The quad glittered in moonlight and kerosene halos. Stalls shimmered under makeshift LEDs. Tinny speakers blared distorted jazz as projectors looped grainy experiments on white bedsheets.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn1Hlx2bZw
Juma hated this kind of show — too bright, too scripted. But it made for the perfect cover.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRjfEBsZLB
“Everyone’s looking up,” he whispered.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Tr1YUevOU
“No one sees what we’re pinning to their legs.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0yNDuQk6F
Jabari didn’t smile.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IYxPvJYW9
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rolled poster, smooth and stiff. Thick matte ink on thick gray stock.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrRFLmEj70y
ORDER OVER INSURRECTION98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG533c0tfAJ
A white wing over a fractured flame.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ04kEsJd3n7
They walked slowly, calmly — like any two team leads reviewing tech projects. But every ten steps, they pinned a new poster to the underside of a demo tent. To a light pole. To the back of a wooden bench.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3LHMgUzML
Four in total. No more. Enough to seed rumor, not provoke response.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2zO2uoPlo
They weren’t messages for students.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzPTr6zlMo
They were warnings for the Shadow Walkers. The fractured flame was Mercy’s old signal — twisted now. The white wing was the Order’s ghost — not yet dead.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjRrRHfpaJj
Juma stuck the last one behind the water distillation tent, where he knew Ayo used to scout during Fire Theory projects. Jabari paused beside the herb garden exhibit and looked around at the swirling bodies of boys and girls in scattered uniforms.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XXBvxnwag
He whispered:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cL0dU4dYj
“She wanted an audience. Let’s give her one.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQ1QWH5h1Q
Behind the hydroponics dome, a girl in Kisumu Girls' tracksuit lowered her phone quietly. Her name wasn’t known to either of them.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlJ2N58uEh
But the notification she sent was clear:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffNic9uabn
“The birds are flying banners again. Mercy will see.”
*****98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9irmg01Uh
The crypt door had always been heavy — metal, groaning, older than the last three headteachers combined. But now it swung easily on oiled hinges — prepped, ready, hungry.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLteLaRjaQ
Inside, Jabari and Juma moved fast, pushing through ankle-deep water that had begun pooling around the eastern wall.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJC6578X2J
“This isn't just a chamber,” Juma snapped. “It’s a channel.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIV8SAn6JW
Jabari knelt, ran his fingers across the grooves in the floor. “It connects to the borehole line. It was always part of the filtration system — just repurposed.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzE2CT5oH9
Repurposed by whom?98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVdAiBjLKh
By Mercy.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndLS94AMF2
Atop the hidden stairway, two girls in Kisumu Girls’ jackets stood in silence.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzuLKR2XTA
One wore Mercy’s old prefect sash — though no one had given it to her.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFnohCxJ2G
The other held the key.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbZkHYKyRV
She waited exactly until her watch ticked to 12:17 a.m.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVK3Hck3eL
Then she slid the bolt home and turned it once.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPyMMr2XbN
Click.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYqWNEw5Dx
The girls didn’t laugh. Didn’t speak.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SJMMNugE1
They simply walked away.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHGF1x8BQr
Jabari’s light flickered.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJkS6KY0TO
He and Juma reached the far side — a rusted metal ladder leading up toward the chapel’s north vestibule — welded shut from above.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuce5S891N
“She locked us in,” Jabari said.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2LQD8UOvr
Juma stared at the water now reaching his shins. “That’s not the problem.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Nf1q0dZiu
The sound came next — not fast, not crashing.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYaYak0ysm
A slow gurgle. A hiss.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0cgmExWnhD
Then the unmistakable suction of redirected flow.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbfbLOnPma
Juma turned to Jabari.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDCTYnrWNq
“She's opened the borehole line.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcL0l1GgZP6
And sure enough, behind the sealed hatch, where the borehole channel fed under the school… the grate now trembled.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2HSZ96l7m
Then the water began to rise.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0owsyjC5CP
From the high choir loft, Mercy stood silent, eyes calm, watching the stained glass as shadows shifted across it.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNjrmaBzCt
Behind her, a girl whispered, “They’re in.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhB6uAEo1fn
Mercy didn’t reply at first. Then:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoN76tCIUAq
