Ninety Nine Gone

The room was quiet as Champ sat, browsing the morning paper. He eyed his watch, realizing Trevor still wasn't up. His brow wrinkled in mild curiosity. His roommate, crazy as he might seem, was generally on a schedule in the morning. He was up and awake with enough time to annoy Champ before he went off to work. Setting the paper down, Champ got up and knocked on Trevor's door.

"Trevor?" he called out. He got no response.

"You in there?" he added. Still no answer. He tried the door handle, finding it locked. He was about to knock again when he figured whatever Trevor was up to in there, he probably didn't really want to know.

"Too weird," Champ muttered under his breath, heading back to the kitchen. By the time he had finished reading the paper and flipped through the channels a time or two, Trevor still had not come out. In a half-hearted attempt to get his roommate to come he turned the volume up on the TV. But Trevor didn't appear. Just as Champ was about turn the TV off there was a loud knock on the door. He pushed himself from the chair and crossed the room.

"Coming," he called when the knocking persisted. He pulled it open to see Claire standing there.

'Dr. Allen?" he greeted.

"Sorry to bother you, Champ, but Trevor missed his session this morning….and the ones last week too. Is he around?" Claire responded. She was dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, hair pulled back under a baseball cap.

"He's in his room….but I don't know if he'll come out," Champ admitted, showing her into the apartment.

"What do you mean he won't come out? How long has he been in there?" Claire asked, starting to get nervous.

"I don't know….since last night I guess," he answered with a shrug. He led Claire to Trevor's still locked door.

"Trevor, open the door. It's Claire. I need to talk to you," Claire shouted through the wood. She listened very closely, trying to detect any sign of movement. She had horrible thoughts running through her mind and she silently hoped that they were all wrong.

"Just open the door, please," she begged. Finally after what felt like forever the door clicked, signaling that it was no longer locked. Claire and Champ shared a look before she pushed the door open. They found Trevor sitting on the floor staring up at the ceiling. Claire raised an eyebrow at him.

"Trevor, what are you doing?' she asked gently, bending down to his level. He just held a finger up to his lips to quiet her. She opened her mouth to say something else but figured she'd just get shushed again.

Trevor's gaze was fixed on a single bead hanging from the string around the room. Claire and Champ finally spotted it. It wasn't doing anything. What was so special about the bead? Trevor finally made a sound as he toppled backwards onto a pillow.

"Just move," he gasped out.

"Did he just yell at a bead?" Champ whispered in Claire's ear. She nodded and he slowly backed out. He liked Trevor well enough but it was clear that he and Claire needed some time alone.

"Trevor, what's going on?" Claire asked. Trevor ran a hand over his eyes.

"I made a good match last night, one of my best. But they don't seem to think so," Trevor groaned.

"And by 'they' you mean….the Gods?" Claire asked.

"Yes. It would have been my one hundredth match," he sighed, his gaze flitting back up to the bead. Claire stood up, reaching her hand towards the bead.

"No don't touch it!" Trevor howled, jumping up and grabbing her arm.

"Well it looks like you're going to have to make another match," Claire informed her patient. Trevor did not look happy about that prospect.