiteboard marker.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDLBtaMNUn
F O L L O W W A T E R T O T R U T H42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGyCoMMEBA
Mary exhaled. “It’s a phrase.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMfzK498rp
“No, it’s a directive,” June said. “And Mercy never gave those lightly.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0je15KHzz
“Water…” Mary looked up. “The borehole?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qXKwdKHEl
June nodded. “And the old well. The pipes. The drains. All the places no one checks anymore.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLlvFhKht9
Mary frowned. “You think she left something there?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZLTib64vW
“I think she left everything there.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWjgDFzwzn
They both went quiet, the weight of it settling in like dusk.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXckbp0abC8
“We have to go in,” June said, voice quiet but firm.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMrAkYor23
Mary hesitated. “You mean… the tunnels?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEO67Ohapy
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.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdf0Re6XkpM
Mary nodded slowly. “Then we follow the water.”
*****42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGZ4RmcsCLJ
Kim almost missed it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSliX1NyzD
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZR5CJtSQBU
Then she heard the whisper.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBknPCI7aqe
A soft scratch beneath her window. Not loud. Not urgent. But intentional.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡliAuORjOfg
She rose slowly and crossed the room, brushing aside the curtain.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsWppFgomYl
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6bshu7QTN
Only three words in small, neat, familiar print.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbHOrfVUNa
“Jabari knows the underground route.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZfcQph1yh
Kim’s breath caught. Jabari.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoerhtqyQ5
The name pressed itself against her chest like a match waiting for flame. She unfolded the paper again, hands trembling slightly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh7TR5P1lD
That handwriting — not quite formal, but precise. The kind of print someone uses when they expect to be read by a rival.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAjyZcMnHZ
There was nothing else. No signature. No mark. No date. Just that line.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7JOuSWP09P
Her Mind Raced. Why her?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCY4L4pxMiZ
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUaMqSDHa7i
But still, she couldn’t help wondering: Was it a warning? Or an invitation?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWkODSIauc
And how did they even know she was connected to him?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClk2ca8CFn
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dpDY1aDBI
She thought about Mercy’s return, the blue ink curling around the borehole like a secret being rehydrated after years in hiding.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRF0bC0YqaZ
And now this.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDAc9CiBLnG
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn6rB4bnv1I
It was structure. Not chance. Not coincidence. Someone—or something—was maintaining communication across both schools. Not openly. Not loudly. But quietly. Elegantly.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cNNDwsdXB
Like a system of secrets. Like a network. Like the Order… or something deeper.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDYp4XXfiO
She looked at the note again, rereading it until her pulse steadied.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsZZ12roOl
“Jabari knows the underground route.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9mBOOeh6h
Which meant: Someone knew she was close enough to matter.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYY5vzomxY
“If he knows the way beneath the wall… maybe I can finally ask what’s on the other side.”
*****42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDofbZv1Ug
Shiko watched from the far pew, her breath shallow.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIOUXVBjZw
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMR3t0AreF
Two minutes. That’s all Shiko needed.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaUdYodbCp
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5V7ZJ0mvYB
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. 42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1e3omtT4iQ
Shiko’s pulse quickened. Seline never left that phone alone.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9u7jXHrWI
Not unless she was hiding something with it.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXP9AxpHqS
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHGTlCQpTo
Next: the phone. She slipped it gently from the bag and into the sleeve of her sweater.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcG2eCCazX
No one noticed.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfOKIOqtof
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvMLTtCZ6d
She slid the phone underneath the shelf and wedged it between two cracked Bibles. Gone.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6QUK3Keea
Just in time, the chapel doors opened.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyXJWOZtdl
Seline’s voice echoed in before her footsteps did.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbILHysCEm
“…it’s not about power, it’s about truth. And if they’re hiding anything—”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHPFSulruL
Shiko was already walking out the opposite side, face composed.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWX3QvDG3x
She didn’t look back.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiw2oWZOcTX
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?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQ6sWbrLX2
Her stomach turned. Seline hadn’t just been collecting for paranoia. She had a timeline. A target list. A strategy.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVZ2hV8pGI
Shiko leaned back and whispered to herself:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NGO5a0t35
“You’re not just bitter, Seline. You’re playing something bigger.”
*****42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTthwDYSGpR
Jabari didn’t bring anyone this time.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0B4zmE5SHb
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGq8pULirQZ
Just space. And answers.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMqRAokIcxx
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyPcaubc6k
He clicked on his torch and descended into the hollow.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuTh9vIQyA
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7nP6d5X21
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:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JFPSESyi2
A curved wing, almost erased. He paused. Not his symbol. Not the Order’s. But somehow… familiar.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJpYILGQvn
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.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rBCJpDl7D
Mary leaned close. “Can you zoom anymore?”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhYJkknNO7
The camera flickered slightly, just catching the dim flicker of light beyond the boys’ compound wall. A torch. Moving inside the drain channel.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCKX2w3LX9
A figure.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCuiRf7OJl
Alone.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhczFy5ef6
June tapped record.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlTIi3WBgtd
“That’s Jabari,” she whispered.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSvS7hOydP
“He’s testing the tunnel.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0dYL16kxR
Jabari reached a junction where the tunnel split in two — left toward the collapsed pump station, right toward the rumored passage.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUCLdWUOcj
He turned right.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgJin2st7fL
He didn’t know the wall had hairline fissures above ground. He didn’t know someone was filming.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3BGiIhmJw
High above in the broken arch of the greenhouse, three girls stood now — not just Mary and June.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsa1donoTQ4
One wore a hood. One held a small vial of ink. One, silent, recorded the time.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSODipXsJbs
None of them spoke.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx49UlA5heC
The light on Jabari’s torch flickered as he passed under a cross-beam marked:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydPUvcPYvt
"Follow Water to Truth."42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5pSNuPmeG
He did.
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