Triskaidekaphobia

         "I still say it was cruel, Zach." A frown creased the face of the dark haired woman's face. "You can't just treat people like your personal experimental subjects."

         "It's hardly experimental, Vicki. Immersion Therapy has been used to treat phobias for years." Zach's blonde mane made his voice seem more a roar.

         "Sure, on willing patients. They know what they're in for. You set all this up without John knowing anything about it. Besides, Triskaidekaphobia isn't much like being afraid of spiders or snakes or..."

         "How's it different? It's a totally irrational fear, like any other..."

         "But that's why it's different. Some snakes are poisonous. Some spiders can kill you. Phobics just take fear of these potentially dangerous things to an irrational extreme. There's no sensible reason to be afraid of a number. You can't just lump it together with all those other fears."

         "Well, I figure the more irrational the fear, the easier it will be to treat. I've put John in a room full of Thirteens. The key is labeled with the office number, 1313, so he has to touch a 13 if he wants to get out. Then he will have proof that thirteen can't hurt him. I know it isn't rubbing his belly with a rock and chanting a mantra..."

         "Now that's not fair. Sure, I use lots of new age techniques and some things modern medicine might consider controversial,..."

         "Try quackery!"

         "...but I was getting to the root of the problem. A few more sessions with the hypnosis and we would know why he feared thirteen and how he could deal with it. This stunt of yours has probably undone months of work."

         "That, even if it did work, would still have left him terrified to get off an elevator on the thirteenth floor. My way will cure him fast and easy..."

         "We're here, so let's just put this on hold for now." He voice could have frozen a bonfire.

         The car stopped in front of a large, new office building. The lease sign outside showed it was still thirty five percent full.

         Vicki looked up to the top of the tower of glass and steel. "Did you rent office 1313 just for this?"

         John shook his head. "No, I sort of liked having a distinctive office number. If nothing else it should keep some of the door-to-door cultists away."

         They walked in together, but Vicki kept a few paces between herself and John. An elevator awaited them. Vicki felt herself pulled towards the floor. It only took a few seconds for it to rise to the thirteenth floor.

         The doors opened on a pristine hallway. None of the visible doors had any identification on them. It seemed floor thirteen wasn't filling up very quickly. The floor was also hot compared to the cooler lower floor, which apparently got some air conditioning during the day.

         As they rounded a corner, Vicki saw a bank of lights slowly brightening. It wasn't the typical flickering of a light first coming to life. Rather, it seemed like someone was playing with a dimmer switch. The bank was near a door to one of the stairwells.

         Before she could ask Zach about the potential electrical problems, he said, "Here we are."

         Door 1313 was also not identified by any signs. Zach commented, "I didn't see a need to get one yet, since I'm not opening the office for another month. Once we see the new cured John, he can be my first success."

         The lock clicked open as he turned the key. The door opened to a dark room. Zach looked inside and muttered, "Strange, I know the lights work in here." He fumbled around for the switch, and finally the lights flickered on, properly, not like the ones in hall, Vicki noted.

         It was a strange scene in the office. There were thirteen chairs arranged in a circular pattern. The walls were decorated with thirteen photographs of various scenes of nature. Thirteen bags, full of food as Zach had explained in the ride to the building, were withing the circle of chairs in a second circle. On the wall to the left of the door was a second door, leading to a bathroom. And within the circle of food was a man that had apparently frozen to death. The skin on his hands and face was white, and the light mustache was coated with crystals of ice, although they were melting in the heat of the room.

         Both the living occupants of the room dashed over to check on the frozen man. Vicki was the first to verbalize her shock. "John's dead. No pulse, nothing. And he's cold. How could he be cold when the floor is so hot?

         "I don't know. This is really strange. How could he have frozen to death? He should have been able to turn on the air con, the controls are next to one of the pictures. But he couldn't set it this low. And the room isn't even..."

         "Zach! John is dead! Why are you worried about the air conditioning? What the Hell did you do to him?"

         "Me! How is this my fault? I put him here with everything he needed to get by. He had food, water, and a bathroom. There was no way he could do this to himself. Someone must have done this to him."

         "Who can freeze a man to death in the middle of Summer? We'd better call the police and report this."

         "We can't call the police!" Zach's voice took on a frantic tone. "I'd be arrested for kidnapping!"

         "You might have thought of this before you kidnapped him. All right, what do you want to do?"

