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  Back in the apartment bedroom Jason remained frozen in a morbid state of shock, hurt and numbness. He didn’t feel like himself anymore. He felt like some cold hearted, alien, psycho nutter had just stepped into his body and taken complete control. What the fuck had he just done? He thought of doing nothing now but to sit and wait for the siren crew to show up and drag his sorry arse away to his new confined cell home. Then another thought flickered through his mind. Was there still one more bullet left in the gun? It was possible. Should he do the decent thing and end it for himself here and now too? It wasn’t a bad idea.

  He raised the gun to his face without another moments hesitation. He opened his mouth and placed the smoking hot barrel a few inches inside, careful not to let the hot metal touch the tip of his tongue or lips. His mind went blank. There was nothing else for him to live for in this life, nothing at all. And he would be damned if he was going to spend the rest of it in a dark and miserable prison cell twiddling his bloody thumbs.

  Jason glanced at the body of his dead wife and baby, then at that sea of red oozing all around her, most of it from his father's bullet riddled body. Had he really done that? He found himself struggling to remember it and it had only happened a few seconds a go. Had someone else really killed his wife and father?

  Well it was well and truly over now and he knew it. Jason closed his eyes and pulled back the trigger. Quick and fast. Without further thought or hesitation, it was the only way to do it. There was a click...then noting. He was still there. He was still thinking and feeling. The chamber was empty. The bullets were all gone. Jason didn't even let out a slight whimper of relief, just a cold simple shake of his head, while opening his eyes to the grizzly sight in front of him again.

  Jason took the gun from his mouth. Another image flashed through his head. A remote cottage, a distant countryside refuge. A place far, far away from here to take shelter and think about his actions and life for a few days. That's all he needed, just a few days to think things through until the authorities caught up with him, of which they surely would.

  A killer in Scotland was one thing, but a killer on the run and successfully evading the police was another. The next few moments became a hurried anxious blur. Jason rushed to a nearby cupboard and grabbed a medium sized sports bag. Quickly he filled it full of clothes and bathroom products before clambering down the stairs to the hallway below. He grabbed his keys and the suitcase full of money. In another flash he was out the front door, down the apartment block stairwell and diving, quick smart, back into his parked car. Completely unaware of the nearby and gleefully watching presence of Brad.

  Brad did nothing but calmly watch Jason leave with a sinister smile of satisfaction upon his face. He then took out his phone and dialled a number. A voice answered. It was Gary. Jason's friend and partner.

  'Gary... It's Brad...How was Glasgow?…Good, that‘s good Pal... I'm coming to you right now... I have a wee job for you pal. I'm not sure you're gonna like it though.'

  CHAPTER three

  As the sun rose stunningly from the east, Jason drove west, right into the heart of the glorious and dramatic Scottish highlands somewhere along the North Western coast. Both windows in his car were rolled down to the max. The radio bellowed out full blast and the fantastically rich blue skies gradually emerged overhead. Jason took a quick glance away from the scenic mountains, blue skies and rare Scottish sunshine, to gently stroke the leather briefcase full of money, as it lay tenderly on the passenger seat beside him.

  'How are you doing there?' Jason asked, strangely radiant and doing his utmost to put the recent violent events completely out of his mind. 'We are going to have so much fun on this little honeymoon of ours, just you and I. So much fun. Till death do us part yeah.'

  The brief case remained silent.

  A few miles up the road Jason pulled into a small and secluded highland petrol garage to fuel up. It was the kind of petrol station you would've expected to see in a cheap low budget horror movie that no matter how bad and vile the sets and acting seemed to be, the movie was always able to hook the viewer right in until its final, cheesy and brutal end. This garage though possessed no such perverted pump attendant with a ridiculous limp and an even more annoying deep, southern fried, red neck accent. Only a little old refreshing lady instead with a dry Scottish tone and some hideous petrol prices which were a horror story all of there own making.

