I exited the station and started asking around to see if anyone knew of any hostels in the area. I gathered a mental list then went and checked them out one by one, searching for availability. After checking five hostels, I finally found one with an open bed for thirty pounds a night. Perfect. I went to the bed, settled on the top bunk in a room stuffed with ten other bunks, and crashed immediately, sleeping through the night and well into the morning.
I awoke to someone poking me in the shoulder.
“Hmmm?” I mumbled, turning over in bed and cranking open one eye to see a short, bald man standing by my bunk. I recognized him from the front desk.
“Sir? It’s past check-out time. You only booked one night. We either need you to pay for another night, or you need to leave.”
I didn’t have another thirty pounds.
I sat up, clearing my throat. “Sorry,” I said. “I’ll leave.”
After I gathered myself and put on those goddamn toe shoes to vacate the hostel, I spent the day asking around for small jobs where I could earn some more cash or for anyone who knew of Hallett.
With no luck on either front, I spent the next two nights on a bench in Hyde Park.At least this bench had a view of the water. However, pigeons awoke me both mornings with begs for the crumbs beneath my bench.
On my fourth day of being human, with only ten pounds left to my name, I started painting again. Now in London, I uppedthe price to thirty pounds and sold six paintings in all, earning me 180 pounds.
As the sky began to grow dark, I pocketed the cash. This was earning me something, but not enough. Notquicklyenough. I needed a way to quadruple my earnings.
Wait, I had an idea.Poker. I was good at poker. If I played a good game, then I would have enough for both the passport and the flight home.
With the money I had, I found a different hostel that was only twenty pounds and booked a couple nights there. I took a long shower once I checked in. Then, wrapped in a towel I rented from the front desk, I washed my clothing in the sink with hand soap. Wow, I missed wearing underwear.
The next day, once my clothing was mostly dry, I shoplifted a few more items—another T-shirt, black this time, and a few pairs of boxer briefs. I hated to do it, but I needed to save my money.
I needed to find a poker game. Hallett used to talk about the games he would play in London. If I could find these games, I could find Hallett as well. However, I had no idea where to start looking.
After another morning of trailing the city, searching for clues, I dropped down on a bench and put my head in my hands. Back in my human body with my human brain, my memory sucked. As a demon, it felt like I could hold an endless amount of information. Hallett had once told me specifically where these games were held.
I muttered to myself, “A little undergroundflat in…”
In where? Croydon? No, no. I knocked my knuckles on my forehead, trying to rattle the information out.
“…in Camden.”
Camden. An underground flat in Camden, normally on the third Thursday of the month.
To a passerby, I asked, “What’s the date?”
“Nineteen May,” they offered.
“And the day of the week?” I called after them as they attempted to keep walking.
“Tuesday!” they called back.
I did quick math in my head. Damn, this version of me was lucky. The third Thursday of the month was two days away.
I caught a bus to Camden immediately and started asking around, everyone I could find, about the game. Eventually, a beefy man with a thick black mustache, instead of saying no, said, “What’s it to you?”
My body sagged in relief. “Hallett told me about it, but I wasn’t sure how to contact him.”
“Hallett, huh?” The man shook his head and gave me the address and time. “Be careful, kid.”
Right. That was something I had to do now. Be careful. I couldn’t afford to be careful. Not while I had to get back to Lacy.
Two nights later, I showed up at the poker game. Hallett was not there, but dropping his name gave me access. I walked away with a thousand pounds, an invite to a separate poker game three nights from then, and an address for my friend.
I went straight away, not bothering to think about the time. I pounded on the door of his flat. With an audible grumble, thedoor swung open to reveal Hallett, just as green and angry as he always was.
