-1I don't know how I got here. I was in some kind of room, in the corner. I was completely losing my mind. I've been seeing the number 21 everywhere. And it all started earlier today.

Earlier That Day…

I woke up and yawned. I sat up and stretched. Then I got out of bed. I walked over to my dresser and got dressed. I didn't notice the piece of paper taped to the wall that read "21!"

It all started off when I was brushing my teeth. I looked up and screamed. A piece of paper was taped to the mirror.

Happy 21st Birthday!

I sighed in relief and left the room. In the kitchen I grabbed some orange juice from the fridge. When I closed the door, I gasped. The number 21 was on the door!! I ran backwards all the way to living room.

Then I backed into someone. I turned around and screamed. "AAAHH!!!"

"AAAHH!!!"

"AH!"

"AAAHH!!!"

"AAAHH!!"

"AAAAAAHH!!"

"AAAHH!!!"

"AHH!"

"Oh," I said with my hand over my heart. "You scared me."

It was Tucker. "I heard you screaming! What's wrong?"

"I've been seeing the number 21 everywhere!" I said, my eyes shifting from side to side suspiciously.

"Um…so what?"

"Come, take a look at this." I waved him into the kitchen.

I slapped a book on the table. "The Book of 21."

"AAAHH!!!" Tucker suddenly screamed.

"WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?!?!"

"It's a book!" he said, poking it.

"…And?"

"I never come near books."

I sighed. "Anyway, take a look at this." I opened the book and grabbed a sharpie. "If I circle every 21st word of every 21st page," I did so, "look what it says!"

Tucker grabbed the book and read the circled words. "'It, the, and, flying, stink, the, also, hypothesis, many, it.' So what does this have to do with anything?"

"You don't get it?!"

"Um, no."

"If you say it backwards, it's 'It, many, hypothesis, also, the, stink, flying, and, the, it!'"

Tucker looked at me like I was crazy.

"Tucker, I know you're scared."

"Um, no. I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Uh, no. This doesn't even make sense."

"Tucker, you're scared. But it's okay, 'cause I'm here."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay," I said. "We should just play a game to get our minds off of this thing."

So we sat on the floor and played a card game. I had two tens in my hand. "Hit me," I said. Tucker handed me a card from the pile.

It was an Ace.

"OH MY GOD!" I yelled, throwing the cards onto the floor. "21!"

Tucker sighed and face-palmed. "Tucker, this is not good," I said when we were in the kitchen.

"What does 21 have to do with anything?"

"As you know, today is my 21st birthday. Do you know what today's date is?"

"February 1st?"

"EXACTLY! 2, 1!" I yelled, counting on my fingers. "21, Tucker."

He rolled his eyes. "What's so bad about 21?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"What is 21 divided by 3?"

"Um, 7."

"And what is 7 minus 1?"

"6?"

"6, Tucker. 6. The Devil's number."

"OMG! But, what does this have to do with you?"

"What is 21 multiplied by the Devil's number, 6?"

Tucker counted on his fingers. "One-twenty six?" (126)

"The Devil's day was on 666."

"Yeah?"

"What is 6 plus 6 plus 6?"

"18?"

"One-twenty six plus 18 is 144."

"So?"

I picked up a CD case from the table. "What is the shape of this CD case, Tucker?"

"A square?"

"Exactly, a square. You take the square root of 144 and you get 12. 12 backwards is…?"

"21!"

"Yes, Tucker. 21."

"Wait, are you sure you're 21?"

"Yeah?"

"Then what the hell are we doing?! WE SHOULD BE GETTING DRUNK RIGHT NOW!"

And so we drank and got drunk for the next 4 hours.

I tried to make my way to the bathroom so I could throw up. But I kept falling over onto stuff. I was so bombed, the room was spinning and I could hardly walk. I finally made it to the toilet and threw up. Then I sat in the corner.

Wait a minute.

That's how I got here! It had nothing to do with the number 21! We were drinking alcohol, and I got drunk!

ALCOHOL KILLS.