Project 404 [DNF]

Chapter 1: Freedom

A/N: Ok, I'll be honest. This is my least favorite book and I cringe every time I get a notification that someone's reading it. So, with that said, continue at your own risk :')

"Hell nah! I'm not kidnapping an innocent college student." Dream exclaimed resentfully, and heard Sapnap agreeing.

"I'm not asking you to do this, I'm demanding it." A cold voice countered. 

Dream and Sapnap, two idiot who got involved with the wrong people. It had been simple things in the beginning: Stealing and maybe threatening someone. One could call them messengers for more influential people, or hitmen. Both worked; however, Dream preferred the first one. The works sure wasn't optimal or for the faint of heart. Nonetheless, if you're desperate enough, everything will soon seem appealing.

It all began with a simple trip to a casino. Dream had always been skeptical about gambling, coming from a family that had suffered the consequences of gambling addiction. Still, he had agreed to follow Sapnap to the casino, thinking nothing of it. That would soon show itself to be the biggest mistake the naïve teenagers could've done.

Maybe Dream could've gotten out of this entire mess, however Sapnap was the closest thing he had to a family. They had been through hell and back together, if they were going down, they were going down together.

One mistake at the casino led to a promise, a promise that threw them into a world of chaos and misery. They agreed to make a favor to pay for the mistake. Both were stupid enough to believe that it would end after that. Yet, four years later and their debt was somehow only growing bigger.

"We have done a lot of shady stuff for you, Schlatt. But you can't ask us to kidnap an innocent guy!" Sapnap said indignantly.

Schlatt was sitting at the opposite side of a mahogany table, picking his nails with small knife. The guy was lacking all form of empathy. Power and money were the only thing that motivated the horrible man, it didn't matter who got hurt in the process. If given the option to killing a child to get money, it didn't take the man many seconds to make up his mind.

If the two naïve teenagers, who once had agreed to accept Schlatt's offer to help them out of the gambling debt, would've known the man's true nature, then the outcome would've been a lot different.

Unfortunately, there's no reset-bottom on life. So here they were, four years later. Being asked, no, demanded to kidnap a seemingly innocent college kid.

Schlatt looked them up and down before smirking.

"Your moral is admirable. Too bad it's of no use in this line of work." Dream clenched his jaw and saw how rage was overtaking Sapnap's body. Schlatt must've sensed it too, because his demeaner changed of amused to stone cold.

"I owe you. Let's never forget that boys." Schlatt scanned their reaction. Dream lowered his gaze, afraid that he would do something he'd regret. Schlatt was a horrible person, but both Dream and Sapnap would be dead by now if it wasn't for the man in front of them. Their night at the casino was the night they dug their own graves.

He was heartless and every mission that they were sent on felt like it took away a piece of their humanity. But there was a way out. Schlatt had given them a number: 300. And with every complete mission, that number got lower. Dream and Sapnap was promised a clean slate if the followed through with 300 missions and they all knew that it was their only way out.

"If you guys manage fulfill this task, I'll grant you your freedom." Both Dream and Sapnap reacted instantly at the promise. It was their chance for freedom. Schlatt laughed menacing at their reactions.

"So, now the poor, innocent boy's life isn't as important anymore?" Dream gave Sapnap a quick glance. It was clear that his friend was thinking the same thing as him. Sure, it was unfair to put this unknown guy through the things that Schlatt had planned. Yet, the promise of freedom rang higher than the moral clock.