Silenced

Hindsight

Anna's parents, John and Vanessa Castle, were finally able to catch a flight home from the Caribbean.

"I can't believe our Anna is in trouble, John," Vanessa stared out of the planes window where she anxiously sat; playing with the thin gold bracelets she wore on her right arm, she prayed for Anna's safety. The bracelets were sentimental to her and held a special place in her heart as they were gifted to her two birthdays ago, from John and Anna.

When their plane landed, a tall and slim flight attendant, with very curly dark hair, directed them off of the plane. They were in Cypress, a big city about forty-five minutes away from Monterey Shore, John couldn't wait to get off the plane and head towards Monterey Shore Police Department.

John hurriedly exited the plane with Vanessa in tow.

"John, I'm so worried!" Vanessa whispered as they walked into the airport.

"Vanessa, I am too. The only way we are going to get to the bottom of this is for us to go and talk with investigator Trish at the Monterey Shore Police Department,"

John reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone as he hurriedly walked along the gray carpeted hallway of the airport. With his phone still in hand, be made his way towards baggage claim. Once he spotted his luggage, he immediately pulled it from the baggage carousel.

"Did you call the police department, yet?" Vanessa asked worriedly as she nervously bit her nails while she followed closely behind John.

"Doing it now," John replied, holding the cell phone to his ear.

He replayed the voicemail message he received from Trish...

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Castle, my name is Trish and I'm an investigator with the Monterey Shore Police Department. I have your daughter, Anna here under arrest on some very serious charges. Please give me a call back immediately. Thanks,"

Little droplets of sweat seeped through John's skin as his heart raced.

What could Anna have done? He thought.

John hastily dialed the phone number to Monterey Shore Police Department, his fingers nervously slipping across the keypad as he pressed down on each number. His thoughts began to aimlessly venture around in his mind.

What could Anna have done? She's always been a good girl.. did it have something to do with her bipolar disorder?

John couldn't turn off his thoughts. His mind kept flowing with all the potentials like a broken water faucet that couldn't contain its free flowing water.

His heart beat rapidly, and with every thud, he imagined the worst possibilities.

He waited impatiently for someone at the department to answer his call, but the phone just rang, and rang. There was no answer. Trish's voicemail soon sounded through the phone.

"Hi, you've reached Trish I am currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone. If this is an emergency please call my cell at 929..." her voice slowly faded away as John removed the phone from his ear and hung up.

"Vanessa, we've gotta drive down to Monterey Shore Police Department. We need to speak to the investigator in person and find out what's happened to Anna," John said in a concerned voice.

Vanessa looked up at John, her eyes filled with fear.

"What do you think Anna could've done? It sounds so serious," Vanessa nervously placed her left hand over her heart.

"I have no idea, let's get going. It's an hour drive down to Monterey Shore," John gently grabbed a hold of Vanessa's arm and they walked out of the airport.

******

The drive down to Monterey Shore was an anxious one for both John and Vanessa. John couldn't stop thinking about the what if's.

What if Anna stole something? No, it sounds more serious. Did she commit a burglary? No, why would she?! She has everything she ever wanted. What if Derrick put her up to it?! I bet he did, that asshole!.. or maybe Anna assaulted someone while she had an episode of psychosis?

"Vanessa, I'm guessing she assaulted someone, what do you think?" John quickly turned his head away from the road to look at Vanessa while he drove. He noticed her eyes getting big.

"Why do you think that, John?"

John shrugged his shoulders as he stared blankly at the road ahead. The bushes and trees sat silently still along the road. The wind had calmed down turning a mid October's day into one that felt more like a typical summer's day in Monterey Shore.

Vanessa sunk lower into the passenger side seat as she stressfully thought about Anna.

A smile abruptly appeared across her face as she began to think of Anna and how much fun she had last summer spending time with her cousins. Anna was the happiest that they'd ever seen her. And when John and Vanessa spoke to Anna's therapist, he considered Anna's time with her cousins as being therapeutic, so John and Vanessa made it a point to continuously allow Anna time to spend with her cousins.

Vanessa's smile quickly disappeared as a frown slowly appeared across her face. She began to think about the time Anna wanted to learn to surf last summer. Surfing was Derrick's favorite pastime and to appease Derrick, Anna decided she wanted to take part in surfing too.

Anna tried surfing last summer for the first time in her life, but the forceful waves tumbling all over the ocean frightened her. After nearly breaking her arm a few hours after stepping foot on a surfboard, she was scared. The thought of almost drowning sent chills up and down her spine. Anna immediately came to the conclusion that surfing just wasn't for her.

Derrick encouraged Anna to surf as he was a hard-core surfer and nearly a pro. He won a few local surfing contests, but never pursued it further, although many people, including his parents thought he should have. He admittedly had talent in it.

Vanessa recalled a particular event that occurred during that time as well. While sitting underneath an umbrella that was tucked neatly into the sand, Vanessa laid out on the beach and enjoyed spending time with Anna as she learned to surf. Vanessa abruptly sat up as she heard a wince come from Anna's mouth as she stood near the water. Derrick looked as if he was being quite aggressive with Anna, as he held her wrist tightly and wouldn't let it go.

Vanessa stood up and walked towards them. Her feet dipping into the hot sand with each stride, but it didn't bother her. She was ultimately concerned for Anna's safety. Just moments before Vanessa stood in front of them, she saw Derrick violently shove Anna a few feet away from the ocean, Anna nervously breaking her fall as she nervously looked into the ocean while the water swayed back and forth over her feet and legs.

Vanessa yelled out to Derrick.

"Hey Derrick, what do you think you're doing?!"

Derrick turned to look at Vanessa as she stood there, her feet firmly planted in the sandy beach.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Castle, I was just

...um... uhh.. trying to get Anna acquainted with the water," Derrick stuttered.

"Well there are better ways to do that than pushing her full force into the water," Vanessa felt the anger building up inside her, but she didn't allow it to get the best of her.

When they returned home Vanessa forbid Anna from seeing Derrick again. But of course Anna still went behind her parents back and continued to date him.

"John, I think whatever trouble Anna is in has to do with Derrick. What do you think?" Vanessa turned her head to look at John. John shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm afraid I've been thinking the same thing,"