Edmonton, Canada

Western Conference, JW Marriott

Roope runs a hand through his long wavy locks of hair. "So, uh, about last night..."

"Don't bring it up, this is off the ice. We're all friends in this area," EJ says. "Though I'm still mad at Jamie Benn!"

Gravy looks at Esa. "You always look so worried, are you okay?"

Esa shakes his head. "What do you mean? You have the same look. Especially when you're on the ice, out of breath."

Comphy throws out his arm and Gravy and Esa both slam into it, stumbling in place. "Careful. We don't know what's lurking around these halls...there could be...VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS!"

"OH! THE HORROR!" Gravy yells, dramatically melting down to his knees.

"Stop making Gravy freak out," I mutter to him.

Comphy chuckles, amused. "Just warming him up..."

Dicky walks further down the hall, cocking his head in curiosity. "Did anyone else see that?"

"No..." I mumble. "I was busy keeping Comphy in line."

Esa helps Gravy back up to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be good. I don't like scary things..." Gravy whispers.

"What was it, Dicky?" Roope remarks, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.

"It looked like a short purple figure scurrying across the end of the hall here," Dicky says, gesturing to the spot he saw. "But I don't see anything."

"G-g-g-ghost?" Esa inquires, grabbing Gravy's arm.

Gravy grabs onto Esa's arm himself. "This-this-this was a b-b-bad idea, g-g-guys."

"Like anything will successfully get to you with me around?" EJ scoffs, folding his arms. "I'm like a big mean bodyguard."

"You got the big part right," I chuckle.

EJ punches me in the shoulder and I slam against the wall.

"Okay, touche. Ow."

We reach the end of the hallway and head out a side exit. The sunlight outside blasts us in the face. It's a bright sunny, clear sky day in Edmonton (and it isn't even 12 yet).

"So what about this ghost hunting?" Roope questions. "Are we going somewhere or are we seeing someone or like what's the deal?"

"Don't be ridiculous Roope," Dicky says. "There's no ghost stuff inside the bubble.

I nod at him. "I figure we can walk around and research and then conduct our investigation back inside."

"Sounds like a good enough plan to me," I say. "You're pretty smart."

"What if you know who pops out?" Gravy whispers, keeping close to Comphy.

"Do you mind? Personal space is something I NEED TO LIVE OFF OF!" Comphy snaps at him.

"Don't yell at me..."

"If Tkachuk is around, we'll figure it out, but I'm a little conflicted here, because Tkachuk can't be a ghost if he's alive. BUT that was most definitely Tkachuk in the hotel. I don't know how to best explain that phenomena," I say.

"That is very true," Comphy remarks. "Let's stop here, before I put my fist through Gravy."

"Sorry, I'm scared."

We've come to a picnic table in the middle of a small park to the side of the hotel. There's a single tree, shading the area. We all sit down: I'm on one end of the table, sitting across from Dicky, while Gravy sits across from Esa and Comphy sits on the end, across from Roope. EJ sits next to Comphy, narrowly missing sitting on his leg.

"EJ!" Comphy scolds. "Watch where your booty is going."

Roope pulls his phone out and fixes his hair, using the screen like a mirror.

Dicky sighs, looking over at him. "Instead of looking at yourself, why don't you research ghosts and try to form some kind of explanation for Tkachuk's hotel haunt!?"

"Fair enough," Roope remarks with a toss of his eyes. "What am I looking for exactly?"

"Just google something like: can I see ghosts of people if they aren't dead?" Comphy suggests. "Start there."

Roope shrugs and does so. We watch him scroll through the results and then his head snaps up and stares at us all with wide, fearful eyes. "Um...did you know that demons are known to take on all kinds of people. Meaning that what we saw wasn't Tkachuk-Tkachuk, but rather a demon taking on him in order to haunt Gravy."

"Talk about dealing with your demons, Gravy," I let out a low whistle at him.

"Why me? I'm so likeable?" Gravy lifts his arms up, looking clueless.

"No. You're a ghost magnet...anyway, that's creepy. So like what kind of stuff can we get to help validate that it was a demon?" I question.

Roope taps on his phone screen rather quickly and then looks back up. "There's digital recorders, spirit boxes, EMF Detector...you name it. It just depends on what exactly we're doing..."

"Is Edmonton haunted?" I hear Comphy ask his phone promptly.

His phone replies with a few google results. But apparently none of the places listed are around in the bubble. However, there are some of the items that are sold at one of the regular supermarket stores as well as Amazon.

"Look, same day delivery!" I exclaim, pointing to Comphy's phone screen.

"We're not SERIOUSLY considering this, are we? Maybe we should just let it go and focus on practicing instead of getting wrapped up in something silly," Comphy states, putting his phone down and turning it off.

"You know, it's not even 500 dollars to ghost hunt," EJ remarks, showing everyone his phone. "I mean given all the important equipment that we will need."

"Yeah, see? C'mon Comphy, quit being such a stick in the mud." I shoot him a wink.

"I'm not being a stick in the mud, Josty. I'm being realistic."

I sigh heavily. "Yeah, as realistic as separating Sammy from Vladdy in the hotel. This will be fun and we can enjoy some time with our friends here."

Dicky smiles. "Glad you think I'm a friend."

"Just as long as I don't have to go back in the hotel and get eyed romantically by Vladdy," Roope says with a toss of his eyes. "I'm all for this ghost hunt around the hotel. It's a nice distraction."

"As long as it involves removing the scary demon too," Esa whispers, looking across at Gravy. '

Gravy nods. "And no more scary Tkachuk."

"Looks like its six to one," I say to Comphy.

Comphy heaves a defeated sigh. "I hate you, Josty."

"And once again, I love you too, Comphy."

EJ straightens up. "Okay, so I'll order the essentials: a Thermocam for 200 dollars, a digital voice recorder for 33.39 dollars (the thing that's used to capture EVPs or Spirit voices), an EMF sensor or detector for 30.97 dollars (which is used to detect spikes in energy or temperature differences), a camera with night vision for 69.88, a ghost or spirit box for 129.90 (the thing with the white noise), a handy Ovilus App for 1.99 dollars (it's like a dictionary word base) and just for shits and giggles, holy water for 10.30."

"Holy water?" Esa and Gravy inquire.

"Yeah, for the demon," I reply with a sly smirk.

Esa and Gravy share a worried look.

"So our total is going to roughly be about 477 dollars. And purchased!" EJ remarks. "Let the fun begin!"

"I'm going to lose so many brain cells here..." Comphy mutters, letting his head fall into his hands.

"And when we catch the demon, we'll make sure you're not included!" I say, reaching over to slap my friend on the back.

"I wonder if you can use your ukulele to soothe the demon?" EJ explores, leaning over to look at me with curiosity.

"Maybe... I can try it."

"Oh God...no..." Comphy mutters, shaking his head and keeping it in his hands. "This is going to be a disaster!"

"This is going to be lots of fun!" Dicky and I shout out in unison.

"This is going to be scary..." Esa and Gravy whisper.

"Let's get back to the hotel! We'll do the game later on today (you know the one where the Dallas Stars FINALLY let the Colorado Avalanche have the win and make it a series!) and then tomorrow, we'll get everything together and do the ghost hunt!" I exclaim, jumping up to my feet.

"Sounds like a plan!" Dicky shouts in agreement, jumping up to join me.

With that, we all leave the picnic table and head back to the hotel, passing by a few Vegas Golden Knights in the process.