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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZky3orWb1
Juma hated this kind of show — too bright, too scripted. But it made for the perfect cover.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv0HgtHLCl
“Everyone’s looking up,” he whispered.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhin3pWgkj
“No one sees what we’re pinning to their legs.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJhI2jZOlXV
Jabari didn’t smile.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQ7VvBLulK
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rolled poster, smooth and stiff. Thick matte ink on thick gray stock.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5itvcVlR8L
ORDER OVER INSURRECTION54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQTsqW7Gjb
A white wing over a fractured flame.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6H37AGPDN
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe05xZnJ8is
Four in total. No more. Enough to seed rumor, not provoke response.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtNlqCX5ua
They weren’t messages for students.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4W0QkNCSFH
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxvQcFuphes
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QAL8RO2Wy
He whispered:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaQtFdYGbx
“She wanted an audience. Let’s give her one.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5sdjrCDR7
Behind the hydroponics dome, a girl in Kisumu Girls' tracksuit lowered her phone quietly. Her name wasn’t known to either of them.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fhIiZypqb
But the notification she sent was clear:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWA8ugdVtAL
“The birds are flying banners again. Mercy will see.”
*****54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv6WgOQrhv
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMFbmoOHFD
Inside, Jabari and Juma moved fast, pushing through ankle-deep water that had begun pooling around the eastern wall.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYei30tv5do
“This isn't just a chamber,” Juma snapped. “It’s a channel.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcA9WMwTAd
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.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeUEHL4WvV
Repurposed by whom?54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUBZSFqHTx
By Mercy.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LHyJlz8Mg
Atop the hidden stairway, two girls in Kisumu Girls’ jackets stood in silence.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmJlVThisG
One wore Mercy’s old prefect sash — though no one had given it to her.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjvXQPhBrn
The other held the key.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7wMutYAwYo
She waited exactly until her watch ticked to 12:17 a.m.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxyTWmu0Bh7
Then she slid the bolt home and turned it once.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xkhFdYTQ9
Click.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPpyjwFZMT
The girls didn’t laugh. Didn’t speak.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DNPxyXZeG
They simply walked away.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93JVr40Qz9
Jabari’s light flickered.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBN86wMj76
He and Juma reached the far side — a rusted metal ladder leading up toward the chapel’s north vestibule — welded shut from above.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YwCGGHPo1
“She locked us in,” Jabari said.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakmwC3fM9m
Juma stared at the water now reaching his shins. “That’s not the problem.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwSIGu6fZC
The sound came next — not fast, not crashing.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefiCHCaPau
A slow gurgle. A hiss.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2FqGKAti2B
Then the unmistakable suction of redirected flow.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkuFnDB4jH
Juma turned to Jabari.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRWGjHGRIk
“She's opened the borehole line.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRNRnNuHEPD
And sure enough, behind the sealed hatch, where the borehole channel fed under the school… the grate now trembled.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0IWfBrfbk
Then the water began to rise.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUjCiuPMoV
From the high choir loft, Mercy stood silent, eyes calm, watching the stained glass as shadows shifted across it.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwrCtgyMBN
Behind her, a girl whispered, “They’re in.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgyOyodJQF
Mercy didn’t reply at first. Then:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfBCbUXWK3
“They came looking for a lie. Let them leave soaked in truth.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjx0tMkiiM
She turned away and walked down the spiral staircase, vanishing into the dark.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11hlVy3sVC
The water rose like a slow betrayal.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CXPBhmLJQ
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITVIlZB7RC
Then — a sound.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpgiA2hWgX6
Bang. Bang. Clank.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjXVg87Lsh
A screech of iron echoed from behind the north wall.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6hAbhtlzi
Juma froze. “Did you hear that?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJ319cRArd
Clank. Slam.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxpqB2mTgL
Then a voice, muffled by metal and rage:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWF78V1Ybib
“Get back!”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VFsyg4VIO
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkfXGidqPsW
And through the water— Musa crawled through.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCL8SJuwvnt
Soaked. Grit-covered. Grinning like a man who had wrestled a pipe system and won.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYFZsK7Gbw
“I told you I was the better swimmer,” he coughed.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8moZGidGO
As the water drained and light returned, Juma leaned against the far wall, breathing hard.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj79aBbmYJp
“We were seconds from blacking out.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7uOmSOp0j
Jabari, still quiet, turned his torch toward the south chamber — a small alcove half-submerged behind a collapsed marble panel.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsub1Q5UO9
Musa followed his gaze. “What’s that?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxP3R82X5mh
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1iezjzMp9
Behind it, half-sunken and chained inside a rusted cage:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLu5YVG40Xb
Three black ledger boxes, stamped with faded silver initials: “M.O.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfxUPxXHBV3
Juma slowly unlocked one latch. Inside: letters, class registers, intercepted prefect reports, old Order rosters — all annotated in Mercy’s handwriting.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqm3nVgggC9
