Pinned but Fluttering

Outtake Following Chapter 28, EPOV

Pinned but Fluttering Outtake Following Chapter 28

Edward's POV

I slammed the front door behind me in utter frustration, ignoring the crashing of the small original Ansel Adams photo to the tiled foyer of our home, the tinkling of broken glass one more irritant to my already over-taxed mind.

Crossing the side yard at a rapid human pace in case Isabella could see me, an exercise in self-control that only worsened my already-strained temper, I threw open the garage door, nearly tearing the large door off its track, and flung myself into one of my few indulgences: my silver Aston-Martin Vanquish. The engine roared satisfactorily to life at my merest touch, and I sped from the garage, tires squealing against the concrete in front of the garage before finding purchase on the three-mile dirt-and-gravel driveway which led to welcome and quite necessary freedom.

I refused to allow myself to consider the real reason behind my childish tantrum and hasty exit. I refused to let myself view my actions today as running away. I was no coward, after all.

Or was I? After all, this wasn't the first time I had fled her presence....

I'm not sure how long or how far I drove as my thoughts remained out of my control, focusing against my will on a pair of beautiful, bemused brown eyes. When at last I became aware of my surroundings, I found myself driving down the mountain range into the flats that led to Spokane in the eastern portion of the state; I knew that I must have been driving mindlessly for several hours. Fortunately, the day was cloudy and gray, and I quickly located a small park along the outskirts of the city. Surrounded by scrubby forest, this place wasn't the ideal spot for a run. But I had been stationary for far too long, and I needed to move. Now. Fast.

Locking the door of the Vanquish behind me, I jogged at a sedate human pace across the flat green lawns of the park and into the line of trees at the far side. The park was only sparsely populated this day even though it was a Saturday. As soon as I was out of human sight, I was running with a speed and energy that surprised even me. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't know how long I'd be running. But the repetitious motion of the running brought me a the merest beginnings of peace...a peace I hadn't felt since first catching the irresistible scent of one Isabella Swan.

My demon.

My angel.

During the drive, I had not allowed my mind to think about her. But for all my decades of careful self-control of body and mind, she had somehow become the focus of my every thought. I knew, without a doubt, that this situation would have to stop. Or change somehow.

I could not think about her.

I could not allow her into my world.

My world was simply too dangerous for such a delicate girl.

I had to protect her. Somehow. Someway.

I had to protect her...from myself.

As the miles disappeared beneath my feet, I thought back to the television program that had startled me and prompted my dramatic exit. To see splayed across the widescreen the elements of my own human era, the halcyon days before the horrors of The Great War (the war which was later named World War I after another global war began in the 30s and 40s), gripped the earth, was unnerving to say the least. The clothing, the manners, the cadence of speech, even the gentility of that time was all too familiar to me.

I could not believe that Alice had exposed Bella to my own human time. It was dangerous...and unspeakably reckless. And worse, my sister had done it on purpose, and I was not sure that I would be forgiving her any time soon....