Hey all my wonderful fans! Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm psyched! SO--for every chapter I'm dedicating it to one of my fans. I want to know you guys and make sure you know I appreciate all the support. Thanks SO much! Keep me posting!

This chapter is dedicated to Julia Rose! Hey! I know you said you where a new reader so I thought I would dedicate this to you:-) Keep reading! And don't be afraid to PM me if you want!

Locked Inside

~*~

“Sorry, boys,” Redmond Jonas said hurriedly, “but I’m going to be away overnight tonight.” He saw the light of disappointment in his son’s eyes, and sighed. “Listen, I can’t talk about it much but… the case we thought was closed was reopened because there was an error, and now everything’s going haywire. The guy we thought was the suspect ended up not being… that’s all I’ll say.” He grabbed his luggage, which had been brought down to the foyer. “I’m really sorry boys.”

“But dad I wanted to…” Joe began, stepping forward to grasp him, but his father stopped him.

“No Joseph… not now,” he turned to the door. “Oh, and Joe… you can sleep in my room if you want. I don’t want Nick staying in there by himself.”

Then just as he was going to leave, his gaze stopped at his middle son. Joe’s was giving him a look that nearly made him stop and reconsider. The longing in his son’s eyes tore at Mr. Jonas’s heart. The boy needed him, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

Joe didn’t feel secure there without his dad, and he wanted so badly to tell him that—but he couldn’t. He could only stand there and watch him walk away.

When Mr. Jonas left, all three boys just stood there a moment. Finally after a few minutes Kevin broke the silence.

“I guess we should go get some breakfast,” he said, still trying to get over his father’s sudden departure.

“It’d have to be lunch, Kevin,” Joe said. “Breakfast was done an hour ago.”

As the walked into the dining hall and sat down to an empty table, Joe couldn’t help but shake his head.

“I still can’t get over how that girl reacted a few minutes ago,” he said. “She just seemed so upset—scared of something. I wish I knew what it was…”

“Yeah… well, get over it Joe,” Kevin said. “It’s her business. I’m done with trying to figure out what’s going on here. We came to have a vacation, Joe, not to solve a mystery. Ms. Johnson is a nice lady, and I don’t want to violate her rules anymore than we already have. We aren’t exactly being the nicest of guests, you know.”

“I agree,” Nick said. He always went with what Kevin said.

Joe still wasn’t convinced.

“Well I don’t agree,” he said. Kevin suddenly looked at him, surprised. “Don’t you see? Nothing’s adding up. If it wasn’t a big deal we keep this ‘ghost’ business a secret, then why did the cleaning maid get so worked up when I asked her about it? She was crying Kevin—that’s a mystery in itself. There’s something going on Ms. Johnson doesn’t want us to know about…”

“Um…” said a sudden voice behind them. All three boys turned to a kind looking old lady. “Excuse me, but I was wondering if you might be so kind and let me sit with you? There’re no other tables available—and I saw you had one extra chair. You boys seem like such nice gentlemen, so I hope you don’t mind?”

Kevin smiled politely at her and motioned her to their empty seat.

“Of course,” he said.

She sat down and put her purse next to her. She smiled warmly at them.

“I’m Beatrice Taylor,” she said extending a hand to all three boys, and they told her their names.

“Ah, that famous detective’s sons. It’s nice to meet you boys.” She sort of scanned over the menu. “Have you guys had nice stay so far?”

“It’s been… interesting,” Kevin said, trying to find the right words. He didn’t want to give anything away. “How ‘bout you?”

“Oh… I’ve been living here for a few years now,” she said. “The first night I stayed, I knew this was the place for me. The Melone is unlike any hotel I’ve even been to.”

“Really?” Joe asked, interested in what she meant by that.

“Yes.” She suddenly sat forward, her eyes wide with excitement. “Do you know—I was horribly sick when I came here. I could hardly walk, and I had cancer. Then… you know what happened after being here a week? My cancer was cured and I felt totally revived. I felt like I could run around and live life happily again.”

“Well that’s cool,” Nick said, though hardly thinking it had anything to do with the hotel.

“No, but listen,” Beatrice said, a big smile on her face. “It’s not happened to just me. It’s happened to lots of other guests here. They come to the hotel sick—and then soon after get better, for no apparent reason. This place is special. It saved my life. I don’t know how—but it did.”

All three boys were thinking. How can that be possible? Now this hotel was really beginning to scare them. Lightning, ghosts, people getting healed… how was it all happening, and why?

