“Water’s Path”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWzKY7eKgE
The grate groaned louder this time.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fpVwH9VtC
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DqNLULgkt
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cibLMJ1oy
Because he had.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ689mzB8xcH
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk5Qo2rfMxI
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivaHRACLgz
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3oacYCd5u
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlji8Bi3lU
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTUt2lRXMJ
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73dP7ppu8y
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTp2Mro8Tuf
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4fvNenqfB
They walked for seven more minutes.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDWdvpWsgj
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtuPuyUTTd
Jabari stopped.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQzlnXQKYa
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0Wq90v2nG
Jabari placed his hand against it.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgG3sKPKFeU
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhdnygOZYE
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGtMHivQUP
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8c82iTslv
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TvZcZ6kiE
They opened it.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfAbPkHVpJ
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwuBb6IlRt
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLo5sF4NaA
It was quiet. But not still.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2kUnFaF4w
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31qHrZWI44
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5i0NATRqpu
Jabari’s breath slowed.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wDVYZURMz
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIraWfbQ7Z
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8MclrTEf5
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUy2XdbKUP1
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrpPfRx9kD
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGyV03F19rB
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPJ0wsI6pHB
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyZDEOTrpk
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡimLjQxsKjk
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSk08GPSlD
He wasn’t meant to be there.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWmm1oZpdL
He hadn’t been invited.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLV2zsgwCGI
Hadn’t even been told.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuKxnrOFtqD
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjodXtJGJFG
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIEKYKCPJf
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEw5qNtDEGG
The tunnel.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRXUoJKdLO
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLlaWqFVVAF
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc230XtNCke
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9PRR5vLd8
Now it felt like betrayal.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMor6zdATOe
Crossing into the girls’ side?77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLthOcDAT8U
For what? Information? Or for someone?77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aRMVqtYFz
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?77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjySKYUszfB
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFuCEite5C
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXzjLwJJDyW
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUop1LNjlmM
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHLi9GXLks
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqZxyVMieWw
They never heard them coming.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmkbf3k8vC
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uQb8YFmwK
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkWSKJ0fGec
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHDB8rVlV7
Kerosene.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡer2qIuePmp
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBR7PMSij0z
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwe0Dx84vLo
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOnk1jvfG6
Small. Orange.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7VxV3YmwM
Then the flare lit.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiGmbtD6Is
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LuZf2Qrdl
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDI6G9hLd8d
Otieno dove back into the bend.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMOhSwLkTj
And then they heard it— A voice.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3f1RPzgROw
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBQT4zELjz
“You were warned.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUx3arxtBN3
The light died as quickly as it came.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5k4OQ3Z1a6
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:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFeR9ihwZD
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVk3tVH29t
Jabari said nothing for a long time.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodilZuPJmg
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFfnVcbPbg
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyo7zoXeuFd
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQuVx2TuQE
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkcht391Q9l
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiACmroyu4
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVWn6But5t
“Was that really necessary?”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzLfA2XOJe
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6uEjEvpz8c
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspsi2GYDR3
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAg5srVHEC
No hood. No bluff.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡck4JSUJE4O
Just him — tall, furious, silent.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwGosZjUgwV
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQR2qWVvbLj
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lCUuMxjfq
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9hatP1bQrT
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkTdvJCAUu
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4cENUcDPIF
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQJst76mdq
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiVZ5RcRdP
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnCr4oBOxl
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6JuxMnTNL
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2YzKLtcBR
Black. Crisp.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcv8EEhgKW
Stamped with a mark: M.O.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEGnMUgT3j
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSzeoJgtFNS
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnORFXTRVUH
Mercy’s initials.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeO28CgLnhJ
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWXddzyZGP
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsISN8tC6rd
Daring him to guess how deep this went.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgciyFfxka
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2aZGwOAkd
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsqGNdp2cpP
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡil3jst0mKq
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lkASLo6CI
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI62nB9fQOE
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iSLVrew4w
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGM0PwHYhN
Her initials. But not her handwriting.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoQbAqEKxy
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXR0kL8oScn
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6DUCBsxxH
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRT9jQZhwWO
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFi2O9XPK7l
Then it clicked.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBbspZraEu
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:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8G6NxTaiRt
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9Lv6MCNSi
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UWLLGrCGh
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQkWaegRP8
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIcLihI4yT
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3ffbloZtf
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVAArQw41b
And what she saw?77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyCiKmYvsij
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnQ3rzumgJ
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXi4dSKZhAN
Knowingly.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ881njop2hb
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12pohqk74r
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIN7LsuaWs
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1de07S5ej
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKbg1bsqKg
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.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Dnwk4BCfS
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3VkFh4M7H
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5yOnMw84h
77Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD3WgRgQrZ
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