“They came looking for a lie. Let them leave soaked in truth.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Kh5UBYPk1
She turned away and walked down the spiral staircase, vanishing into the dark.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHp2tzk9oqW
The water rose like a slow betrayal.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQ1I0KYq1G
Jabari tried to brace the base of the ladder, but the surface slicked too fast. Juma had begun stacking the crates beneath the wall vents, but none led out.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnatbY55tnk
Then — a sound.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeC324ZCDce
Bang. Bang. Clank.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sYJ4hhkjZ
A screech of iron echoed from behind the north wall.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Llm7VCofB
Juma froze. “Did you hear that?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6SncVoOuh
Clank. Slam.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FcsZVYK8H
Then a voice, muffled by metal and rage:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJorWCdlb3
“Get back!”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeF1zOASwri
Suddenly, the side grate at floor level buckled inward — then burst open with a thundercrack of rust and rock. Water whooshed sideways, funneling out violently, pulling ankle-deep current toward the now-gaping vent.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaogVDcyj2
And through the water— Musa crawled through.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwp4RU4Jv3
Soaked. Grit-covered. Grinning like a man who had wrestled a pipe system and won.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2hIoVewSc
“I told you I was the better swimmer,” he coughed.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuIYle7PQv
As the water drained and light returned, Juma leaned against the far wall, breathing hard.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7nn1hsYYG
“We were seconds from blacking out.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRCHmdrS9Gd
Jabari, still quiet, turned his torch toward the south chamber — a small alcove half-submerged behind a collapsed marble panel.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfNsynZevZ
Musa followed his gaze. “What’s that?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDHrdRtV0Ic
They stepped forward slowly. Beneath the now-drained floor, the shape of something metallic gleamed behind a decorative grate. Jabari crouched, pulled at the frame — it came loose with a groan.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoLFjPuyHV
Behind it, half-sunken and chained inside a rusted cage:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh1EzgTtepj
Three black ledger boxes, stamped with faded silver initials: “M.O.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkGQKdjFsh
Juma slowly unlocked one latch. Inside: letters, class registers, intercepted prefect reports, old Order rosters — all annotated in Mercy’s handwriting.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZinvXzJJH
Jabari picking one up and reading aloud:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtTGtbc5G2
“She was never exiled. She was buried.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9pxxM8yc83
Musa whispered “She didn’t build a trap. She built an archive.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzObbRU72o
Ayo appeared at the crypt entrance as Jabari flipped through the first ledger. No fanfare. No announcement. Just his shadow crossing the old candlelight, face unreadable.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5HDYK5DRt
Jabari looked up sharply.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC92FRox2ED
“You followed us.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvTpE0ZFQ9O
Ayo didn’t nod. Didn’t deny it. Instead, he stepped forward, knelt beside the third box — and picked it up carefully, like it might bite.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8U4R6ck6nJ
“You need this one,” he said. “It’s the only one with dates after Mercy’s expulsion.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ210gmsVW9z
Juma narrowed his eyes. “Why help us?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQsHmJR9kF
Ayo hesitated, then looked directly at Jabari.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1NMeZa63vd
“Because I’ve seen what Kwame would do with it.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87M8YpORnC
The silence cracked with the sound of metal boots on water-slick stone.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKYU5hzXWH
Otieno, lean and quiet, stepped through the broken wall entrance where Musa had forced the grate. He didn’t look surprised to find them. He didn’t speak. He simply walked forward, reached into the cage, and took the second box.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5d0r64KS5
The one marked “Staff Correspondences: 2007–2014.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcGIbdb73q
Jabari stood. “What are you doing?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMSrcoRsbY
Otieno held his gaze. “You know I follow the truth.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIX89I5iObt
Then turned and walked out — no rush, no guilt.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCmyxdmLey
One box in Jabari’s hands. One box in Ayo’s grip. One box now leaving with Otieno.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWSoy5kaiE
Musa broke the silence.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRlI525brTo
“That’s it, then. The lines are drawn.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNANj7jT9r
Juma added, “And Mercy didn’t even have to choose sides. She just lit the match.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnDHkHAk39
Jabari watched Otieno disappear into the crypt tunnel, Ayo still standing beside him, conflicted but present.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFnpL0ylcY
Musa whispered, “This isn't just about the wall anymore. This is a war over what gets remembered.”