  While refuelling, Jason happened to notice, sitting all by itself upon a rickety old side fence not too far from his car, a single magpie. He stared curiously at the black and white creature for a few hypnotic moments and remembered a short rhyme he and his childhood chums would sing every time they came across the birds during their childhood adventures. How did that rhyme go again he pondered? One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy. Jason struggled to remember the rest of the silly song. Then the single magpie took flight and disappeared into the unusually warm Scottish sky. But did the rhyme only count if the bird was stationary or in flight? And what was it his old childhood friends had said so religiously. Only a soldiers salute could save you from a single magpie's wrath of sorrow. Jason shook his head at such childish and ridiculous superstitions, and ignored the bird.

  ***

  Jason continued to drive further along the lonely west highland road. The glorious Scottish hills and mountainside continued to surround him from the east while the newly apparition of the gorgeous deep blue sea and rocky coastal cliff tops engulfed him on the west. Life was good said the smile broadening far and wide across Jason's increasingly glowing face. Life was fucking great. Inside though he was still numb as ice. But the only words he still took to heart from his father was what he had once told him as a kid - Fake it until you make it.

  ***

  Out of the wilderness and along a new winding coastal road, Jason spied the slim figure of a young and seemingly attractive blonde girl, who appeared, quite randomly, out of nowhere. She seemed to be hitchhiking along the same stretch of secluded road that he was driving along. The girl was dressed in a pair of tight denim shorts and wore a loose yellow shirt which had been tied into a small bun around her slim mid section. She also wore a dark pair of sunglasses which made it difficult for Jason to see her face, but her slender, womanly figure was very appealing.

  He drove past her at a crawling speed, noticing right away her cracking pair of smooth legs which was always a great start in Jason's little black book. She carried a small rucksack draped over her shoulder, which didn't seem to be that heavy as her posture was near perfect. In fact it looked strangely out of place with the sexy tight outfit she wore. The girl, who had heard the approaching car a while back, already had her thumb held casually out, and had turned towards the car as Jason drove on by. She glanced curiously at him with an unemotional gaze. For a hitchhiker she appeared neither joyful nor anxious to see a passing automobile. Jason continued driving for another few dozen yards while gazing back through his rear view mirror. Then making a split second decision, he pulled over to the side of the road, sixty or so yards in front of the sexy hitchhiker. She continued to watch him with a dubious stare.

  Inside the car, Jason was thinking hard. He was clearly caught up in two minds about whether to pick up the gorgeous blonde or not. His head filled with all kinds of various erotic scenarios and outcomes which seemed to awaken a tidal wave of hidden lustful emotions deep within him. It had been almost a month since he'd had any kind of sexual relations with his now dead wife. He smirked gently at Gary's imaginary reaction to that, despite what he'd told him only a few hours before.

  'Come on man. What are you doing?' Jason whispered to himself as he continued to watch the sexy young hitchhiker through his mirror. She started walking towards him.

  'Come on Jase. You don't need this shit right now. Just stop thinking with your dick for once in your pathetic life.' He took another deep breath and shook his head in a shameful notion. He closed his eyes, still thinking about the various erotic images filteri
ng his horny head.

  'Just drive Jase. Please, just fucking drive. Don't look back man, just go. You don't need this distraction in your life. Just get the hell out of here now. GO.'

  Jason, mind made up, slammed the car back into gear and sped off up the road. The hitchhiker watched this curiously as his car rapidly disappeared into the hazy horizon.

  'Jesus Christ, I need an ice cold fucking shower.'

  ***

  A few miles further north Jason noticed on his left hand side an old, secluded and seemingly abandoned farmhouse. It was right out in the middle of nowhere and not to far away from the sea and towering coastal cliff tops. Most of the windows of the old house had been boarded up a long time ago by the look of things. There were no signs of human or animal life or farmland equipment anywhere, even within the deserted surrounding farm fields. Curiously, a single modern car was parked around the side of the house. Possibly the owner or an estate agent checking up on the scabby property. Would be a nice little refurbishment project. Jason reflected with a throwaway thought, before the property became a distant speck in his side view mirror and a soon to be forgotten image inside his tired mind.

