Page 8 of My Three Mountain Men

Again, I was baffled by this place, and I curled my aching feet against the soothing warmth of the ground below me, scanning the area for any kind of footwear. But before I could find anything, the door opened again, and I gasped as the trio re-entered. They all drew back in unison to see me standing.

“Oh… I don’t think you should be out of bed,” the one who had been sitting by the bed told me.

Brooks.

I also stepped back, determined to put space between myself and them as I sized them up. Looking at them on even ground now, their similarities were more apparent. All three had dark hair, the shade of chestnut only different by one or two shades.

The oldest and tallest had the fullest beard and the most intense blue eyes, a hood of aloofness covering any emotion that he might have been experiencing.

But the one behind him, slightly shorter at about six-foot-two, worried me more. He eyed me with naked suspicion, his cerulean irises glittering with skepticism as they raked over my trembling form.

“I-I’m not going back to bed,” I sputtered. “W-what are you going to do to me?”

My question seemed to confuse them, all three unable to hide their surprise.

“Do to you?” Brooks echoed. “You were unconscious in a pile of snow at the side of—”

He looked warily at the others. “At the side of a remote mountainside.”

It was my turn to be shocked. “Where? What?” I blubbered.

The men looked at one another uneasily.

The older one spoke. “What were you doing up there?”

“I don’t even know where ‘up there’ is,” I fired back. “Where the hell is Aimee? She’s going to be in so much shit for this!”

Again, they looked at one another, shaking their heads as if trying to make sense of what I was saying.

“Who’s Aimee?” Brooks asked kindly. “You were alone when I found you.”

My jaw slacked, and my gaze darted between the three, my mind racing as my amygdala tried to determine what course of action to follow.

Fight or flight?

I couldn’t take them on, no way.

“Could she still be out there?” Brooks added. “If so, we should go out now and try to find her. It’s snowing again, and it’s going to be dark soon.”

I scoffed and took another step back, my hands rising in a defensive pose. “You don’t know Aimee?”

“Who the fuck is Aimee?” the smaller, scowling one wanted to know.

I tittered mirthlessly, fingers raising to my neck where the needle had gone through the skin. I gasped, feeling the tiny bump.

It had really happened. The trauma of the situation overwhelmed me, and my knees buckled again.

“Hey, hey,” Brooks called, hurrying toward me. “Let’s get you back—”

“Don’t touch me!” I whiplashed, falling back, my hands extending toward the wood poster of the bed to steady myself. “Get me out of here. Where is my phone? I want to call the police!”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” the oldest one muttered, rolling his eyes.

“You’re in shock,” Brooks told me calmly, but he didn’t come any closer. “Can you just let us help you—”

“You can help me by giving me my stuff!” I fired back.

“You don’t have any stuff, Simone,” the tall guy told me.

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