Jabari picking one up and reading aloud:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcMS9RjptGL
“She was never exiled. She was buried.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QY0egayAj
Musa whispered “She didn’t build a trap. She built an archive.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQfOqgPxJj
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyiWeFZ4Ap
Jabari looked up sharply.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgfGkFJItJ
“You followed us.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdZ58BMjVr
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSOqYVGzAZ
“You need this one,” he said. “It’s the only one with dates after Mercy’s expulsion.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmx0LDGM8a0
Juma narrowed his eyes. “Why help us?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNHDDfWMO9
Ayo hesitated, then looked directly at Jabari.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIAphZqw9fi
“Because I’ve seen what Kwame would do with it.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC72xpXwZup
The silence cracked with the sound of metal boots on water-slick stone.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwqQqG1QIzf
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgr3xMtMOvn
The one marked “Staff Correspondences: 2007–2014.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjZiVoHWVq
Jabari stood. “What are you doing?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5y4uT7LNC
Otieno held his gaze. “You know I follow the truth.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zcDT7yLn4
Then turned and walked out — no rush, no guilt.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4veY2Of8vQ
One box in Jabari’s hands. One box in Ayo’s grip. One box now leaving with Otieno.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFRWVVQYf5
Musa broke the silence.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdgiKoctpPW
“That’s it, then. The lines are drawn.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPzWKMHT1U
Juma added, “And Mercy didn’t even have to choose sides. She just lit the match.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uqJK9XCMW
Jabari watched Otieno disappear into the crypt tunnel, Ayo still standing beside him, conflicted but present.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodI35JDst4
Musa whispered, “This isn't just about the wall anymore. This is a war over what gets remembered.”
******54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTFUqMrO36
The video was less than ninety seconds long.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguY7JMR2oM
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Xb6WWWCB3
The screen opened on dim light, stone, water glinting along the floor like liquid glass.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbi31FGm5Y
The voice was unmistakable.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dQQ4HeTOU
“This is what they called leadership. This is what they built walls to protect. Jabari’s Order — drowning in Mercy’s revenge.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAhZnC5IHEa
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdi1IgAuJ6
Then:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGbPxKUPri
Freeze frame.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGeXkBQHXcM
Jabari, back turned, lifting a rusted ledger box.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvajT8nsAO2
The words flashed over the image in blood-red type:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHbmcE5gDd
"The Order is underwater."54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbo8uKwgBbJ
Then black.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJPtwgZyDS
By 7:00 a.m., the dorm corridors buzzed like electric wires.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3N8Ja7XKTy
“Who recorded it? There are no phones allowed—how did it get out? Was it staged? Is Mercy back? Was the flooding real?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTP0fHzCS7
In the Kisumu Girls library, Shiko watched Kim watching the terminal.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakxmcM5Z4R
“That’s the tunnel. That’s the crypt,” Kim whispered. And that—is a declaration.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIG8TiZYtag
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqEgGlbWu9q
Kwame stood outside, eyes on the sky, arms folded.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3DoPFK7jz
He didn’t need a phone.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZuLStBnfRj
He just needed a network Mercy built…and a reason to set it on fire.
**********54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB33DxxNNmn
June pushed the heavy doors open just as Mary arrived from the science wing.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlScAkiJ5ik
“The boys have seen it?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6B0T8jqcQl
“Everyone has.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQRcyg0kLP
Kim entered last, silent.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKFHG2MaRrW
Shiko hovered in the corridor, uninvited but listening.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGai5rJXjD
On the old Order wall board, Naomi stood still.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTf8KGoEiGR
Below her — pinned with blue tacks — were printed stills from the Kwame video. One showed the crypt grate. Another, Jabari holding the ledger.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntC9dZ9VYy
“This wasn’t Mercy’s trap anymore,” Naomi said quietly.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIc0Bvly7iD
“It was her signal.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHhLYH8XC6
Naomi turned to them — prefects.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QN2Qg7g6t
“There’s at least one ledger still moving. Probably being moved to St. Theresa’s. Possibly Maseno.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwtKz4d3iL
Mary stepped forward. “So, what do we do?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zwbA60Juc
Naomi tapped the board.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dlNlovl89
“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.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLQ3WFHnDwE
June’s voice was cold.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jdzrm2Uk0
“You think Mercy would use one of us?”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxv2TbCJlI
Naomi didn’t blink.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi81ijar9oK
“Mercy doesn’t use people. She recruits them.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuibie15Vrl
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:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcRkK84k7V
“Don’t trust who enters first. Trust who stays behind.”54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3R36EQlxHZ
The Order Hall is locked though Naomi stays inside, assembling the remaining cipher logs and pulling names off Mercy’s old class rosters.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52H0FHEp7s
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.54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeKUETXvcP
She has only one instruction:54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlHxm2X8qF
“Deliver it by dusk. If you’re stopped — deny you ever knew.”
54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKToxrqC7l
54Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1B32vlyws
