My Roommate Keeps Fiddling With The Shoes

She had guessed right!

Recently, I had been feeling constant chills down my back, especially when I was at home.

Sometimes, I even felt as if someone was following me, but when I turned my head around, I saw nothing.

I had thought that I was tired from work. But could it actually be…?

[How did you know? I did feel someone watching me.]

[That about sounds right. Your roommate might have performed the Guiding Ritual because of you.]

[What do you mean?]

[I don’t know the details, but I suggest you ask an expert about this. I have a friend who has some knowledge about the occult. Do you want me to ask for you?]

I hesitated for a moment before agreeing to it. The situation had indeed surpassed my realm of understanding, and I needed a professional to give me answers.

After putting down my phone, I found Yvonne with her nose still buried in a book.

What was she doing?

Almost half an hour passed before the person sent me a contact number.

[This is my friend’s WhatsApp number. Henry has been studying the occult for years, so just ask him any questions you have.]

I added Henry and gave him a brief rundown of the situation before he replied.

[Send a few photos to me.]

While Yvonne was distracted, I took a few photos of the shoe cabinet, the shoes arranged neatly on the floor, and a discreet shot of her.

A long time passed before Henry replied, [According to folklore, you’re in quite the complicated situation. Your friend is indeed performing the Guiding Ritual.]

[What does it do?] I asked urgently.

[It’s an ancient ritual, and just as the name suggests, the Guiding Ritual is to guide the way for certain creatures. There are plenty of Guiding Rituals. Some guide good souls, and some guide bad ones. It all depends on the type of method she’s using.]

Upon seeing this, my heart leapt to my throat.

[Which type is my roommate using?]

[Based on the photos you sent, she used a shoe array to perform the Guiding Ritual. This is the first step of the Guiding Ritual. The tips of the shoes are pointed inward to form the array to guide the way for some entities. But it’s just pointing them in the right direction. She needs to perform other rituals to summon this entity.]

The more I read, the more my skin crawled.

[Usually, those who need guidance are some unique entities. They don’t have a set movement pattern, and they need people to guide their way.]

[Are you saying…?] I did not dare think further about this.

[I can only say that your roommate has her own reason for performing the ritual. Based on your description on how long it lasted, she hasn’t been doing this for just one day, has she?]

I recalled the exact date. [It has been about six days.]

[That’s troublesome. Guiding Rituals usually have a time limit that lasts for seven days. This means that the entity she has been guiding is close to its target. Your roommate has been adjusting the angle and location of the shoes every day. This is her way of drawing out the route for the entity. There’s a unique characteristic to the ritual too. The end of the route has a deep tie with the caster.]

When I saw this, I felt my blood turn cold.

[Are you saying that the entity might be going for my roommate?]

[It’s not necessarily her. It could be someone else in your house. The most complicated part of the Guiding Ritual is that only the caster knows the true target.]

I then remembered the feeling of being watched and asked, [If I’m the target, what sort of signs would I see?]

[The target usually experiences some unique signs, such as feeling cold often, feeling as if something is following them, or experiencing strange dreams. Are you experiencing any of these?]

My hands trembled as I typed, [Yes for the first two.]

[You might be the target of the ritual, then.]

[What do you mean? What’s being drawn to me?]

[There are plenty of reasons behind why a Guiding Ritual is cast. I can’t form conclusions rashly. But I can be certain of one thing. Since she has chosen to perform the ritual on you, there is some sort of special connection between you two. Or rather, you’re important to her.]

I was only normal roommates with Yvonne. We did not even speak to each other on a daily basis.

Why was she conducting this strange ritual on me?

According to Henry, this was even a complicated ritual that lasted seven days.