  CHAPTER four

  Jason reached his destination. A tiny little secluded highland cottage, from a seemingly far away and almost forgotten, distant, past life of his. It had belonged to his Uncle once upon a time, his Dad's more upbeat and openly charming brother. A man Jason had shared a strong bond with, even stronger than the irreparable one he had with his father while growing up. Jason's Uncle had been in the army too. In fact it was him that had encouraged Jason to also sign up. Sadly though, his Uncle had passed away a year before Jason did finally put that plan into action and sign up.

  Surprisingly he had left Jason his secluded getaway cottage in his will, and so Jason had been coming and going here ever since. And back in his bad boy womanising days before he'd eventually settled down with his wife Sandra, the cottage had been his regular old shagging pad for many a dirty weekend away with his various and casual squeezes who had been apart of his wild life back then.

  It was a stunningly beautiful place though whether you were here all alone or on a romantic weekend away. The whole surrounding area really was the heart and soul of the Scottish highlands. No human life for miles around. Only the sound of nature and the way the world was meant to be without the interference from the animal known as man.

  Jason parked his car off the dirt road and right around the backside of the cottage. He parked purposely out of view from the single dirt track road and any nosy or curious random passers by, which would be unlikely out here in the middle of nothing and nowhere, but still, better safe than sorry.

  Jason got out of the car and stretched his stiff arms and legs. He then made his way into the cottage with his sports bag full of clothes and toiletries and of course the leather briefcase. He imagined it filled with a new life, new dreams and an excitingly rich new future, if only he could get last nights violent and tragic acts out his mind. Did he really kill his wife? His unborn child? His father? It all felt like a dream now. Was it a dream? Maybe it was.

  Jason shrugged these thoughts away and entered the main bedroom of the two bedroom cottage. He placed the sports bag and briefcase down upon the double bed. He opened his sports bag and took out an old photograph which looked to have been taken in the seventies. It was of a young, happy and handsome couple whose sparkling eyes looked full of excitement and anticipation of a happy and fulfilling life still yet to come. A dark thought in the back of his mind soon reminded him that that sparkle of happiness inside the young newly wed lovers eyes, that unknowing excitement of a bright and happy future together. Well, it certainly didn't quite pan out the way anyone expected.

  Jason shook his head and placed the picture down upon the small bedside cabinet. Next he opened the briefcase and glanced over its bulky cash contents. His thoughts filled with more wonderful rich visions and sexy dreams of an awesome new adventure ahead of him. An adventure taking place underneath a golden scorching sun and exotic clear blue skies. All the while lounging beside an even clearer, bluer and lusciously warm, crystal clear sea. Jason took a deep breath, closed the briefcase and placed it firmly underneath the bed.

  ***

  Later that afternoon while the sun was dipping back down towards its own lusciously peachy and comfortable horizon bed. Jason decided to take an evening stroll up to the very top of a nearby steep and scenic hill. A hill he knew well from his many previous visits. Once at the top he came to a halt beside an isolated tree. It looked like a small and shabby baby oak in full summer bloom. It had small thin branches of delightful green summer leaves sprouting out all over its trunk. Jason reached up to one of the more thinner and flexible branches above his head and pulled it towards him, all the way to its absolute breaking point. Then he released it like a vibrant catapult back up into the waiting arms of its brother and sister branches. A few of the leaves scattered loose and floated their way back down towards him.

  Jason walked a little further towards the edge of the hill and came to another standstill. Here he took out his last packet of unopened cigarettes and held them in the palm of his hand. He threw them as far and as hard as he possibly could down the side of the steep hillside until they disappeared into a swarm of long rough grass and jagged edged nettles at the bottom. He turned back towards the baby oak tree and made his way to sit down underneath its shaded thick branches. There he reminisced to himself about his past tragic life and mistakes. But more importantly and positively he thought about a new and fortunate future life ahead of him.