Joe suddenly broke the silence. He looked the woman in the eyes and said very solemnly, “I wonder—since you’ve lived here for so long, if you might possibly know the girl who cleans the rooms? She seems disturbed about something—and we were hoping she was alright.”

The woman shook her head sadly.

“Awe, that poor sweet girl,” she said. “Her name’s Vivian Elizabeth Patterson, but everyone here calls her Liv. Her mother lived here for a while—sweetest woman alive, but…” Beatrice got very close to them and whispered, “She was a scientist, and she was secretly researching all the odd things that’s happened here. She had a theory she wanted to prove—but she never told anyone about it. Then suddenly one day—she just died. Liv said there was no reason, she just did. So ever since then, that girl has been keepin’ her living here, cleaning rooms and all. Poor girl—I feel so sorry for her. She’s only eighteen, and still a young girl at heart.” Beatrice sighed and shook her head. “The girl was so alive before her mother died, and now she seems haunted by something none of us can understand…”

________________________________________________

As Joe and Nick sat in their rooms bored to death, their brother Kevin finally entered the room later on that day with some news.

“I just talked to Ms. Johnson, and she said she’s going away for the night to a party.” Kevin plopped down on the bed Nick was sitting on.

“Really?” Joe suddenly asked, jumping up from his bed.

Kevin looked up at him, and eyed him sternly.

“Joe, I know what your thinking… and the answer is no,” Kevin said. “We promised Ms. Johnson we wouldn’t do it again, and I intend to keep my promise.”

“You promised, Kevin,” Joe said pacing. “But I didn’t. You just assumed I did.”

“I don’t care if you did or didn’t,” Kevin said, getting frustrated. “I’m telling you not to. Dad put me in charge of you and Nick, and I’m not about to let you go getting yourself in trouble. If you do, dad will probably blame me because I didn’t watch you close enough.”

Joe twisted around to the door and roughly opened it.

“Joe, please listen to what I’m saying!” Kevin cried.

Joe stopped a moment and looked into his brother’s worried face. He sighed and looked down at his shoes.

“Fine,” he said, “but I’m sleeping in dads room tonight… by myself.”

“You promise not to do anything?” Kevin asked, eyeing him hard.

“Promise,” Joe said rubbing his eyes. “I need to read the rest of Scarlett’s diary anyway…” he began walking out. “See ya.”

Kevin sighed and looked at Nick.

“Do you think he’ll keep his promise?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah,” Nick said, getting up from his bed. “But I’m beginning to get a little worried about him. He’s way too interested in this whole business with the ghost… I just hope maybe he’ll find something better to do… soon.”

______________________________________________

Joe slumped down on his bed, smiling to himself. He was pretty good at this ‘fooling people’ stuff. But deep down he wished his brothers were with him on this. He didn’t like going behind their back.

He sighed and picked up Scarlett’s diary and began reading. He had a long wait till he could do any sneaking around. Anyways—the lighting hadn’t started up yet.

From Scarlett’s Diary:

Jonah surprised me tonight. He actually scared me. I saw him, and he looked worried about something, as if he knew something bad was going to happen. He told me in a shaking voice he needed me to do something for him, because if I didn’t—people’s lives could be at stake. He told me I needed to tell him were the secret vault was. I couldn’t believe my ears… he was asking me to show him the treasure I hid…

Joe suddenly jumped up. That’s it! Scarlett had hidden treasure—which could mean… that’s what Ms. Johnson was after. Maybe that’s why she was watching Scarlett so closely—she wanted to see if Scarlett would take her to the vault where her fortune was hidden, of course unaware Ms. Johnson was watching…

Joe jumped from his bed and ran for his door. He had to tell his brothers about this. Maybe now they’d believe him. He twisted the handle and pulled… but the doorknob wouldn’t move. He tried it again… and to his horror… the door was locked on the outside… he stopped and realized—someone had locked him in his room…

So yeah... there's another cliffy! The next chapter is Help! which has the part from the excerpt I gave you a few days ago. So NOW the stories finally getting some action in it. YEY! SAY SOMETHING PLEASE! TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS! Remember! If you review you may get a chapter dedicated to you and your story, if you have one, and if I've read it. So keep reviewing!

See ya!

MiniMe

omg! omg! omg!! this is getting really freaky!!! But its sooo awesome!!! i mean im like so into it that i scream when ever the chapter ends!!!! You know, Jonah and Jonas have a lot in common. lol. you probably know this because it has something to do with the story!! it would be cool if it was JOe from another past life or his relative or something. but if it was his relative wouldnt the other boys have heard the music and stuff. hmm. weird. i need to go think about this.....