******98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyHWqcdBXf
The video was less than ninety seconds long.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnacXRoMttV
It had no watermark. No source. But it found its way into every inbox in the Kisumu Central Education Circuit — sent from a dead address once used for prefect newsletters.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Y8vcHTUvB
The screen opened on dim light, stone, water glinting along the floor like liquid glass.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomFN2Efors
The voice was unmistakable.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbeHPZhfEP
“This is what they called leadership. This is what they built walls to protect. Jabari’s Order — drowning in Mercy’s revenge.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaWxZPgdj1
The footage cut quickly — glimpses of the crypt, soaked boys in Kisumu boys uniform, flooded ankles, two figures dragging themselves out, torchlight flickering like panic.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiO3pPBjcQ
Then:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehv6rhxjfh
Freeze frame.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPmqU7M5i5
Jabari, back turned, lifting a rusted ledger box.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1CQWc0Q7A
The words flashed over the image in blood-red type:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qBhFrFK52
"The Order is underwater."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOY0jhoq70L
Then black.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgVvZYwmOx
By 7:00 a.m., the dorm corridors buzzed like electric wires.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdcu3lTGve
“Who recorded it? There are no phones allowed—how did it get out? Was it staged? Is Mercy back? Was the flooding real?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnhtdpCv5w6
In the Kisumu Girls library, Shiko watched Kim watching the terminal.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMjyXYgVtU
“That’s the tunnel. That’s the crypt,” Kim whispered. And that—is a declaration.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoSqhJHLWi
Behind the AV club at Maseno school, two junior Shadow Walkers shut down their old relay laptop — wired into the school’s forgotten printer line, a hidden broadcast node Mercy herself once rigged in her second year.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IHPE5lEsN
Kwame stood outside, eyes on the sky, arms folded.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UAeeugqbW
He didn’t need a phone.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKwqP7cooC
He just needed a network Mercy built…and a reason to set it on fire.
**********98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7FI2mKlMB
June pushed the heavy doors open just as Mary arrived from the science wing.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwbsbOSh87
“The boys have seen it?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW9BL6ZIRLR
“Everyone has.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybeHDgcubs
Kim entered last, silent.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRkGxxxK5Pv
Shiko hovered in the corridor, uninvited but listening.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqazaWn7H0O
On the old Order wall board, Naomi stood still.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjNeitA30W
Below her — pinned with blue tacks — were printed stills from the Kwame video. One showed the crypt grate. Another, Jabari holding the ledger.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FHEdzELOd
“This wasn’t Mercy’s trap anymore,” Naomi said quietly.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbqeOxfrCWR
“It was her signal.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NglpJTQOZ
Naomi turned to them — prefects.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ97nAjMNppG
“There’s at least one ledger still moving. Probably being moved to St. Theresa’s. Possibly Maseno.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaluiQ2kykw
Mary stepped forward. “So, what do we do?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcIQ7Hhcww
Naomi tapped the board.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxWfKL0eJ9
“We don’t chase her legacy. We protect ours. Lock down the Hall. Triple-lock the Prefects’ Archive. And find the girl carrying the ledger.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxLxPZNrhV
June’s voice was cold.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CaEUz72RG
“You think Mercy would use one of us?”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKER0jsruXG
Naomi didn’t blink.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJwJ6BZsa9
“Mercy doesn’t use people. She recruits them.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG640lFD48d
The girls split into teams. June and Mary to the Greenhouse Tunnel, checking Mercy’s known exits. Seline, assigned to patrol around the west dorms, but already planning her own detour. Shiko, pretending to go to class, slips Kim a folded message:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjerJMUbVJv
“Don’t trust who enters first. Trust who stays behind.”98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8Dr4xdmEk
The Order Hall is locked though Naomi stays inside, assembling the remaining cipher logs and pulling names off Mercy’s old class rosters.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaynrKqMwP
Outside the campus fence line, under a tree heavy with wet blossoms, a junior form walks fast — a duffel bag over her shoulder. Her name is not known. But inside the bag is a ledger box, sealed with black tape.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2RzJb4y2W
She has only one instruction:98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgmJn32Uvmb
“Deliver it by dusk. If you’re stopped — deny you ever knew.”
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeIIi90Bp5
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmIveNMgRJ
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