  Could he really get away with it? Would anyone ever find him out here? His thoughts soon settled and reached a soothing calmness as he took in the breathtaking highland, coastal scenic view all around him and in every direction. He neither wanted to think about the past nor live in it anymore. He put his future thoughts aside for the time being and just enjoyed, for the first time in his miserable, unfulfilled life. Thinking, living and becoming totally at peace with himself in the here and present now.

  Later, the summer sun finished its fantastic sea setting disappearance underneath the silky smooth covers of its horizon bed. Jason made his way back down to the cottage. He set up a campfire and barbeque with supplies he'd purchased from a twenty four hour supermarket after leaving Edinburgh late last night. He sat upon his front porch and swigged at a chilled bottle of beer while keeping one eye upon his roasting fire and another upon his cooking grub.

  He ate his food while enjoying the finishing touches to one of the most astonishing sunset aftermaths, painted all over the lower skies, he had ever seen, and he watched it through to its beautiful, soothing and satisfying end. Sadly, Jason realised, it was the only sunset he could ever remember witnessing throughout his entire lonely and unsatisfying existence. Well, perhaps the first, he quickly reflected, but certainly not the last that's for sure. Having escaped instant death by one single second and the luck of an empty gun chamber, it was time to appreciate the simpler and finer things in life. And with that he laid to rest the final day and complete death of his old self and life.

  CHAPTER five

  The next morning Jason was up at the tip of sunrise to head back out for his first morning run in what seemed like too many years to remember. He was feeling like a new man with a fresh soul and a clean slate with the whole wide world laid bare before his feet. Jason jogged along the narrow dirt track leading away from the cottage and back down towards the main road which had brought him to this secluded wilderness retreat. Half a mile down the old track Jason decided to turn back. He looked around for a harder trail to test himself on and glanced up to the large hill with the single oak tree on top.

  He jogged back towards the cottage and eventually up the steep hill. He was jogging intensely with all his strength, stamina and might, straight for the small oak tree. He ran faster, pushing himself harder, harder than his almost non existent and quickly draining stamina would take. Brutally exhausted he
reached the top, yet somehow he managed to find a deep and hidden resource of adrenaline to keep him running, then sprinting, straight for the shabby little oak tree and then... past it. Past the baby oak and finally coming to a gasping halt right on the scenic hill edge. Jason took a few seconds to catch his breath. He thought about how unfit he'd become these past few years. With barely a mile into his run he was ready to collapse in a crumpled heap of cramp, right upon the soft, lush green grass.

  Then something caught his eye at the bottom of the hill. It took a few seconds for Jason to steady his focus. But unbelievably enough, and as real as the agonising stinging stitches ripping apart his insides, he saw the body of a slim and dark haired woman lying stretched out at the bottom of the hill. The woman was either unconscious or dead as far as Jason could tell, but it was too hard to say which, from such a great distance.

  'Jesus Christ.' Jason said in a state of shock at finding such a site out there in the middle of the Highlands. Obviously it wasn't the first time in his life he'd witnessed a dead body. But it was still a shock to the system to see one out here in the middle of his highland retreat. For a moment he thought he was imagining it all. Which, with all his recent trauma, he guessed would make a lot of sense. Or was he seeing the ghost image of his dead wife perhaps? Was his mind really playing some sick trick upon his eyes? But the simple clothes of jeans and black t shirt the girl was wearing, he could never imagine his ex stripper wife wearing so plain a pair of clothes in her life. Never in a month of Sundays. He'd only ever seen her in sexy slick dresses that rarely, if ever, fell below her knees, even while pregnant. He took a few deep breaths to relax his state of mind - besides, this girl appeared much more petite in body frame on closer inspection, compared with his ex.