“Water’s Path”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OQOMfpq9M
The grate groaned louder this time.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3I4NDIw1o
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjdhe66eIG
Otieno ducked in first, his frame slipping through the rectangular opening like he’d done it before.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIuGL8JJgD
Because he had.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftrgf6eMh8
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfSWNS1grk
Below them, the earth sloped downward — the tunnel running like an artery between buried decades.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpMCYYnzPH
They said nothing. They had said enough upstairs — mapped it, measured it, debated its existence.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbIy6SaSu2
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSFtgqtH9o
Otieno paused and pointed. Three footprints. One small, barefoot.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7pxmTJT3L
Musa stared. “Girls’ side?”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OIdfAoN8t
“Maybe,” Otieno muttered.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNj633lKtvv
“Maybe not,” Jabari said. “Shadow Walkers don’t move to be recognized.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA868V9YaG4
They walked for seven more minutes.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFRUDo6IC8
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWBe7yxofx
Jabari stopped.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefd31TVds4
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6F6iv0idO0
Jabari placed his hand against it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTd5J0VwZX9
Warm. Not recent use — recent presence.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL1NQ4yeUt5
He knelt and examined the lock. Not padlocked. Not welded. Just… placed. Like someone expected it to stay closed out of memory, not resistance.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6cyyOOGWn
Otieno bent down beside him. “Should we open it?”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQT92cKbdXB
Jabari looked to Musa. Musa didn’t nod. He just stepped back.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeqaLhN9Shy
They opened it.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1XUWbLmTw
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfu6W1pnPQL
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsk5PRPrag
It was quiet. But not still.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOsJAGJlwA
Musa crouched immediately and pointed to something beneath the trough:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsSJv8r3D8
A red ribbon, frayed at the edge, tied to a pipe. Not school-issued. Shadow Walker.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ39A7Osy6gz
Jabari’s breath slowed.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡow3Y9OH34B
Otieno glanced up toward the tree line. “They know.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIHZLwhO2b
“They’ve known,” Musa muttered.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkrjvdkj4sS
Jabari scanned the treetops, the broken greenhouse beyond the annex, the faint shadows leaning in the wind.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2R0cu1Yn1
No alarms. No voices. But they were not alone. He felt it in his bones.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmMuHgFY50
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJidlLUlJr
As they retreated into the tunnel, Jabari whispered low:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEM4m15WdQW
“No word of this. Not yet. Not until we understand what they’ve left behind.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWux1rzbI9
Musa didn’t respond. But Otieno, from behind, whispered the question they were all too afraid to ask:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS80zbxlEpH
“And what if they’ve never left?”
*****49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXfXk43A0K
He wasn’t meant to be there.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0Q69qutIH
He hadn’t been invited.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmGhxGlFOZ
Hadn’t even been told.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9Q7aiCt3R
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPreFcAukfV
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ52It2tL1H
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1S0JMdrTn
The tunnel.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwVyvdcdI2
They were testing the tunnel. Without him.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡra6tFcjIxa
Juma waited until the last foot disappeared. Then crept forward and lowered himself in.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYBaUvGDUN
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3PgAPiqKV
Now it felt like betrayal.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpMDMqifiz
Crossing into the girls’ side?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8lzq9xiTO
For what? Information? Or for someone?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF509Yez7oI
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?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJnRR8ZpVG
The wall was supposed to divide them. Now Jabari moved through it like it didn’t exist.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMI1t0MY4kR
Juma clenched his fists. It wasn’t just about power anymore. It was about truth. And about who got to hold it first.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7U1cI72ZAl
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUF7SYTQLYq
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmzWVSRNSX
Even if it means crossing alone.