Post more soon!!!pleassE!!! or and if you could read my story. Discovering Destiny is what its called and its by me and Brandi!! you dont have to, just a suggestion!!! post more!!!

Julia Rose

omg i luv this story u need to post more soon pleaz pleaz pleaz.

 Hey peoples! I decided to be EXTRA EXTRA nice and post two chapters instead of one. My reason for that is actually because I end this first chapter with the excerpt I gave you guys awhile back. And it's really short. So I just put two chappys so you guys had more to read.

Oh... and can you guys please bump me every once in a while please? 'Cause it would be nice to be higher on the charts instead of all the way on page 10. Oh--and big thanks to whoever gave me those ten pretty stars! If anyone else wants to give me some that would be crazy awesome!

OK--this chappy is dedicated to DG Jamie! Thanks so much for reviewing! And I LOVE your stories! They're awesome! I'm still trying to read through them all but my computer has been giving me problems so I've been having a hard time. Thanks for making me feel welcome! This ones for you!

Help!

~*~

Probably was Kevin… Joe thought grimly. But he couldn’t help but wonder if Ms. Johnson had anything to do with this. It seemed to fit—she was going away for the night so she locked him in his room to make sure he didn’t get into anything he wasn’t supposed to while she was gone. And wait… the door could only be locked on the outside with a key—which meant it couldn’t possibly be Kevin. Only problem was… if it was Ms. Johnson—how did she find out he was staying in his father’s room and not Kevin’s? He quickly brushed the thought aside as the horrible realization that someone might be watching him at that very moment, flashed across his mind. Things in that hotel were really beginning to creep him out.

He kicked the door in frustration. Then for some reason he grabbed the door handle and began pulling and yanking with all his might—not thinking it was stupid cause there was no way he’d get the door open without someone unlocking it. He finally stopped and sighed heavily. He flopped down on the nearest bed. He had to calm himself down and start thinking. After a few minutes of throwing ideas around of possible escape, he finally slammed a fist into his pillow. Then suddenly he stopped. Wait…

He nearly slapped himself. Hello! He had a cell-phone! He could call Kevin a few rooms down and have him do something. He grabbed for his cell in his pocket… except—there was no cell-phone.

“This just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?” he growled, irritated.

I guess that idea gets thrown out the window… he thought grimly.

Wait… Joe jumped up. A window!

He ran over to the one window of the room and opened it. He kicked out the screen and looked down. He swallowed. Not good, he thought. Joe never liked heights. But it was the only solution he had.

Ok… he said to himself as he climbed out the window. Just don’t look down… He looked down. Suddenly he closed his eyes and held on the window for dear life. Oh, no, no, no! This isn’t good. Not good at all… But again—there was nothing else he could do. He took a deep breath and got a good foothold in one of the big stones of the house’s wall, and slowly made his way down to the first floor.

Before he knew it—Joe was stepping onto soft earth. He survived! He looked up and shuddered to think he’d made it all that way without falling. Suddenly there was a flash of lightning and rain began falling. Great… he didn’t even think about how he was going to get back in without being noticed. Then he looked, and saw something. There was a light coming from one of the bedrooms downstairs… and the window was open! He began walking towards it. This may work out better than he thought…

Suddenly there was the sound of a twig snapping behind him. Joe jumped and would’ve turned to see what it was… if it wasn’t for the huge arm that suddenly reached out and grabbed him.

Joe fought—but didn’t have much of a chance. An iron arm pinned him across the chest. He tried crying for help but the giant of a man quickly silenced him with his other hand. Joe kicked and struggled for dear life—but it didn’t seem to weaken his captor.

The guy, who was dressed all in black, began dragging him to a nearby shed. Rain stung Joe’s eyes, and he was weakening, but he continued to give the man a hard time. Finally, when they reached the gardening shed, the man roughly shoved him up against the wall, and pinned him there. Lightning flashed and Joe finally got a glimpse of the man. His head was mostly covered—but his ghostly silver eyes were glaring at him. A shiver ran up Joe’s spine as he suddenly saw the lightning flash off of something shiny in the man’s free hand. A pocketknife…

“Good boys don’t mess in other peoples business…” he hissed in a cold, rough voice.

Who’s the Ghost?

~*~

It took a moment for Joe’s mind to register what the man meant—he was too busy watching the glimmering knife flash in his hand.

