The Nightmare (The Mist #2) - Regine Abel Page 0,20

dropped at the sight of a full construction crew hard at work. They had not only already replaced the broken glass wall, they were now busy reinforcing it with a second layer. How the heck they got here with the Mist was beyond me.

Along the way, Thomson showed me the training room, the cafeteria, as well as the access to a giant holding area where various Mist Beasts—like that seahorse fairy they had used as bait earlier—were held captive. The idea of caging creatures bothered me. However, knowing they weren’t sentient but as apathetic as that fairy had been, made me feel better.

My room blew my mind. Huge and spacey, everything boasted light shades of grey, beige, and white. The modern but minimalistic décor gave it a very Zen feel. Everything screamed quality, from the King-sized bed, to the plush comforters and puffy pillows piled on top. A designer desk with sleek lines and a cushioned desk chair faced the wall left from the door. A giant screen covered the entire side wall in front of the seating area further left from the desk. It currently displayed an exotic wilderness scenery, creating the peaceful haven that I needed right now.

But it was the delectable aroma of the three dishes covered on the small, two-person table next to the seating area that retained my attention. My stomach growled from a hunger I hadn’t really felt creeping in with all the insanity of the past few hours.

Hours… I couldn’t believe how much my life had completely changed in such a short time. I uncovered the first plate and stared in disbelief at the huge, bone-in ribeye steak sitting on my plate. Since the Mist had nearly wiped out the herds of many farms and breeders, the cost of meat had skyrocketed. Everyone could still afford most cold cuts, bacon, and offal. Everything else had become a treat for the common folk. Thankfully, research and improvement of plant-based meat over the past decade had greatly helped compensate. Furthermore, fish and seafood having been spared by the Mist Beasts—who didn’t go into the water—had taken a much bigger place in the world’s diet while remaining affordable.

But that single ribeye in my plate would easily cost a little over two-hundred dollars. I didn’t doubt for a minute that they had given me a bone-in steak so that there would be no question it was the real thing. I barely touched the all-dressed baked potato—delicious though it was—or the accompanying collard green salad. A smart decision, too. By the time I finished the meat, even sucking the bone, my belly was close to bursting. It would have been a crime to have filled my stomach with the sides and wasted such a divine gift. I washed the whole thing down with the glass of red wine on the tray before bringing the whole thing to the tray slot outside of my room for one of the staff to pick it up.

After locking my room, I showered in my private bathroom and changed into the nightgown I had brought in my overnight bag. Before leaving his office to go see Zain, Thomson had it delivered to my room.

Thankfully, it was still too early to go to bed. A part of me dreaded that moment. For a second, I wondered if I should have taken Anika up on her two offers. But I didn’t want to take any drugs to calm me or help me sleep. Once I faced Zain—and I didn’t doubt I would soon—I needed to have all of my wits about me. And the second option of sleeping with their cameras monitoring me in case I became excessively agitated so one of them could wake me just felt too creepy. I didn’t want some stranger observing me while I slept.

But the truth was that I’d subconsciously wanted that confrontation. I hadn’t known how things were going to play out, only that they could allow me to put to rest the unresolved trauma that had been my constant companion for the past eleven years.

I hesitated for half a beat then settled in front of the desk. A laptop on a closed network had been left for me. It opened on an internal wiki that contained the answer to every question I could possibly have about the Mist—well, almost—the Mistwalkers, Nightmares, murders, and the Fourth Division’s initiatives.

I skimmed through a number of pages that covered things I already knew from both speaking with Thomson and reading conspiracy