[What should I do now?]

[I suggest observing for now and see whether she does anything else unusual. If this is a real Guiding Ritual, she won’t just rearrange the shoes. She’ll definitely do something else. Also, you have to pay attention to tomorrow, since it’s the seventh day. By then, the guided entity will reach its goal. If you’re the goal, tomorrow night will be crucial to you.]

I put down the phone and felt that my entire world had become surreal.

The Guiding Ritual, the seventh day, the mysterious entity…

All of these sounded like they belonged in a novel, but they were happening to me! Even after hearing about Henry’s analysis, I still could not quite believe this. He said that something was being led to me, but aside from feeling like I was being followed, I did not feel anything strange.

In order to see whether he was telling the truth, I decided to observe my rented place.

The first thing that caught my attention was the temperature.

I noticed that whenever I returned to the room, I felt that the living room was slightly colder, especially around the bed. In the beginning, I thought that it was just a problem with the air con, but after taking a closer look, I found that even after turning the air con off, my bed remained colder than other places.

It was a strange cold. It was not a bone-chilling cold, but a ghastly chill, as if something I could not see was stuck to the bed.

In order to make sure that I was not imagining things, I snuck a thermometer into my room, only to find that I was right.

It was indeed around forty degrees Fahrenheit lower around my bed compared to the living room.

This difference in temperature was really stable too. No matter how the temperature outside changed, my bed would remain the coldest spot.

Aside from the temperature, I also noticed I was hearing things.

Sometimes, when I was alone in my room, even though it was really quiet, I could still hear some faint sounds, as if something was moving around quietly.

It was either this, or something was breathing silently.

It was hard detecting these sounds. I could only hear them occasionally during midnight.

I tried recording the sounds, but the effects were not clear. All I heard were some blurry sounds.

But what mostly attracted my attention was Yvonne’s reaction.

I noticed that she was rearranging the shoes according to my work-life schedule.

If I stayed for a longer period of time in the living room at night, the shoes would be directed toward the living room in the morning.

If I went back to my room to rest earlier, she would also adjust the shoes earlier.

It was as if she was plotting some sort of route according to my actions.

I told Henry all these things.

Henry soon replied, [The abnormal temperature means that something is right beside you, and your roommate adjusting the array according to your actions shows that you’re her goal.]

[What should I do now?]

[You can try asking her, but be careful of your words. Don’t let her figure out that you’ve realized something.]

When Yvonne came back at night, I found a chance to fish for answers.

“Yvonne, have you noticed something weird going on with the temperature lately? I’ve been feeling quite cold in my room.”

The last word gave her pause.

“When did you start having that kind of feeling?” She asked urgently, and there was a nervousness I had never seen before in her eyes.

“Around a week. It might be due to the season changing.”

Yvonne remained silent for a while.

“It’s okay. It’ll be over in a few more days.”

What did that mean?

What she said made it sound like she knew the reason behind why I was feeling this way, and she knew exactly when it would end.

[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.