Thirteen is my Favorite Number

13 is my favorite number

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-Recovered by the SCP Foundation from ████ Mental Asylum, New Jersey.

Written by ████ Jonas

I’ve lived in by the Pine Barrens all my life but everything I once knew about our snug and once safe home is gone. It was my 13th birthday and a couple of friends and I decided to take a stroll in the woods. One of us heard about how the Jersey Devil lurked somewhere around these woods. I figured it was just a 12 year old being gullible and decided to tag along, just because. We went at 12:00 PM into the woods and were fooling around quite a bit. About 45 minutes pass before we run into what looks like a small church, it’s rotting wood painted in white was barely seen through the thick layers of ivy that covered it. I was curious to what was inside so I decided to go in. I looked back only to see my friends ditching me for a good laugh. Why I didn’t follow their lead I don’t know, but I wish I did.

I stepped into the church and ran into cobwebs covered in dust. Rows of seats where obviously infested with termites and I avoided the weak parts of the floor all the way up to the pedestal. Looking at the pedestal revealed a bible. The bible looked completely empty at first, so I started to flip through the dust-covered and weathered pages. The only text that was in the entire book was on the 13th page. The only thing written was a large 13 that seemed to be painted on in ink, each digit taking up half the page. I started to get a bit scared really, but I wanted to see more. I figured that it was some kind of hideout for some hobos or something and 13 was some kind of password. Yeah, it was far fetched but it kept me going further into the structure. It was about 1:00 PM and I heard a scarping noise near the 13th row of seats. I looked down to see a hole in the middle of the floor, and I could tell it wasn’t a horde of termites that made it. It was perfectly square and had an old wooden ladder. Against my better judgment I was convinced there was some kind of buried treasure there and reluctantly went down.

I was almost down the ladder when I heard a splitting noise. I had a feeling the wood wouldn’t hold me. I fell onto a cobblestone floor, my head was bleeding a little bit and I was worried for my safety. I tried calling for help, but I knew it wouldn’t be heard. I looked down at my watch again, it was 1:01 and the hatch that lead me here was closing up, until it was completely dark. I needed to find a way out, and I walked down a doorway leading to a dark stone room. It was too dark for me to even try and look around for an exit. I remembered I had my phone and maybe I could use at a light source, or maybe to call for help. I probably made the smartest choices in my life at that moment, and called the police. I told the operator that I was stuck in the middle of the Pine Barrens inside an old church. I gave her my address so she could locate which church I was speaking of. She told me that there hasn’t been a church in the depths of the Pine Barrens since 1813. The church was burnt to the ground in an attempt to stop the pagan worship of a demon born in that very church on the 13th of January. I dropped my phone in shock, that was today... my birthday. My phone hit the ground and suddenly flames were lit.

10 torches stood side by side at the front of the room. I looked down only to see that below the torches were 3 heads on sharp wooden stakes. The room smelled of sulfur and death. I nearly vomited at the sight of the rotting heads of several animals. One was a goat, one a kangaroo, and one small head of a bat. Flies surrounded the heads, the buzzing rung in my ears and I started to scream for help. A sound of which I knew wasn’t natural came from the far corner of the room, the corner I didn’t check… the flies dissipated as soon as the sound took its unholy spotlight. It consisted of three different sounds; a low-pitched growl was overshadowed by a high-pitched whimper and a very high screech of terror. I looked over to see a creature with a goat’s head, the wings of a bat, and the body of a kangaroo. I knew what it was when I saw a black, forked tail. This was what we had come looking for, it was the Devil itself. The creature lurched back violently when it caught my eye. All I saw was the creature lunging at me, jaws open; accompanied by that wretched sound…

I woke in the hospital and was handed a mirror. I dropped the mirror in shock; I was covered with cuts, each and every one of them was a small 13 organized in columns. Everything, even my eyelids were carved with that number. Nobody believed me; nobody believes what happened, I don’t like it when people don’t believe me. It makes feel like I want to call him. I even started to carve 13’s into the wall just for my new best friend. Mr. Leeds is my newest and best friend I could ever need. I’d do anything for him, and he’d do anything for me! I’m so happy in this white room, where I can play with Mr. Leeds all day! It’s great really; I hope I never leave this place! If I do, Mr. Leeds says we can play at the church and live there with him. 13 is my new favorite number; Mr. Leeds says that 13 is the best of numbers. I agree with him, 13 is when all this wonderful stuff happened to me! 13, 13, 13.