Xander sighed. “I wish we could find a new place.”

Priya lowered her binder. “Yeah, I guess the graveyard is getting a bit tired. Tell you what. Next week we’ll start looking around for another place. Whoever finds the best location gets to be the next Crypt Keeper.”

They all nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like a plan,” said Xander.

Chapter Two

The following week Xander peppered his friends with his ideas for new places to play. They ranged from the old Edmonton Oilers hockey arena to the river valley to an abandoned house a few blocks from the school.

None of his pitches landed with Omar or Li. Priya liked the abandoned-house idea until Li pointed out that the place was probably full of rats, cockroaches and dirty needles.

In language arts class, Xander tapped Omar’s shoulder.

“I’ve got it. What about our school?” he whispered. “Built in the 1800s. Old. Creaky floors. They say a teacher died of the Spanish flu at the end of the First World War and now her ghost walks the hallways. Doors slam and buzzers go off at weird hours. I heard teachers don’t want to work here at night.”

Omar leaned back in his seat and whispered, “I spend enough time at this place. Don’t make me come back more than I have to.”

“Well, at least think about it,” Xander said. “I heard the basement is super gross.”

“Yeah? So is the bathroom after my dad is done using it, but that doesn’t mean I want to check it out.”

After school Xander kept hounding his friends. “I’m telling you, the school is the perfect setting. Just look at the place. Twisted, right?”

Priya stared at the three-story building. Ivy covered much of the red brick walls. “It’s not a terrible idea, Xander.”

“Hating it,” Omar said. “It would feel like detention.”

“What if we got caught?” Li asked. “Dad already thinks I spend too much time playing Spirits and Specters. He’d hit the roof if I was breaking and entering to stay in the game.”

“Fine, fine,” Xander grumbled. “I’ll keep thinking.”

“You know what?” Priya said. “We might be able to do something around the old train tunnel by the university. I bet it looks pretty sick at night.”

Xander smiled. “I like that idea.”

Li shook her head. “They’re building condos on the site.”

“You sure?” Priya asked.

“Yes,” Li said. “My mom is selling the condo units. The whole area is chained off, and there’s a security guard on duty 24/7. There’s no way we’d get in there.”

“Too bad,” Omar said. “I like trains.”

They kept walking. Xander zipped up his jacket to protect himself from the wind, but the zipper snagged.

“The old museum,” Priya said. “What about there?”

Omar beamed. “Yeah! Now that all the collections have been moved to the new museum, I bet the old one is totally empty.”

“And there are plenty of cool places on the old grounds to run around in,” Li said.