The science lab hadn’t been officially used in months — the windows were cracked, the wiring unstable, and the door only locked from the inside. Which made it perfect.87Please respect copyright.PENANATuj82XiNQN
Mary adjusted the lens on the UV lamp, flicking the toggle back and forth until the bulb buzzed to life with a dull purple glow.87Please respect copyright.PENANAN24COoeUcE
She spread the black card across the dissection tray — the one Mercy had retrieved from the chapel and handed over without explanation.87Please respect copyright.PENANAbNb9a1zDxs
“You know how to look,” Mercy had whispered. “So look.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAmaG6egdgEq
So Mary did. At first, nothing.87Please respect copyright.PENANA7Q9vpo8QDR
Then the ink shifted — faint glowing threads emerging beneath the card’s surface. The lines curled, widened, and gradually began to form structure.87Please respect copyright.PENANAlOIlYHN4E3
It wasn’t art. It was architecture.87Please respect copyright.PENANAv2iGesMDeh
A floor plan. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAxJUOPSVPve
June leaned in over her shoulder. “That’s not just the chapel…”87Please respect copyright.PENANA98DCf0YlKx
Mary nodded. “That’s the tunnel system.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAliCDc2WQuy
The map showed multiple levels: A narrow tunnel from the borehole curving beneath the dining wing. Level two: The greenhouse access route — confirmed. Level three: A set of interlocking service paths ending in a room marked by a circle and the letters:87Please respect copyright.PENANAdCFnbjjktq
C.9 – Cryptus Sacrum.87Please respect copyright.PENANAlgIiEikDiI
Mary’s breath caught.87Please respect copyright.PENANAMAWuwyk1Wc
“The chapel has a crypt,” she whispered.87Please respect copyright.PENANA2HNKrWXlHL
June’s eyes narrowed. “No one’s spoken about that since Mercy’s expulsion.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAQCIS9wnZ4D
“No one dared,” Mary replied.87Please respect copyright.PENANAYzyZ2npsZ4
In the bottom left corner of the blueprint, another glow began to rise beneath the UV:87Please respect copyright.PENANAqwTq2jpxAS
“Begin from what you buried.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAthPVdNWqsI
— M.O.87Please respect copyright.PENANAGkBTmeoppT
June stepped back slightly. “She’s not just reactivating the tunnels. She’s trying to pull us back in.”87Please respect copyright.PENANALvtpM3Pi6L
Mary nodded slowly. “Or she never left.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAaTE9BaJY6v
For the first time in weeks, June didn’t know which side she was on.87Please respect copyright.PENANAJL3cXi1m9T
Naomi had restored her badge. Reinforced their place in the Order. Offered peace. But what Mercy offered now was truth. Not orderly. Not safe. But real.87Please respect copyright.PENANA4V9jHODBwB
And June had always preferred sharp things to dull ones.87Please respect copyright.PENANAWWgIEi3AAO
She looked at Mary, who was still tracing the lines of the blueprint with a gloved fingertip.87Please respect copyright.PENANAwp0VQcHVFO
“If that’s real,” June whispered, “then we’ve never actually been above ground.”