*****49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GYsiIAluV
They never heard them coming.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AhXfiaVNI
Not Otieno, who usually heard everything. Not Musa, whose instincts were tight as fencing wire. Not even Jabari, who trusted shadows too well.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNw595lgYV
They were halfway back through the tunnel, the return path slick with dripping lime-water, when the air shifted.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqGXkYT6xM
It wasn’t light. It was heat. Then a hiss.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJnuRtWAP9
Kerosene.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSOe5WZgzv
The smell punched into the space like a slap—acrid, chemical, recent.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGEc51Cr1J
Jabari stopped dead. He threw a hand out to halt the others.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkkPaH4tg4
From up ahead — near the tunnel mouth — came a glint.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbph6YWgRB
Small. Orange.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvY3xiFgNHg
Then the flare lit.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhgWXmzAYR
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTR7LkUs3tN
He hit the wall hard, smothering the sleeve in dirt. Musa cursed.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZun4AVAx68
Otieno dove back into the bend.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3u2CXW6P32
And then they heard it— A voice.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxAuKBV66V
Calm. Cold. Crooked by the tunnel’s acoustics:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdTSu6QPV6
“You were warned.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQPQg7FS67
The light died as quickly as it came.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWGUMXUZqO
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:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGnDs968CQ
A glyph: Shadow Walker fire mark.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ClrReCqKe
Jabari said nothing for a long time.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFOSzj6y8gn
Musa stared at the chalk. “They knew we’d be here.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMlj6PbDN1
Otieno clenched his jaw. “They let us in… just to mark the border.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvwym0xbte
Jabari’s voice was low when it finally came:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8Z4ExpcDz
“No. They let us in… to remind us it’s not ours.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQFk34Dvpe
From high above in the greenhouse shadows, Kwame uncapped the second flare and blew gently on the tip.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWTHdVKxGA
Ayo looked down at the smoking tunnel vent.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGX26Tfr74o
“Was that really necessary?”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KqykVSCKH
Kwame didn’t smile. He just whispered:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDe0dVrZzY
“They drew maps of our bones. Now we burn their paper.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUFe8kMtby
The flare’s glow had barely died when Kwame stepped out of the smoke.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjWQ3smxsW
No hood. No bluff.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwEsvm6KhK
Just him — tall, furious, silent.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6XZkvOhjB
Jabari rose quickly, dirt smearing his sleeve, his eyes locked with Kwame’s like old enemies recognizing the war had finally begun.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZWaBNdo4K5
Kwame said nothing. He raised a second flare.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IKPbSxgDe
And that’s when Musa moved. He didn’t shout. Didn’t warn.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KoxyDWkQy
Just tackled Kwame sideways with a thud that cracked against the pipe wall. The flare dropped, bounced once — skidded harmlessly into a puddle. Extinguished.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrI59Dmfzqt
They crashed into the damp stone, grunting, Musa’s elbow driving into Kwame’s chest with years of silent discipline.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH809uq6zw
Otieno was already helping Jabari to his feet.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebB1vqfK7g
But Ayo — Ayo was gone.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSqPurTLNX
The boys spun, torchlight slicing through the tunnel like frantic blades.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ82NAu4X4Om
No sound. No echo. A shadow where Ayo had been seconds before.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRDqgn3tIA
And on the ground where he’d stood — half hidden under an old gear bag — was a folded square of thick paper.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisKF53mOJ6
Black. Crisp.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyuC3fNcqb
Stamped with a mark: M.O.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcPj5vpt5lu
Jabari picked it up carefully. The wax seal had melted slightly from the heat — enough to distort the shape.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQEaAyt2A4
But he recognized the symbol beneath the black ink.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVfe6C0FT8
Mercy’s initials.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFXtMRZGEd
Kwame lay pinned beneath Musa, coughing. He didn’t fight back. Didn’t speak.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS861YUUMtP
But his eyes were locked on Jabari.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkhDh7gikiR
Daring him to guess how deep this went.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9DCBzqBGn
Jabari backed away slowly, holding the black card like it might catch flame.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaQQtHjEBi1
Otieno whispered, “He was never here for us.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd69wlajYfS
“No,” Jabari said, his voice low. “He was here for the message.”
**********49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTF8H4ZxMB
The chapel had long been closed for renovations — at least that’s what the staff told anyone who asked. But Mercy knew better.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMj3X4fSJfc
The boarded doors didn’t stop her.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtb3qAnKP0U
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGHcSAm0WC
She sat on the edge of the cracked altar bench, unfurled the card under the flickering light, and stared.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zhMUB0r22
Her initials. But not her handwriting.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFsj9Jn0Oi
A test. Or a tribute. Either way, she recognized the pattern.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUucVmJRW2
It wasn’t just a seal. It was layered.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMfLepm9WN
The fold lines created seven geometric segments — each containing a barely visible ink dot. It wasn’t aesthetic. It was directional.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBJbZOlhY7
Mercy rotated the card slowly, letting muscle memory guide her. It felt familiar. Like a map she hadn’t drawn but had once walked.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3gYnLimdn
Then it clicked.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBDxUcF0eI
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:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCEx86XUav
A spiral that looped west, then curved north — then stopped.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsjGv13fEJ
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjbIwsd3IR
It wasn’t just a cipher. It was a return route.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVt00ayUGO9
Ayo hadn’t just escaped the boys’ ambush — he’d reopened the thread Mercy had left behind. And sent it back.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyUjaJG5xf
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp6MIxB26l5
This morning, June followed — only a few steps behind. She never entered the chapel basement. She only peeked once through the warped window slit.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKryXumggl
And what she saw?49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡts5OXQFXZQ
Mercy — lit by a single flame, her fingers gliding across the black card like a priestess reading scripture.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwgyVaPAAT
She was smiling. Not cruelly. Not proudly.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWDHxUi7Ce
Knowingly.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy4Er5Jv8CX
And that terrified June more than any punishment Mercy had ever given.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhfKnviCrQ
Mercy turned the card over. One last message, revealed only when ink-stained fingers warmed the wax:49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbLXHVSj2C
“Some truths only reveal themselves in reverse.”49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa4CrDHHVnt
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSQDeeDZz9R
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.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHiy8AQ4Gv
By dusk, the greenhouse would hum with new footsteps.49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZTIt0lck7
And the Shadow Walkers — on the girls’ side — would know that their serpent had returned not to bite, but to lead.
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhJkyZ8ZJ3
49Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPuDy3XpFT
