“Water’s Path”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OnuBxLqFg
The grate groaned louder this time.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSaP1A5BKN
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02erftSHDp
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUsEkSlRSM
Because he had.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWz7Cln8k8x
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFM9MakjI1
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3prSBXD3H
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLMg0KemD8
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmk5Jaqdqk1
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WljyvPevF
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAKZE6e7uK
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7TaIJkAOj
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclGhZJR2hT
They walked for seven more minutes.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkeiquAPEf
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsPwQcsZAz
Jabari stopped.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnc9c5jrmGF
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQw3gVADdi
Jabari placed his hand against it.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDt1rcJ6hoE
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa2oZntSHcm
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOD8IRAyqp
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJJ4vBDUHU
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjcqStr2Zug
They opened it.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0W8WWsuft
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZF4cD5nh1
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4RHtxDe3t
It was quiet. But not still.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIW8MGhpVGw
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNcLfOGynf
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhtOGAsxie
Jabari’s breath slowed.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyPviCnO5jc
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklnJ5uTgUy
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAn55avWfCd
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOxCFaSWqK
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9leUoLfAnQ
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwLy21xmxU
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUsoQTW37O
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnEt7KSpPh
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVI3jhUdYt3
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdoeBCk6NjW
He wasn’t meant to be there.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLbIfaZCf6
He hadn’t been invited.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRROcRrWxQh
Hadn’t even been told.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsG9iVoXdf
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxd0Xy4xPj
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKJ2h5pBvk
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXSXExgd89s
The tunnel.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxL0itsWjc
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0GTeCSw66
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibQpMKl37z
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyF9YB9xpTl
Now it felt like betrayal.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqVV3fDZBG
Crossing into the girls’ side?38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUXlHB38S5u
For what? Information? Or for someone?38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCWmWUGzIW
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?38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4vSTaf3Mn
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20AHS6rhfS
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvNh0m19AX
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvdqd4UqdV
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QT3ZzZIJW
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AvigC7MNt
They never heard them coming.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2n7wfmUyf4
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1wsJfyqrO
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hqpSXiUVd
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXkSWB6HQr
Kerosene.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FkeDTsXOH
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFHZ1tWuH3
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIjXqIqM5I
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGMoj3MPEj
Small. Orange.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTBVyfwgSZ
Then the flare lit.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89YpATHQUi
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmKEIJwPF0
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoS4SylWuvc
Otieno dove back into the bend.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBQJknDBZT
And then they heard it— A voice.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLq0wtjzOH9
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzfJOTDtFb
“You were warned.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHZqgg2rit
The light died as quickly as it came.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27aIRqGeSK
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:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZTFXWMu0k
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhg6hNb1nl
Jabari said nothing for a long time.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7O5Rn0pAL
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtgcl7w7KU
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnH3o5Bxue
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡah1RRx5Vd2
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRymQmpbI5
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWeuNmTNar
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPxFltLNMz
“Was that really necessary?”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQQT3UQ49w
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS503J7h44B
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCVCanxA3C
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4EeFw8ePZ
No hood. No bluff.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqMKATiXAU
Just him — tall, furious, silent.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfP2LBT4pwD
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvisQXtVIYX
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wG1uZ7tCL
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyASOR49onm
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1LWJQ5d9N
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnzOJB3CMb
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMCg0mvZEv
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCakz8yutsQ
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuFcLo5TDIG
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISmx54xt1E
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEgXpKm71c
Black. Crisp.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbiIYHgiPVF
Stamped with a mark: M.O.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWHFpMkUjq4
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpG8ZYjWANB
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xKxdNRRC0
Mercy’s initials.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJE8vXeTt5
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKzUYbbgyJ
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0fIYx659V
Daring him to guess how deep this went.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphJbVHAoQk
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDZMVfRinW
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlN9z7xh2ls
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EWoQOdQ63
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0pCeclH7B
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCblPu9SB4
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTsrdZEzVki
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOdZG7lVPE
Her initials. But not her handwriting.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAChr6ndXq
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgb04nEoWXW
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZYbQjaskGp
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUGnHXVWcfH
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLlK2GIzE6
Then it clicked.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMGfELDokb
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:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mHxsXmCcX
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8g2pMFjSM
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoTrRUBmbk
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhZGiWmLw5
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ybIysQGpM
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6R39b64YL
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQ47bbSfrc
And what she saw?38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9YEgkjRAG
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicyy0e1Skx
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpRpN1jcbU
Knowingly.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu9WC97UYe1
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSV29n4c59
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA50zSebDx5
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjHdl2t1zU
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOg9iq0aGC
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.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PftYq2haF
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRDKer0iCV
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡseCJd0DC5k
38Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cl6xryAHB
and then Add to home screen.