A rush of cold ran over me, forcing me awake.

"What the–?!" I looked around violently, searching for why I was woken up like this.

Henry squatted in front of me, hold a now empty bucket. My clothes were soaked and began to stick to my body as a shiver ran down my spine, the cold began to set in. Henry splashed me with the coldest water he could find. My teeth started to chatter uncontrollably as I scowled and followed him with my eyes.

"Since you're up, let's get the day going, shall we?" Henry grinned, taking his sweet time to walk over. "Now, how should I do it today..." He mumbled to himself.

"What are you doing?" I said as I tried moving away.

"I know!" He got enthusiastic about something he thought of.

He stood next to me and pulled down a folded table, one I didn't even notice was there. What looked like another stone in the wall, was really a lever. He pulled it down and a wooden table-like device emerged from the wall. It was low to the ground, and looked like an ironing board. There were leather straps on the sides and bolted to the bottom. There was a buckle on one side and holes in the other, like a giant belt.

"What's that for?" I stared at it, wide-eyed. I had no clue what it could be for, but the grin on his face told me I was about to find out.

In a single, fluid movement, he unhooked my chains from the bolt near the ceiling and intertwined it through the hook at the end of the wall table thing. He yanked the chain through, pulling me along with it.

"Hey! What's -" before I could finish, I was tugged onto the table by my hands. My wrists were pulled tight against the table as he locked the chain in place.

He walked around to me and started to lift me up onto the wood.

"Let go of me!" I flailed and kicked out, connecting with his nose. Blood suddenly flowed out, followed by the hardest backhand.

"You stubborn b*tch!" His hand connected right below my left eye, sending my head into a fog and causing the world to start blurring in my eye. After the fog began to lift, the pain started. First, it was a dull pain in my cheek. Next, the left side of my face was tingly and on fire, like a bunch of fire ants were having a field day beneath my skin.

That hurt so bad...

While I was dazed, he had moved me into position. He strapped me to the table at my waist and my calves. I was lain on my back, staring at the ceiling. The leather straps were cold against my already freezing skin. I tried to tilt my head around to see what was happening, but a metal contraption clamped the sides of my head. The clamps tightened, holding my head perfectly still.

"What are you going to do to me?!" I spat as I demanded. I was angry, but I was mainly scared. If this is what he did to Shelby, I'm in trouble. She hasn't looked so good ever since the first day I got in here.

"You talk too much. Just shut up!" He slapped his hands down onto the wooden table on either side of my head. The clap they made, boomed in my ears, making me flinch.

A thinned leather strap was pulled over my lips and tightened against the corners of my mouth, making it hard to talk, let alone make distinct words. I mumbled against it, but the leather moistened from my breath, my tongue unknowingly catching a taste of the dried animal skin. It tasted horrible.

Then, my view of the ceiling was covered by a rag. It roughed up my eyelashes as I tried to blink, I ended up closing them. I was left with only the sounds that surrounded me. There was a squeaking, like that of wheels on a food cart. It was distant, then got louder and louder, until it went silent right beside me. I tried flicking my head to the side, only to be harshly reminded that my head was clamped still.

A wave of emotions started to run rampant in my mind. At first, I was so angry I cussed him out in every curse word I knew. I felt the rag lift off my lips with each heavy curse I spat. Then, as anger drained out, fear and panic set in. I heard him move stuff around. Something metal clanged, plastic or paper scraped against itself and even a muffled cough from Henry. My heart pounded in my chest, going out of control. The heat of my own breath on the rag started to dampen my face and my shirt collar was drenched in sweat.

I sucked in air and swallowed the thick saliva that began to collect in the back of my throat, hinted with the taste of leather. Then everything went quiet. It felt like I was left alone with the beating from my chest.

Suddenly, a drop of cold water landed on the other side of the rag, right on my forehead. It startled me at first, but as time proceeded, they became expected. I couldn't think of what was happening.

Is there a leak? Is it raining?

After about a minute, however, it got annoying. It kept falling on the same spot, every time. The rag absorbed all the water like a dry sponge. Soon the rag was completely saturated, to the point that the water began to bead off, down my neck. Despite the rag overflowing, the water droplets continued their "drip drop" routine.

Drip
...
Drip
...
Drip

This single, repeated drop of water annoyed the hell out of me. It was aggravating that there was nothing I could do to stop it. I started to lose focus and just wanted it to stop. I twisted and turned against the straps, tried forcing my body up in a bridge position, but it was all for nothing. I tired myself out before I got anywhere. Through my hard work to try and escape, the drips intensified.

Not really, they felt the same, except each drop felt heavier and heavier. They fell at the same pace they always had, and seemed to cover the same amount of splash area, so what's happening?

Why is this happening! I can't stand it anymore!!

I kicked and screamed as tears flowed from my eyes. The drips began to echo throughout my brain. They seemed to drill the drop feel into my very soul. I curled my toes at the sensation the drops made, doing nothing but crying.

There was a satisfied chuckle from out of the silence; Henry.

He's amused by this! Is this...is this a form of torture? It seems so harmless... We get rained on all the time, why does a single drop of water cause so much discomfort??

As I focused as to why this was working, the drips forced themselves into my thoughts.

Drip
...
Drip
...
Drip

I cried even more. This was more than I could take. Each drop of water tormented me in its own way. Not only was Henry getting a kick out of this, but each droplet laughed as they burst on my forehead. I heard their laughter as they fell.

I'm going insane...! Relax, just relax... This is what he wants. Torture is meant to break one's will. I don't want to give up. I won't give up. I can't give up. But I want it to stop...

As if on command, the endurance ran out. My body and mind granted my wish and began to give in. I fell into a trance. A trance that was formed by induced insanity and small droplets of water.

"Ah-ha. You were so stubborn when you arrived. Felt like you were on top of the world. Look at you now. My first technique made you submit." Henry chuckled, clearly happy that he had won at torturing me.

What's happening? Why can't I scream or fight? Fight! Don't give in to this freak...!

It was no use. I was broken.

Drip
...
Drip
...
Drip