The Devil's Dram

Edinburgh’s Old Town lies frozen, a labyrinth of shadows and secrets under a winter

moon. Alistair arrives at the Devil’s Advocate, seeking to bury the ghost of

a bitter marriage. The air inside is thick with the scent of damp brick,

old iron, and expensive regret. He sits alone with a forty thousand pound bottle

of Macallan, a liquid monument to his divorce. On the wall, a painted devil

grins, its eyes seemingly tracing every move he makes. The heavy door

creaks again. Lydia, his bitter ex-wife, steps into the glow,

an uninvited ghost. A final toast to our freedom, she suggests, her voice as