Li’s friends, Xander, Omar and Priya, all stood at the gate entrance, clapping.

“We have…to find out…where…Denton Reyes is buried,” Li said, barely able to catch her breath.

Xander clapped Li on the back. Omar lowered the scarf wrapped around his face and took the wooden box from her. Priya strode over to a nearby tombstone and checked the binder sitting on top.

“Not bad, Li. Not bad at all,” Priya said. “I’m awarding you fifty experience points for that mission.”

“Fifty? Come on, Crypt Keeper,” Li said. “That was worth at least a hundred points. The bony hand! That’s got to be worth something.”

Omar asked, “What hand?”

“Open the box,” Li said.

“Okay. I don’t see what—yikes!” The skeletal hand shot out at Omar’s chest. He leapt back, dropping the box.

Xander laughed. “Chicken.”

Li chuckled. “Never saw anyone jump that high.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Omar said, eyeing the skeletal hand nervously.

“Yeah right.” Li turned to the Crypt Keeper. “C’mon, Priya, why didn’t I get more points? I finished the mission.”

Priya shook her head. “Li, the game’s called Spirits and Specters. Not Bicker and Complain. And actually you did not complete your mission. If you had found Denton Reyes’s grave, you would have picked up the extra fifty points, but you didn’t complete the task.”

“Not my fault,” Li argued. “There was no grave marker nearby. Plus, it sounded like someone else was in the cemetery.”

“Oooo,” Xander moaned. “You’ve angered the ghost of Tamara Reyes.”

Omar joined in. “She wants to feed on your eyes.”

Li sneered at them. “Act your age. Not your shoe size.”

Towering over Xander and Li, Omar cocked his head. “But my age is the same as my shoe size.”

Xander lifted up ghost arms and floated around Li. “Oooo.”

“Cut it out, Xander,” Li said, her nostrils flaring. Her nose stud sparkled in the moonlight. “So, Priya, where is Denton Reyes?”

The Crypt Keeper shook her head. “That’s up to the next ghost hunter to find.”

Omar shot his hand up. “My turn. I’ll do it.”

“Careful,” Li said. “I really did think I heard someone. Might be security.”

“So what?” Omar said. “We’re not doing anything wrong. Come on, Priya. Give me my mission.”

Xander leaned against the iron gate. “We do this every time! I’ll bet Priya’s big brother is lurking around, waiting to jump out at us. Same ol’ same ol’.”

Priya clutched her binder against her jacket. “You don’t like my campaign missions?”

Xander said, “No, they’re great. All I’m saying is that part of the fun of ghost hunting is visiting new and abandoned places. Right, Omar?”

Omar kicked at the ground with his high-top and glanced up sheepishly at Priya. “If there was a chance to hunt ghosts in another place…well… I guess…I wouldn’t complain.”

Priya turned to Li. “Do you feel the same way, Li?”

Li took a second to answer. “Well, I do love the jump scares.”

“Me too! But the setting is a little…you know… played out,” Omar said.