*****87Please respect copyright.PENANAdeydfyaYnS
Kim didn’t look up when June sat down beside her.87Please respect copyright.PENANAjws3EUXF00
The bench under the jacaranda had become her quiet spot — the only place where questions didn’t buzz in her ears. The petals drifted down like soft ink, blanketing her shoulder, the pages of her notebook, even the edges of her thoughts.87Please respect copyright.PENANARutBdB2l2P
June broke the silence.87Please respect copyright.PENANAPG5WYSXfvI
“You were right about her.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAOAS9EaQxa5
Kim turned. “Mercy?”87Please respect copyright.PENANAHjDSZ45MoB
June nodded; her voice taut. “She doesn’t want power back. She wants the Order buried.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAGqRGufIsIx
Kim closed her notebook slowly. “What did you find?”87Please respect copyright.PENANAjnMZbErv6f
June didn’t answer at first. She reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out a slip of folded paper — not the blueprint itself, but a tracing she’d made in secret, away from Mary, away from Naomi. On it: the outline of the chapel. And beneath it — the crypt, marked in Mercy’s faint symbol: M.O., crossed by three vertical lines.87Please respect copyright.PENANAI1QuJC2x97
“Three verticals,” June whispered. “Three prefects. Mercy’s way of marking a trap.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAXnjzZcOrEF
Kim stared. “You’re sure?”87Please respect copyright.PENANA54ZCEqjUOD
“Dead sure. She means to draw them there. Naomi, the others. And seal it. Not physically — symbolically. Shame them. Expose what they covered up about the tunnels, the Walkers, her expulsion. All of it.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAQv1sRvFI52
Kim traced one of the drawn lines with her finger.87Please respect copyright.PENANAjVhsCzV3iW
“She’s not exposing history,” she said slowly. “She’s rewriting it.”87Please respect copyright.PENANARu1Z4B3KP2
June leaned forward.87Please respect copyright.PENANAsrNRkMC9Vx
“You’re not in the Order. You’re not on anyone’s side. But you’ve seen more than most — and you don’t scare easy.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA4wYYBGUEVB
Kim gave a small, tired laugh. “You sound like Shiko.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAuEQ2Em5LMD
“No. Shiko’s a scout. You’re a witness.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAmt6LGRpyiv
June paused, then added softly:87Please respect copyright.PENANALWefsUrViS
“I don’t want to be part of burying people. Not even Naomi.”
They sat in silence for a moment, petals collecting like snow.87Please respect copyright.PENANAs8ZFViHuSk
Then Kim asked, “What do you want me to do?”87Please respect copyright.PENANAMAVk95NHkV
June looked up. Her voice was quieter now. Less prefect. More person.87Please respect copyright.PENANAIPZ3rAu6mH
“If anything happens in the crypt... if I can’t stop it... you tell the others. Shiko. Seline. Even Jabari, if you have to.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAGk8N8RCn84
Kim stared at her. “That could expose you.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAe8KD2gcCgl
June nodded once.87Please respect copyright.PENANAGAaziJdSpC
“Better me than them.”
*****87Please respect copyright.PENANAtdsXxYUubp
The corridor was nearly empty when Seline appeared.87Please respect copyright.PENANA1hlndGHmeN
She didn’t slam her locker or call Kim’s name. She just stood there, leaning against the doorway like someone who had waited long enough for the exact moment to arrive.87Please respect copyright.PENANAGJlwEwa4e7
“You’ve been busy.”87Please respect copyright.PENANASR1OAYORGD
Kim turned slowly, not startled — just tired.87Please respect copyright.PENANAWC7acxLLib
“So have you.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAwP3abJe2Br
Seline’s eyes were cold, but not cruel.87Please respect copyright.PENANAeeGHm8ZZQO
“Let’s skip the pretend part.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAYqyQUh5YMo
Kim raised an eyebrow. “Which part?”87Please respect copyright.PENANA7J9DQuxFqx
“The part where you pretend, you’re not helping Mercy. Or June. Or whoever it is this week.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAXhc903g5Q0
Kim closed her locker slowly. “I’m not helping anyone. I’m trying to understand what’s happening.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA7w9tHrs17T
“That’s exactly what makes you useful.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAzETqdSLsYz
Seline stepped closer, her voice low and measured.87Please respect copyright.PENANARRc8tughsc
“Help me expose Mercy before this thing in the chapel happens — and I’ll show you something.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAAYblKTKXOW
Kim didn’t move. “Something about Juma.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA46boCiovie
That stopped her.87Please respect copyright.PENANAMgAvm29EGr
“Juma?” she said, sharper than she meant.87Please respect copyright.PENANA5p0N0j91x0