         It took several hours to deal with the body, and all the stuff in the office. Once they were finished, there was no way that any one could trace the events back to Zach. They left John in his house, after Vicki had to dig the keys out of the dead man's pockets. Finally, they called the police and reported that they had found him dead in his home. There were questions, of course, but nothing seemed untoward.

         Finally, after a night of no sleep, Vicki got home and flipped her TV on. The early news was on. She nearly flipped over to another station, but something caught her eye. There was a report about two people, probably late night lovers walking through a park, who had been found earlier. They seemed to have been frozen to death. The man who discovered the bodies, a local insomniac, said that he was attracted to the spot when he saw one of the lamps on the park's walking path seemed to have been dead, and then slowly lit up. When he got to the lamp, he saw the two bodies.

         Three people frozen to death in one night? In the middle of the Summer? Something strange was happening.

         Vicki went to bed shortly there after. She didn't have any problems sleeping. The light never bothered her when she slept during the day. She got up in the late afternoon, got dressed again, and dashed out the door. She had to get to an occult store. It was run by a friend of hers, and she needed some serious research.

         The store was down a side street. The street was barely big enough for a single car to drive down, and it was lined with small quaint shops. The Spyder's Web stood out against the little craft shops, used book stores and coffee shops. Everything else was painted in pale pastel shades. The Web was all in black except for the silvery web designs across the front wall.

         Vicki sometimes liked to just stand and look at the webs and try to see patterns in them, like an inkblot test. No time for that today. She just walked in through the front door. Craig was behind the counter as usual.

         "Hey Craig. Anything new in today?"

The small, balding man looked up at her. Everyone expected a man like that to have thick glasses. Craig didn't need them, and never had. He looked at the world from behind clear blue eyes. Despite the heat of the day, Craig was wearing a bright red sweater over his long sleeved shirt.

         "Always something new. The world doesn't stop spinning just because we're too busy to watch it. What are you looking for?"

         "How about cases of spontaneous cryocution?"

         "Well, for something like that, you probably aren't looking for the Crystals for Dummies section. Why don't you follow me?"

         Craig pulled a large black iron key out from under his sweater. He walked over to the front, and turned the open sign over. Then he walked to the rear of the store, and turned the key. The door opened to a narrow, steep staircase. Vicki followed Craig down the stairs, not for the first time.

         "I think I can leave you here unattended, can't I?"

         "Won't be the first time. Coffee maker still where it was?"

         "Yep, same as always. Just let yourself out of here when you're done. I won't lock you in this time."

         Vicki let a nervous smile cross her face. She appreciated the cool of the basement. "Thanks, Craig. I'd rather not be stuck here all night again."

         Vicki hunted through several texts looking for something that might relate to this. Craig was known for getting some of the most rare of books on occult subjects. Vicki had known Craig in High School, and he had always trusted her. So, she was one of the select few who had access to his personal library of shadows.

         She was fascinated by all things supernatural. She could spend countless hours down in this basement library just picking tomes off the shelves at random. But today there was a purpose. She lost all track of time as usual as she skimmed books looking for some clue. She narrowed her search down to five large books. Then she heard a scream, muffled by the floor. It also sounded as if it were coming from under water. She also noticed that the lights overhead had dimmed, strangely.

         She ran up the stairs, nearly falling back down them half way up. As she put her hand on the knob, the lights regained their former level of illumination.

         Throwing open the door, Vicki saw Craig and four other people slumped against the counter of the store. All five had the same white skin, and crystals of ice around them that John had in the office. Near one wall, the lights were slowly rising back to life, once again as if some one were controlling a dimmer, impossible as that was.

         Vicki ran back down the stairs, and grabbed the five books. She left the store at a run and went home as fast as she could. She couldn't recall how she got there when she was unlocking the door. But one thing she knew, she had to find out what was going on, and fast, before anyone else died. Her house was in a new development. She had neighbors in two houses, but the rest were empty lots so far. Vicki's own house had just recently been finished. She still hadn't gotten around to getting the basement finished.

She went to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of juice. She opened it up and drank the whole thing without even stopping for breath. Then she opened the books at the table. The sun set as she was gathering information.

         She finally thought she understood what it was that had been unleashed on the world, and what would happen if she failed to stop it. She would have to gather up the proper materials, but luckily most of it could be had a local supermarket. Maybe she could stop this, but it was going to be a heck of a sacrifice. Then she looked over at the Alberson's house. They had just had their first baby three months ago, and were still doting parents. They were absolutely the sweetest couple in the world.

