My Roommate Keeps Fiddling With The Shoes

[I’m sure she knows the reason why you sense these anomalies. Based on her reaction, she has been observing your changes.] Henry replied after reading my description.

I put down the phone and felt that familiar chill.

That invisible entity seemed to be right beside me, and I could practically feel it.

In order to see whether Henry was telling the truth, I decided to investigate the anomalies in-depth. I hence checked the air-con again and found traces of the refrigerant leaking out, which explained why the temperature beside my bed was so cold. I also noticed the renovation notice my neighbors put out. They had been renovating their place at night, which explained the faint noises.

As for Yvonne adjusting the shoes according to my work-life schedule? It might really be due to her OCD.

She could only relax in a “perfect” environment.

I was beginning to think that the Guiding Ritual was just superstition, and I was overcomplicating a normal event.

Thus, I decided to not think about this anymore and continue with my life as normal. After all, I found a reasonable explanation for everything.

I was about to send Henry a message to tell him that I had found the source for all the anomalies and we were just overthinking when Yvonne came home.

“How are you today?” she asked me in great concern.

“Pretty good. I’ve figured some things out. I might have been too stressed lately, and that’s why I was overcomplicating some normal phenomenon.”

Yvonne’s expression was a little strange, as if she was relieved but also worried. “That’s good, then. You should go to sleep.”

It was just 9 p.m., but Yvonne said that she wanted to go to bed earlier and went back to her room.

I was about to go back to my room as well when I heard whispers coming from Yvonne’s room.

I walked on tiptoes to her room door.

“That’s right. She’s suspecting things. She believes my claim about me having OCD for the time being, but for some reason, she’s beginning to suspect other things,” Yvonne whispered.

I held my breath and stuck close to the door to listen in.

“I know. We need to speed up. If we drag this out, it’ll be troublesome.”

The person on the other end of the phone said something.

“It’s the seventh day tomorrow. We can’t wait any longer. I’ve prepared everything. We can proceed as planned.”

Then, she hung up.

Terrified, I quickly returned to my room with my heart hammering against my chest!

Yvonne’s OCD was fake?

Who was she colluding with? And what seventh day?

Original plan?

I then remembered what Henry had said. The seventh day was a crucial moment.

Had Henry been telling the truth?

A moment passed, and I heard Yvonne bathing.

I used the chance to open her door.

The medical book and medical report were both in her room, but aside from them, I also saw things I had never noticed before.

Under her desk was a small box, and in it were red bottles, strange talismans, and a notebook covered in weird runes.

I flipped through the notebook. Aside from complicated arrays, it also contained words I could not understand.

One page in particular made my heart go cold.

On it was a diagram of how to position the shoes, and written by its side were these words.

[The summoning is complete on the seventh day.]

I put the things back in their original position and fled to the living room.

Yvonne was using OCD as an excuse to cover up the mysterious ritual she was performing!

Tomorrow was the seventh day.

With trembling fingers, I picked up my phone and sent a message to Henry.

[Henry, I’m sorry. Yvonne is really performing the ritual, and tomorrow is the seventh day! Where are you now? I need help!]

Henry’s reply came soon. [I’m nearby. I’ll go over to your place tomorrow, but before that, you need to be careful and not let her know that you’ve figured out the truth.]

I put down the phone and sensed that familiar chill in the room.

I was certain at this point that the anomalies were not due to the air-con or renovations.

Something was really here.