Seline nodded. “Something you’ve clearly been dancing around since last term. Don’t look so surprised, Kim. You don’t hide infatuation well.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAAnd9ejFWBq
Kim crossed her arms. “And you just happened to be saving this for a rainy day?”87Please respect copyright.PENANAqkhh3AUvhQ
“No. I was saving it for the right pressure point.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAIBOKTlszai
Seline reached into her sweater pocket and tapped a folded sheet. Thick. A printout? A photo?87Please respect copyright.PENANA2bgvWSNgOH
“You help me shut this down — expose Mercy, burn the tunnels, force Naomi to act — and you’ll get the truth about what Juma’s really doing when he says he’s ‘off-grid.’”87Please respect copyright.PENANAc74RAF9QZq
The corridor felt suddenly colder. Kim stared at the folded paper, then at Seline’s face. Not smug. Not even manipulative. Just… determined.87Please respect copyright.PENANAzEdKKWxRJ6
Like a girl who had once been close to Mercy. Like a girl who knew betrayal personally — and intended to weaponize it back.87Please respect copyright.PENANAWkFzymPA0x
“You don’t even care about Naomi,” Kim said.87Please respect copyright.PENANAZQcAHHtW8r
Seline’s voice softened. “I care about not being erased.”87Please respect copyright.PENANApGpPAhsRnJ
When Kim returned to her desk in the class, there was another mystery to follow waiting up on her.87Please respect copyright.PENANA1xagPCF20y
There was no envelope.87Please respect copyright.PENANA7sQg9ZfqGC
Just a folded note, slipped between the spine of Kim’s literature textbook and the dusty edge of her locker wall.87Please respect copyright.PENANAeCqMaD2AXf
She knew it was Shiko’s. The paper was squared at the corners. Neat. Dry. No handwriting on the outside. Just careful silence.87Please respect copyright.PENANAdGZEkiyU1Q
Inside, a short message:87Please respect copyright.PENANAqLbco4LGFg
“Meet at Science Week’s midnight demonstration. No one else. No delay.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAK2vwGpSsP5
— S87Please respect copyright.PENANAnTrSTiTHIk
Kim stared at the paper, rereading the curves in the "S" — round and sharp in the way only Shiko's handwriting ever was.87Please respect copyright.PENANAwJZ6fi4fgt
She folded it twice and slipped it into her sock.87Please respect copyright.PENANAmiwGlWwBos
Outside, thunder rolled low and slow across the lake.87Please respect copyright.PENANALrHccOHVoV
If Seline was a warning... Shiko was a reminder:87Please respect copyright.PENANAAJDtiEFiUa
She wasn’t alone.
*****87Please respect copyright.PENANAmA0jxTZ3V1
Naomi’s heels echoed unnaturally down the corridor.87Please respect copyright.PENANA2xKuX56LRD
She didn’t bark orders. She never had to.87Please respect copyright.PENANAOZ0LkneaPu
Two junior prefects flanked her, carrying empty crates. She stopped at the lab entrance and waited until the girls looked up from the bench.87Please respect copyright.PENANAKP9P9vRoyO
“New directive from the principal,” Naomi said evenly. “All ultraviolet lighting equipment is to be removed from the lab facilities effective immediately.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAFscUFfXZUk
Mary blinked. “Why?”87Please respect copyright.PENANAC3BopwEPcT
Naomi held up the clipboard. “Cited: potential risk of chemical interactions. Some of these lamps are over a decade old. Filaments cracking. Possible mercury leaks.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAlNez1wfPYN
June stepped forward. “That’s never been a concern before.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAzp4wXUxX4Y
Naomi raised an eyebrow. “Well, it is now.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA8ZI4iMJHJd
As the juniors moved through the cupboards, one lifting the dusty UV lamp from the back shelf, Mary and June exchanged a look.87Please respect copyright.PENANAJZONXmZHMD
This wasn’t about safety. This was about control.87Please respect copyright.PENANAJYfjou7tIJ
Naomi didn’t glance at the blueprint folder tucked beneath Mary’s stack of textbooks — but her silence was surgical. Her eyes landed on it. Briefly. Knowing.87Please respect copyright.PENANAoroDm3Wb1u
Then she turned to go.87Please respect copyright.PENANACjnD7r4Qtn
“If you need light,” she said over her shoulder, “try daylight.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAOZ9K7KZrzI
The door clicked shut behind her.87Please respect copyright.PENANA1nl0fgfBg0
Mary’s fingers dug into the edge of the desk.87Please respect copyright.PENANASbMit4kUB7
“She knows,” she whispered.87Please respect copyright.PENANAFeUlS3FJhR
June stared at the door. “She doesn’t know everything.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAOPJ4U4yyc9
Mary hesitated. “Should we tell Kim?”87Please respect copyright.PENANAAbM79UBNOK
June exhaled.87Please respect copyright.PENANAKevZ0iRWN3
“No. Not yet. Not until we find the crypt entrance ourselves.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAjiCDlBKiik
She picked up the blueprint sketch, gently smoothed the corner, and whispered under her breath:87Please respect copyright.PENANAMY2rkYwOPx
“We don't need light. We need memory.”
