The Nightmare (The Mist #2) - Regine Abel Page 0,45

There was no question in my mind that he had previously been feeding off of his distress. The same kind of electric waves flowed from his mouth into Darryl’s as Robert’s body quickly deflated. Once done, the Nightmare threw down the unrecognizable remains of his prey, and then he casually walked away. To my utter shock, he entered his victim's vehicle and drove off.

I shuddered, swallowing back the bile that wanted to come up. A sideways glance at Zain made me even more uneasy. His eyes glowed with a sadistic glint that made my blood run cold. A gleeful grin stretched his lips as he raised an eyebrow in a way that spoke of approval, if not admiration.

“Smart and effective,” Zain reflected out loud. He looked at Thomson who was staring at him with a slight frown. “He made maximum use of the energy his prey had to offer. It is a smart move. Why settle for the lifeforce alone when you can also have the fear?” Zain added with a shrug. “That Nightmare is clearly focused on building his strength. This was not merely a hunt for pleasure, although he did get that as well.”

“He's been getting plenty of it and growing exponentially bolder in his attacks,” Thomson said in a grim tone. “I will spare you the dozen other murders similar to this one that we managed to capture. However, this will give you a true sense of how powerful he has become, or rather how powerful he was five days ago.”

Clasping my hands on my knees, I braced for what would follow. I was shocked to see the feed from a camera inside a shooting range. Surely, the Nightmare wouldn't be so bold as to go hunt in a place filled with ‘prey’ armed with live rounds that could kill him?

The same handsome blonde man we had seen in the previous recording walked into the range area, and casually strolled towards one of the empty lanes. Instead of entering it, he continued until he reached the last stall. He then grabbed the man busy shooting there by the back of his collar and yanked him back with enough force to send him crashing against the back wall.

Half-stunned, the poor man scrambled to his feet and aimed his weapon at Darryl who just stood there with a malicious grin. Opening his arms wide, he appeared to dare the man to proceed. His target mouthed something that I couldn't hear, but that I guessed to be a warning to step back or get shot. And then Darryl’s ethereal shadow began swirling around him. The man made the sign of the cross, no doubt praying to a higher power to save him, then opened fire.

The bullet bounced harmlessly off the thin layer of shadow surrounding Darryl. The Nightmare suddenly rushed his victim and began draining him. He was almost done when another one of the shooters finally noticed something abnormal was happening. All of them had been deaf to the victim’s likely screams due to their ear protectors, and the loud noise of the weapons being fired at the targets down the lanes.

That second man yelled, and pointed his weapon at Darryl who ignored him as he casually finished his ‘meal.’ As the man drew the attention of the people in the neighboring stalls separated by full-height, black partitions, Darryl discarded the dried-up husk to turn towards his next victims. The person in the lane next to him had still not noticed the unfolding drama. Darryl’s tentacle shot out and nabbed him. The others didn't dare to shoot for fear of harming the Nightmare’s second prey. But as he began feeding off of that one as well, they realized they had no choice but to intervene.

They opened fire, but once more, the bullets appeared to hit an invisible wall. Darryl didn't flinch, in appearance completely immune.

“How the fuck does he do that?” Zain whispered to himself with awe laced with greed.

But even as he continued feeding, Darryl moved towards the other people, his victim partially serving him as a meat shield. They started to back away while shooting. Darryl merely increased the pace. As soon as he was within ten meters of them, he deployed his tendrils, pinning the arms of four targets against their bodies, immobilizing them. Four more people came running in, having undoubtedly been alerted by the security camera feed. But faced with the horrible spectacle that welcomed them, a couple of them ran back out while