Sabotage

Prologue 2 | Jess

People liked to say that no news was good news. I tended to disagree.

News was news. Bad or good, at the very least it told you something. It could either confirm your worst fears or reignite your buried hopes. It could crush your soul or save your spirit. But it all came down to knowing.

It was the not knowing that got to me. The endless waiting, the limited supply of patience. At the end of the day, I only knew two things. That my older sister Lana was gone, and Sabotage had something to do with it.

My sister was slowly fading away from my memory. It had been five years exactly since I'd last seen her in person, the day the envelope addressed to Lana Miller came. She knew the implications of the envelope as well as I did, so she dragged me out of my bed and into the living room where my parents were waiting. We all exchanged tearful goodbyes, hugs and kisses, knowing we wouldn't be allowed to see Lana until after the programme was over. Sabotage's only rule is that there is no contact with the outside world during the three weeks you compete, even if you get eliminated early.

I guess it's nice that my last words to my sister were, "Goodbye. I love you." But if I'd known how long she would really be away, I wouldn't have rolled my eyes so much at the dramatic gathering and I definitely wouldn't have said it so casually.

After she left, my parents and I sat glued to the screen every night. Even though I was only thirteen years old, I was already obsessed with Sabotage. It was all anyone talked about at school, and my popularity soared through the roof once people discovered my sister was on it. I was famous by association.

Lana did amazingly. Out of the ten players, she made it down to the final three that performed task eight. Unfortunately, she came third, but even though she didn't win the money she'd won fame. Each girl gets their own nickname for the show, and hers was 'The Girl Next Door.' Lana was sweet and kind and her looks fit the description perfectly. She was the girl boys were friends with, but not the one they dated. Lana was the nation's little darling, and they loved her in a way that could never be applied to the devious and ruthless winners.

But after the show, she never came home. She brought no camera crew to the door to shoot her 'After Sabotage' special. She went to Sabotage, and she never came back.

We tried to reach Sabotage for news, but it was hopeless. The creators of Sabotage were completely anonymous, and there was no way of contacting them. When the 'After Sabotage' show aired, they mentioned that Lana had been overwhelmed by the sudden attention thrust onto her, and decided to become a hermit. Out of respect for her privacy, they wouldn't be releasing the details of her location.

I didn't believe this shoddy excuse for one minute. Even if Lana hadn't want to go down the fame route, she would have came home. She had parents who loved and supported her, she had three amazing friends who were devastated that she never returned, and most of all, she had me. Lana wasn't like most older sisters - she delighted in spending time with me, watching all her favourite movies with me, teaching me how to use make-up properly. Mum always said that Lana loved me so much as a baby, always trying to push my pram everywhere. Despite the almost five year age gap, Lana and I were as close as sisters could be.

I didn't believe for one second that she'd just decided to pack up and go. I knew Sabotage were lying, but I couldn't prove it. My parents couldn't handle the loss of Lana, and even though they'd been happily married for as long as I could remember they started fighting all the time. Eventually, a year after Lana's disappearance, they got a divorce. It hurt Mum so much to be in the town where her daughter had once lived, so she moved herself, back to Ireland to live with Granny. She didn't offer to take me with her.

I knew that I had to do something. I had to find out what really happened to Lana. Which is why I applied to Sabotage. After all, if anybody knew anything, it was them.

I couldn't let them know my real reasons for applying, though. There was no use in tying to hide the fact I was related to a previous player, so I merely gushed about how amazing Lana was on the show and how I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I wrote that Lana had nearly won, and I wanted to win one for the Millers this time round and dedicate it to her. I only had one shot at this; Sabotage players had to be eighteen, and I turned nineteen next month. It sucked that this year was the tenth anniversary special, which promised many unusual twists on the original game, but this was my chance. I had to take it.

I hovered nervously around the front door that morning. Dad was still asleep upstairs. It would kill him if he knew I wanted to be a part of Sabotage after what it did for Lana. I knew he wouldn't let me go, and I couldn't explain I him why I wanted to go without fear that Sabotage would cotton on. I had the element of surprise, and I couldn't lose it. I had to pretend to be just another Sabotage-obsessed player. And I knew that it would crush my Dad's soul, but I needed to know. I needed answers. If Lana was still out there, I could help her. And if she wasn't, then at least we would finally know and be able to let her rest in peace.

The post clattered through the letterbox, and I immediately lunges for it. My breath hitched in my throat as I desperately flicked past letters of overdue bills until I found the one I was looking for.

A creamy envelope addressed to Jess Miller. I'd done it. I'd got in.

I was finally going to get news.

Without hesitation, I opened the envelope and pulled out the short letter and package inside.