It was times like these that Ashley wished she had some kind of training beyond her chosen martial art. Like...knowing how to escape being duct taped to chairs. That would come in handy about now. The frustration and anger in her was growing and quite frankly Ashley was tired of being toyed around with. The woman's tone, her voice...Ashley committed it to memory, sealing it inside her brain for future use. She wasn't the best with body structure and faces, maybe, but voices? Yeah. She could use that.

>>"Several nights ago you were with a human female. You escorted her home. Why?"

And her anger built up more at the mention of Bentley, who had done nothing wrong. All she had done was take the little girl home, and that was it. Ashley threw the woman, who was now leaning against the wall, a scowl that could have peeled paint from walls. Music or no, she didn't want one of her only friends to get hurt for no reason. Ashley began to struggle, trying to break her bonds with all the strength she possessed in her body. She felt some of the duct tape rip, which only encouraged her.

“Don't...touch...her!!” Ashley yelled even though it hurt. She was a ball of pain now but that didn't matter. This woman couldn’t hurt Bentley, not because of Ashley. “I...won't let...you!!”

Cosmina's smile waned a bit. On a normal person this would be a frown. Her were a mix of cheer and annoyance as the girl got fiesty. She walked over to the chair and applied the taser again. Once she left off of that Mina tossed the taser to the side for a minute and wrapped one hand around the girl's throat to cut off her air.

"I didn't give you leave to shout or talk back. Remember, you're at my mercy and I can kill you whenever I want. Now answer the question. Why did you escort the human female home?"

Whoever this other girl was didn't matter. This girl was one of those people that would happily give their own life for another person's. Wasn't it better to let the other person died instead of having to experience the inconvenience of death yourself? Why did people like that do such things? Cosmina didn't think she would ever know. She choked the girl for a moment more before releasing her so that she could speak freely and retrieving the taser from the spot where she'd tossed it.

No one ever accused Ashley of ever being smart.

But as the tazer ripped through her again (and as soon as she could form coherent thought afterward) Ashley thought that maybe she should just not say anything at all at this point. She'd never learn WHY anything was happening to her but at least Bentley would be safe. Then again, upon further review, the question really wasn't WHO she escorted home. It was WHY. And that really did make all the difference in the world.

The threat of imminent harm was choked into her, quite literally, as the woman that was torturing her really drive the point home about being able to kill her whenever if she didn't cooperate. Ashley heard it loud and clear; she had already decided to answer the question anyways. But now wasn't the time to be a smart ass. She coughed and gasped when the woman let he throat go, spitting out some blood on her lap before shaking her head.

“She was...alone.” Ashley finally responded after about a minute of recovery. Her throat did hurt, after all, and even talking at this point was beginning to be a chore. “At night, at park. She...coulda been hurt. Just...wanted to help...”

Ashley felt her eyes go droopy, feeling the darkness creep up on her. God, her wake up was going to suck, wasn't it?

They were finally almost done. There was just one question left and then Cosmina could get rid of the girl and go collect her payment. The girl was nearly at the end of her rope by the looks of it. It didn't look like she'd stay conscious for much longer. Recalling the instructions for the last question to her mind Cosmina walked behind the girl and grabbed her by the chin. She pulled the girl's head backward until it was parallel to the back of the chair and leaned down close to her ear. Cosmina pitched her voice down even further, made it dark and venomous.

"Last question girl." she paused, "Are you the reason Whistler is dead?"

The words had bite to them in that tone of voice. Once she was done with this the girl would be allowed the release from pain that unconsciousness would bring. That would give Cosmina a chance to clean things up here, get the girl ready for transport, and perhaps with luck even dispose of her before she woke up. Maybe she'd even be nice enough to toss her out onto the sidewalk in front of the clinic she'd taken her from. If she was feeling generous. As it was she was more contemplating just leaving the girl tied up outside where someone would eventually find her.

>>"Last question girl. Are you the reason Whistler is dead?"

The last question woke Ashley up, but in a bad way. She blinked hard a few times to keep the tears from coming out but they did anyways. She frowned in an effort to keep from sobbing but it was futile. It had been a long time since she cried and that time was also because of her surrogate father (the time with Isabel didn't count, as the bonemancer had cheated). These tears were old ones, ones that she didn’t want to let go because they would be spilled over the person that had killed the only person that had cared enough to take her in.

The question struck home hard because it was a possibility that Ashley had always suspected. There were several scenarios though, and while she had ran that one in her mind she didn't really think it would have been much of a possibility. Then, like now, she was no one. Back then she was Whistler's kid girl, a chick that liked to hang out with the big boys and girls and try to learn their sport. Then, as time passed on she became one of them, a fighter. Whistler gave her an identity, and she could never thank him enough for that.

But hearing it now, out loud from another mouth from someone who could just NOT POSSIBLY KNOW anything about her life...it was a shock. And to make it worse, the images in her mind wouldn’t let the sigh of Whistler's body and the building burning with him inside of it were replaying themselves in her mind, over and over. They wouldn't go away, and the pain was as fresh as it as back then when she had to abandon her blazing home and carve out a place for herself in New York City.

“Yes...”

She didn't mean to answer it, the word just came out on it's own. But it all made sense, it all tied back to her and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. She viciously berated herself for not being smart enough to connect the pieces and inwardly screamed for not being strong enough to prevent her father's death. She watched the woman from the corner of her eyes.

“I'll find you.” she whispered. Her voice was filled with as much venom as she could muster in this state, but she knew her voice was deep and raspy enough to make sure this woman knew she wasn’t kidding. “I...promise.”

Mina laughed. It was a cold laugh. The sort of laugh that actors worked on for ages so they'd have the perfect laugh for that villain part they wanted. Mina produced it flawlessly in mockery of the girl in the chair that had just promised to find her. Keeping to the same deeper tone of voice she had used the entire time Cosmina responded while she walked over to the table and picked up a bottle and a cloth. It was chloroform. It would work well enough to put the girl out while she cleaned up and executed a clean up plan that had started forming the moment the girl had sworn she'd find her.

"You can try."

Mina liberally coated the cloth and held it to the girl's mouth and nose. It wouldn't take long.

"Now you just rest."

Mina had to clean up here, gather her things, get back to her place and get rid of the evidence. From there she'd change her outfit, put the girl in her car, and drive her to the clinic. If she wasn't allowed to kill her then manipulating her into thinking that the same woman who had been her captor was the one that found her and brought her somewhere safe would serve in death's stead. If the girl did find out then she could kill her. The letter said nothing about not killing her after completing the job and receiving payment.