Suddenly the man shoved him harder into the wall to get his attention.

“You listen to me, boy,” he hissed, “and you listen carefully. You’ll tell me everything I want to know—or somebody gets hurt…” he rolled the knife around in his hand for affect.

Joe tried hiding it, but he was shaking all over. The rain didn’t make it any better either. He had no idea what the right thing was to do—so he just nodded.

“Good,” the man grunted. “Cooperation may keep you and your brothers alive.”

Joe suddenly got defensive at the mention of Kevin and Nick.

“Hey, you leave my brothers out of this!” he cried.

“Again…” the man said, getting in his face, “That’s if you listen and do what I tell you.”

Joe just glared.

“Now, I want you to answer me a little question here…” the man brought the knife closer to Joe’s face. “How did you find out about Scarlett?”

“How do you know about her yourself?” Joe hissed back. “I thought Ms. Johnson didn’t want anyone to—”

The man shoved Joe again and brought the knife closer.

“Don’t be smart with me, boy!” he cried. “Just answer my question!”

Joe stared at him for a minute.

“Her diary,” he said bluntly.

“Her diary?” the man gasped suddenly. “…didn’t know she had a diary… where did you find it?”

“The library… stuck behind some books on a shelf.”

Joe couldn’t see it, but he knew the man was smiling.

“Good, good…” He drew the knife away a bit. “Now for my next question. The night you saw Scarlett, she was playing the organ right?”

Joe nodded. But he was confused. How on earth did he know about that? The only people there were he and his brothers… and Ms. Johnson…

“What song was she playing?” the man pressed.

“Um…” Joe thought back to that night. What was it? “Beethoven, I think.”

The man snickered. He had gotten what he wanted.

“Good, kid… you just saved your life.” He suddenly thrust Joe onto the muddy ground and stared down at him threateningly. “But you listen carefully boy…” he said walking up to Joe’s form on the ground. “If you tell anyone about tonight—if you don’t quit investigating about Scarlett… you and your brothers are dead.”

“Are you threatening me?” Joe growled.

“I’m making a promise, boy…” the man said, “and don’t you forget it.” He glared at him. “I’m watching you. I know where you are, know what you’re saying, I know everything. So don’t think you’ll get away with anything. Do I make myself clear?”

Joe stared helplessly up at him, and shivered. Now he was in trouble.

“Crystal,” Joe answered.

The man kicked a boot at him.

“Then get out of here,” he said.

________________________________________________

Joe ran. He ran faster then he’d ever remembered running. When he arrived at the window he’d seen open not but a few minutes ago, the light had been turned off—but the window was still open. Someone must’ve forgotten to shut it. He thrust himself up into it without wasting a second. When he was safely in the house, he quickly shut the window behind him.

Everything he was holding inside him—fear, exhaustion—suddenly fell apart. He slumped his shaking, rain-soaked body against a wall, and breathed. He was scared. Horribly scared. He was all alone—and no one could help him… not even his brothers. Alright Joe, c'mon. He tried telling himself. Get yourself together. You can do this... Joe slowly slid to the ground, his head falling to his chest. “No…” he sobbed aloud. “I can’t.” His brothers couldn’t be there to help him. He wanted so badly to tell them everything—but he couldn’t, or something terrible may… He couldn’t think about it now. It was too horrible to think about.

Suddenly out of nowhere it seemed, he heard something. His head shot up. Crying… someone was crying. He got up and looked around. It sounded like a girl… maybe it was Liv…

He knew it was near. Joe looked around the room, and then his gaze fell on the wardrobe. The crying was coming from inside it. He walked slowly over to it, opened the wardrobe door carefully and walking inside. He opened the secret door and saw there was a hazy light coming from inside the room. He went in and jumped at what he saw. There in the corner of the room… sat Scarlett…

When she saw him, she screamed. Joe rushed over to her, shaking his head.

“Shh, shh…” he said in a soft voice. “It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you…”

Her hazy form crawled slowly away from him in fright.

“What do you want from me!” she cried. “Why do you constantly follow me?! Can’t the dead leave the living alone? Why do you haunt this house?”

“What?” Joe asked confused.

“Just stay away you ghost!” She cried. “Stay away!”

Tell me your thoughts! REVIEW!

wow! that was ahmazing!!!really good. I think joe is the ghost that scarlett used to see. you know joe jonas. joe jonah. i think she thought he said jonah but he really said jonas. but maybe im wrong. welll.... most likely im wrong, lol. post more soon!!

Julia Rose