         And while it was the time when they would be in the living room, watching TV, the lights in that part of the house were out. As she watched, the lights slowly came back up, and those in the baby's bedroom upstairs started to dim. Overcome, Vicki screamed out, "You bastard!" She was glad she kept a handgun in her bedroom. She knew she would need it for what had to be done.

         After assembling everything she needed, Vicki went and got Zach. He was at home, of course. She pounded on his apartment door, until he answered. "What is it?"

         "Zach, you've got to come to my house right now!"

         "What is it? Spiders in the basement again? You really need to get that place finished."

         "No, worse than spiders. I think I have..." She quickly thought of something to get Zach moving. "...A prowler!"

         "Someone broke into your house? Okay, let's go. I'll take care of this."

         Vicki was impressed with how strong Zach's friendship really was. A shame really, what she was going to have to do to him.

         They drove back to her house. From the lights, it looked like the Richardsons were home. Oh well, it wouldn't be taking them tonight, or ever.

         She gave her keys to Zach and he opened the door. "Where is he?"

         "In the basement, I think."

         Zach went down the stairs cautiously. Vicki pulled out her gun and followed him. When he got to the bottom of the stairs he looked around. Finally, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he said, "No one here now, he must have...Vicki, what the..."

         Vicki pulled the trigger twice. Red splotches grew on Zach's pant legs as he fell from his feet. Vicki's hands were still shaking. She dropped the gun, and took a lighter out of her pocket.

         "Vicki, what the hell are you doing? Why..."

         She began lighting small packets wrapped in rags. They smelled of spices as they began to burn. "I'm saving the world, Zach."

         "Vicki, you're crazy!"

         "Sometimes crazy just means you really know what's going on, Zach. It's poetic justice in a way. You're the one who unleashed this thing on us."

         "Unleashed what on us? Vicki, you're the one that shot me..."

         All the packets were burning now. There were thirteen of them in all. Vicki walked over to Zach, putting them both in the middle of a circle of fire. She cupped his chin in her hands and brought his eyes up to hers. "It has to be done. I'm sorry, Zach, but there's no other way. John was the key..."

         "What key? What are you talking about? Why the hell did you shoot me?"

         "It's the only way to keep you here. We both have to be here when it comes."

         "When what comes?"

         "They called it the black portal. It's a creature of pure darkness that exists only to claim enough human life to open the portal for other things, that are far worse. John was the key to letting it in."

         "You are completely..."

         Vicki continued as though Zach weren't even talking. "He was afraid for a reason, you see. It was his name. It was all in the numbers. Every sound is a number. And John Gregory Bethany. The initials add up to thirteen under the system of numbers. Some people are like that. The powers that be make them afraid of thirteen so they won't accidentally open the gate. Too many thirteens, and it just pops open. Now the Portal is here, and it only needs two more victims."

         Zach tried to appeal to her psychosis. "But we are the last two, won't it win?"

         "Oh, no. I had to get these herbs to call it to us. The numbers call it, the numbers can destroy it." Vicki took a paper out of her pocket and clutched it in a knuckle whitening grip.

         "But what is it Vicki?"

         "It's darkness, Zach. Living darkness. And you brought it here, when you didn't think about the reasons behind an irrational fear."

         As she said this, the lights near the window began to fade out. "It's coming. It will all be over soon."

         First the lights, then the fires faded out. Finally, all of Zach's sight was blacked out. He was touched by mind numbing cold, and screamed as the cold seared his nerve endings.

         As the cold began to pull his life out of him, he heard a soul searing shriek. It was not a scream of this world, and it tore though his mind like a razor through soft, yielding flesh. Then all was dark and silent.

         The police had been called at the sounds of gunshots. They looked over the scene of the crime. "Barry, what do you make of it all?"

         "No idea Max. Could be a ritual killing. Maybe a murder suicide. Glad I don't have to figure it all out. I mean, how do two people freeze to death in Summer weather like this. What's that you've got there?"

         "No clue, Barry. It's a slip of paper. Reads, "Zachary Samuel Phillips plus Vicki Roberta Smith equals 18+15+17+6+20+15=91=7 times 13 equals the banishing number. Weired huh?"

"No kidding. Can you take care of things here? You know, thirteen always has creeped me out."