S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒ lives in the closet of a depressed schizophrenic man in Lafayette, Louisiana, named Francis Gronkowski. S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒  finds it to be a place with plentiful amounts of fear, with the Nightmare rarely having to even interact with the man at all to be capable of harvesting the fear that wafts off of the man at nearly every waking moment. Not that it doesn't terrorize the man further anyway. The home itself is a mess, magazines and empty food wrappers strewn about everywhere, the house becoming a trap for anyone who needs to walk. Luckily for the Nightmare, it doesn't. It serves as an amazing ground for harvesting fear while also being separated from the rest of society and anyone who would save the man from his torment.

S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒  currently doesn't have a need for or consistent source of income right now. The Nightmare finds itself more often considering the fear it harvests from its victims as far more valuable than mere wads of paper, although it does understand the significance it holds to its favorite variety of prey. It doesn't "spend" the money it could take from its current captive on anything as of now, but the fear it considers a currency is currently used to fuel itself and its abilities. Without a source of fear, the Nightmare is just that. A bad dream, with no real method of exhibiting danger through any other way a normal (if not strong) human could.

The Nightmare's Ambition is to become feared by everyone on the planet, further solidifying its grasp on its inhabitants, becoming able to harvest the collective fears of the entire world, rather than limit itself to singular instances of prey.

It would go as far as it needs to to achieve this. Killing, torturing and manipulating is all part of the game it plays to achieve its goal of, effectively, world domination. It might even consider allowing those who prove useful to live and assist it, if only until it finds itself able to harvest them safely later.

While the Nightmare values its own life very deeply, it understands there are few ways to REALLY kill it, meaning it is willing to go to great lengths to increase its power that would otherwise grow at such an insignificant rate in comparison.

The most defining event in S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒ 's "life" was the time it revealed itself to a child in order to attempt to frighten them. It was no real attempt to harvest any meaningful amount of fear, as while the fear a child brings can sate a sort of sweet tooth of the Nightmare's, it isn't very filling. A sort of high, if you would.

But what happened this time was odd. The child didn't scream at all or even seem all that surprised. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't his greatest attempt at instilling terror, not even close, but it still seemed odd.

They were probably not even 3 years old, had black hair, and seemed to have a look about them that, to S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒'s surprise, made them rethink their choice to reveal themself to the child.

At the sight of the child's eyes, it felt something, a feeling. It wasn't intense, or even there for long, but it felt it and it did NOT like it. Fear.

Why was it scared of this child? It couldn't possibly do anything to harm it in any way, even if it grew up to become a strong man right then and there.

So why-

That was when it happened. That feeling escalated as the child began crying, and as this happened, the Nightmare felt something else, much more alarming happening. It was being dragged somewhere, pulled and sucked towards the child with an immense pressure. That was impossible! It didn't have a real physical body, so how was-

It had no more time to think as it was getting closer and closer. Once a sliver of it touched the child's skin, it knew what was happening. It was being eaten. 

The Nightmare quickly severed the apprehended portion of its body off, which gave it enough time to slink away into a dark alley. As it got farther and farther away, it noticed something.

The child stopped crying, but it heard something despite being nowhere nearby.

"Ra...bby?"

S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒  knows few people personally, as most of its interactions lie either with instilling terror in an individual in their home before fleeing or terrorizing those who can't trust their own minds. Out of those individuals, here are those he does know:

Francis Gronkowski - A 49-year-old man with schizophrenia. He lives alone by himself in his home in Louisiana, paranoia and fear guiding his every move. His house is a deathtrap to all who enter without knowledge of the various piles of magazines and empty food wrappers lying about that serve as deterrents for people to enter, the man not trusting anyone, even government officials or psychiatric professionals. He tells himself that he doesn't believe the monsters exist, but they hurt him all the same. He has long since given up on trying to combat the voices or "delusions" but he is still very cautious and combative towards people, as his delusions appear almost exclusively as monsters in humanoid shape.

Lauren Mills - A kind-faced 29-year-old woman working as Francis's psychologist. She used to come by a lot more often, but now only sees Francis about once at the end of every month. She is very kind and patient with the older man and truly cares for his health. She obviously doesn't believe in any of the delusions the man sees as being true or real, but she is left slightly curious and concerned with the exact details and descriptions of how some of the destruction in the house was done...

Kevin Allen - A bratty 12-year-old who used to be much more snot-nosed than he is now, thanks to S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒. The Nightmare still pays the boy some visits every now and then to give him a reminder of the type of fear he will feel if he is seen acting in such an annoying manner. This will probably either force the boy to become competent or give him life-long trauma, and honestly, S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒ doesn't care.

S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒ doesn't quite remember much of their life, but remembers that they had no childhood to speak of. Their "parents", if you'd like to call them that, were humans with so many problems, listing out only a quarter would get you multiple life sentences. S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒  didn't attend any schooling, nor did they fit in to any sort of human-dominant society. It is also important to note that they didn't try to, either. 

The Nightmare does not think upon Humanity kindly, in general. It knows the the worst of them, and knows the best. The "best", as seen by Humanity itself, usually involves exploiting the masses to acquire pieces of paper and the "legal rights" to own ideas that then make you more paper. This paper can then be used to blah blah blah, "I'm better than you" people. 

It is disgusting. To lump itself in with Humanity would be a sin worth hundreds more than murder. 

As much as I would like to say they have, S̶̙͎͍̦̦͎̈́̂̎̐̀͛̓̉̇͒̔͒ą̴̪͎̘̗̈̐̅̋̕l̷̡̡̧̛̻̲͔̩̣̩̰̙͖̙̓̒͐͜ś̴̝t̶̨̢̛͚̹͖͇̺̫̘͍̘̫̑͊͑̐̂̇̌͒̕͝ơ̶̽̂́̆̈̍̀̑͆͘͜n̶͌̾͒  has never felt love for someone, much less a human. The closest emotion to love they have felt is just an aggressive disinterest or apathy. But even then, the Nightmare finds that disinterest or apathy it feels towards someone a sweet solace from the deluge of hate it feels towards the rest of the world. Even if it can't bring itself to interact in any meaningful way with another it finds less unbearable than the rest, it still finds itself feeling a small comfort when in the presence of those it does.

To clarify, it can only bare to be around those who share in its deep hate, or find themselves being depressed as well. While it would be forced to fuel those negative emotions and torment those who succumb to the hate and fear, if it has the opportunity, it likes to simply drift around those who don't know of it, feeding on faint traces of emotion and "resting" amongst the apathy.