"What you're experiencing is called Chinese water torture or 'a dripping water machine.' It is a mentally painful process in which cold water is slowly dripped onto the scalp, forehead or face for a prolonged period of time."
She paused and stooped lower before she continued.
"The process causes fear and mental deterioration in the subject which in this case is you. The pattern of the drops will be irregular and the sensation jarring. It will cause you anxiety as you try to anticipate the next drip. You won't feel the pain at first but I assure you, it is coming sooner than you expect."
"How dare you?!" The assassin barked, trying unsuccessfully to move his body.
Vanessa was already up and had turned her back against him. She was walking toward the same door she had come in from, her killing machine walking right beside her.
She stopped abruptly at the door and turned to address him again.
"You're lucky I have a meeting to attend now. By the time I return, you will be pleading to tell me who sent you. And just in case this isn't enough torture for you, well congratulations, I have more in store for you." Another devious smile crossed her lips.
She turned again and walked away, the door banging behind her.
The assassin felt his head going in circles. He was losing his sanity. Just like she had announced, the real torture was just beginning to settle in and it was sending his mind into a mad rage.
With his hand tied to the back, he had very little hopes of breaking out now. He'd had the chance of escaping and he had thrown it away.
The master had told him what to do if he was caught but the choice wasn't an easy one. He hissed at the thought of it. Soon, Vanessa would be back and send him to his death this time. He had to act fast to avoid that.
With the cold water dropping relentlessly on his face, threatening to drive away the last bits of sanity in him, the assassin lay on his back and thought about what he had to do.
****
Vanessa Winthrop, the woman of the moment was a strikingly beautiful woman who despite being in her early thirties could easily pass for a twenty-year-old due to her youthful and radiant look.
There was a time when rumors had it that she was a vampire but the rumors had not lasted more than a week. Nobody would take such nosy bickering seriously especially after seeing Vanessa walking in the sunshine without burning to ashes like a vampire would have.
No one had the answers to her ageless look. No one but Vanessa. Perhaps it was the evil she encamped herself with or her wonderful sense of wit and judgment that helped preserve her looks. No one knew for sure, but one thing was certain, Vanessa was not a woman anyone dared to defy, openly that is.
At the ripe age of 32, she was a woman in her prime; taller than most women with delicate bright skin and a face that one could not easily forget. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, a quality she shared with her younger sister, Elsa.
With such a face and blonde hair to go with it, Vanessa was the kind of woman most women called a beauty queen. Others went an edge to call her an ageless beauty.
Beyond the grace and glamour everyone was accustomed to seeing, Vanessa was just an ordinary woman who had taken it upon herself to stand strong and save the world, one generation at a time. That's right. She had no intentions of leaving anytime soon.
Her old man, Mr. Gary Winthrop had died of a heart attack about five years earlier, and just overnight, the burden of carrying on the family name and saving the world had fallen on her shoulders.
The world as it was now had not been any saner since her father died. It had gotten way worse and every day, the resistance was constantly trying to take somebody out, anybody who stood in their way.
So, being strong was not an option for Vanessa. It was her only choice. Otherwise, she and the human race would have been long dead.
The sound of her footsteps as she walked through the columns that lined her castle made an echoing sound that seemed to reverberate with each step she took. It was pitch black in here, except for the light from the electric bulbs.
Vanessa was walking very fast, as if by so doing, she was going to be successful at running away from her fears or hiding them from Trevor, her bodyguard. If only Travis was here, he would have seen through her fears at once and calmed her down in the ways she loved.
But Trevor had no idea what was going on and even if he did, he would not know what to do. He was nothing more than just a mass of body with muscles. His brain was just a tiny fraction of his body.
They were approaching the heavy doors that housed the room where the meeting with The Order of Gotham was always held at this time every month. This was one of the most top-secret sects in the city and whatever was discussed behind those doors stayed there.
Although no one could say they trusted each other, they trusted the oath of secrecy each and every one of them took before they became a part of the order. They were living in very dangerous times and dangerous times called for very well-calculated behaviors.
Soon, they reached the door and Trevor shifted aside respectfully. Vanessa's long flowing dress swept through the floor as she walked to the door and held the handle with both hands.
Before she opened it, she turned abruptly and came face to face with Trevor. He bowed as their eyes met and waited.
Vanessa took a deep breath.
"Do you think he will speak to us?" She asked in a whisper.
"Who?"
Vanessa cursed under her breath. Did he always have to make it so obvious that he had a quarter of a brain?
"Who else? The assassin of course."
Trevor rubbed a hand on his head and thought for a moment, something he rarely did.
"That depends on the severity of our torture. Do you think the water will torture him enough to spill the truth?"
Vanessa glanced up, her eyes narrowing. "I hope it does. Because I cannot risk letting him go and gathering enough strength to come back to attack me again. Who knows? He could succeed next time. He was this close to getting me killed tonight."
Trevor looked at her, wild-eyed. Was that fear in her voice?