******87Please respect copyright.PENANAlbqydtWQwr
Juma paced just outside the back stage canopy, fists in his jacket pockets. He could feel Jabari before he saw him.87Please respect copyright.PENANAu62R7LXo3I
“You’re late,” Juma muttered.87Please respect copyright.PENANA1338taxh5W
“You followed me,” Jabari replied calmly.87Please respect copyright.PENANAoKsf3YyFaj
Juma stepped forward. “You’re walking into a trap. Mercy isn’t just planting symbols — she’s turning them into a net. And Naomi doesn’t see it.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAtWpjcSDCaC
Jabari’s voice was cold. “Neither did you, until you saw the card.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAHDdCcoKGIy
Juma’s jaw clenched. “This isn’t about who saw what first. It’s about stopping a collapse. Tonight. In the chapel.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAY3QAPIYVLG
Jabari finally turned, locking eyes.87Please respect copyright.PENANAb12LvoJkZp
“Then let’s collapse it before she does.”
Beneath the science wing on the girls’ side, Kim and Shiko crouched behind the old reagent shed.87Please respect copyright.PENANARpS4Sm0pMn
Shiko passed her the flashlight. “If the crypt’s real, it has to open from somewhere near the annex sub-basement. The original plans placed the drain gate there.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA9OC6eCVcIB
Kim stared at her. “You sound like you’ve been practicing this.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA1a9jWmHLS9
Shiko gave a faint grin. “You’re not the only one who gets notes.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAENEX08QEXN
Kim unfolded hers again: “Midnight. Come quiet.”87Please respect copyright.PENANAUCXrV64dWu
There had been no signature — but the direction had been clear. The trap wasn’t just Mercy’s.87Please respect copyright.PENANAsFGEweP7ww
Someone was planning to stop it.87Please respect copyright.PENANACCtzSMHLsb
They were just making sure someone else survived it.87Please respect copyright.PENANAjjHW56yorM
At 12:06 a.m., while students at the science demo lit hydrogen bubbles and experimented with heat coils, four shadows moved in four separate arcs: Jabari and Juma, slipping behind the stage, through the external water tank corridor. Kim and Shiko, looping behind the incinerator shed toward the chapel annex. Mercy, already beneath the chapel, lighting her candle, placing the final lock in the metal gate.87Please respect copyright.PENANA3G1A5D10yo
And somewhere else — Seline, watching from above the science dome, her eyes flickering with a phone she shouldn’t have had.87Please respect copyright.PENANAJJ84WyZM4w
Jabari reached the tunnel grate first.87Please respect copyright.PENANAPRwhFt68gI
Juma slipped beside him, passing the folded metal rod they’d stashed days ago. Together, for once, they said nothing.87Please respect copyright.PENANALdmqn2VonA
Inside the tunnel — faint blue paint glowed at the seams.87Please respect copyright.PENANAlKOFVvocU0
The glyph for “complete.”87Please respect copyright.PENANA3fK6HTgthg
Mercy had finished the sequence.87Please respect copyright.PENANAYwzSedosmU
On the girls’ side, Kim reached into the drain gate.87Please respect copyright.PENANA1d0SGCM1xy
Shiko crouched beside her, prying open a rusted latch.87Please respect copyright.PENANAcHFN6Kr45b
Below them, the faint sound of a click echoed.87Please respect copyright.PENANAnk9fDc40Fe
A door opened.