He knew that he should've listened to what Jaden had said, he knew that he was right, that it was dangerous and that having Jaden here and him falling down the rabbits hole, so to speak, must've been the plan that The Shadow Men had all along. But, deep down, Blair couldn't allow this curse to continue its misguided rampage on generations of people who didn't have a hand in what had happened centuries ago.

Blair understood why the Shaman was so hell-bent on his revenge, oh, he very well understood the reasoning behind it. That, however, didn't necessarily mean that he condoned it either. In fact, it was the complete opposite.

Sure, Blair could be an asshole at times (well most of the time) but he could see the bigger picture and knew well that getting revenge wouldn't bring back all those lives that were lost.

He knew better than most.

Eventually, Jaden had given up and sprinted, albeit a bit wobbly, through the tunnel in the direction in which Blair had taken, the sounds of the boys footsteps faded until the only thing that could be heard was his own breathing.

Blair's concern for Jaden's welfare was deep and he couldn't help but wonder if he'd be able to make it out of there without the Shaman's henchmen finding him.

All he could do was hope.

Blair's attention soon returned to the task at hand, thinking on what sort of fuckery he was going to find and wished that this wouldn't be too difficult. Though, he doubted it would be.

But he had to hope, right?

Before carrying on in through one of the other tunnels that connected to the small room that he was now in, Blair reached into his pocket, sighing with relief when he felt the folded up piece of paper that Aliya had given him the night prior.

Huffing a sigh of discontent, fighting back the urge to turn the other way and running like a scared little shit, Blair's jaw clenched as he turned his headlamp back on and moved towards the tunnel directly in front of him.

It was cold, dark, and the air felt damp. It dug deep, right into his bones, it did, and Blair felt the involuntary shiver and goosebumps raise all over his body as he entered further into the depths of the abyss, wondering if this is how it felt like going to hell.

It wasn't warm, by any means, but if he had to describe what he was feeling in a few words it'd be that it made his soul weep with despair, anger, and hatred.

It engulfed him in an icy blanket, causing him to constantly shiver. He could see his breath in front of him, making the already eerie crawlspaces even more so. Blair swallowed, feeling his heartbeat speed up and his hands shook.

Whenever this was done, Blair knew well that he was going to get white-girl wasted.

Blair's footsteps eventually stilled upon hearing a noise.

A noise that made his blood run cold.

It was the sound of a snake. He was sure of it.

As Blair's light went from one corner of the new room to the next, his eyes widening, breath catching in his throat, and dropping his light somewhere below him. He swore he could see the evil eyes of the snake mere metres away from his staring at him, as if to mock him and ask him if he would continue.

It was then and there that Blair didn't want to do such a thing.

On his heel did Blair turn, crying out as he heard the hissing directly in front of him, the eyes bigger, something slithered over his foot and he froze. Panic began setting in, memories from his childhood flashing in his mind, the hair at the back of his neck stood up, and right at that moment, all thoughts of how he was going to get out of this situation completely fled.

It was like all rational thought was scared and decided to take a hike just when he needed it the most.

Blair's gut twisted in horror and disgust as he felt something slithering up, and around his legs, moving up his torso, and then up around his neck. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't move any part of his body, it was as if he was completely disconnected from his body. It was like he was a deer caught in headlights. Shame slammed into him , causing tears to slide down his cheeks as his entire body shook.

He was led there by something.

He was there to do what he came to do.

And after coming so far and enduring much over the months that had passed he was in this hellish place scared stiff by snakes.

Snakes that he knew weren't physically there.

Even though Blair couldn't see a foot in front of them, his imagination was running wild, scenario after scenario running through his mind and as the hissing got louder, and whatever was now wrapped around his entire body - from head to toe - was tightening.

But he still couldn't fight.

Blair's lungs burned as he tried to breathe. His entire body felt as though it was on fire and he eventually - finally - felt himself collapse to the ground.

Tighter.

Tighter.

Then, one by one, torches were lit, revealing the snakes that, not only surrounded him in every which direction, but also that were wrapped around him in a tight vice.

His vision swam as soon he felt them disappear from his body, leaving him wheezing, gulping air into his damaged airway, his throat feeling as though it was crushed to no return, but as the agonizing moments passed, his once burning lungs began to fill, the pounding in his head diminishing into nothing.

"I shall not kill you, at least, not in this moment." A familiar voice spoke. "The need to feel your fear, and look into your darkened soul to see the sins that you had committed for myself, and then, the Shadow Men will take another pitiful, sinful life."

The padding of footsteps somewhere in front of him caused Blair's eyes to snap open, his head tilting upwards and his eyes glaring into the hollow void of where the Shaman's eyes were supposed to be.

Blair wasn't aware of how much pain that his body was in until he went to stand up, a wave of nausea washing over him as he grunted, slowly standing up on shaky legs.

Placing a hand firmly on the left hand side, under his arm, wincing as he took a breath, noticing the damage that had been caused, when he leaned up against the chilling rock behind him. Blair continued to look at the decaying form of the Shaman before him, wanting to rip every single fucking bone from his body and shove it through any orifice that Blair could find, possibly making his own.

"You...you've caused enough pain." Blair ground out, fighting the anger that wanted to overflow. "You say you've experienced such sorrow that my ancestors have caused you, but..." He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the pain to pass before opening them back up and continuing on, "how are you able to live with causing the same pain and suffering to those who are innocent?"

Something flashed across the Shaman's eyes and before Blair could figure out what was going on, he was being flung against the other wall like he was a ragdoll being tossed by a child who was having a tantrum.

He landed, the back of his skull connecting with the rock, sending pain shooting through him, and he fell with a sickening thud to the ground, causing the man to groan.

Something warm and wet, Blair realised, reaching up with a shaky hand and wincing at the sharp, stinging pain that followed. In the dim light, Blair could see that his hand was coated in his own blood. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so damned stubborn, Blair knew, as he stood up that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't going to walk out of here.

And the curse will never be broken.

And the residents of Milborough will never be free for as long as the Shaman's vengeance will hold strong and true.

How was he going to end this?

Blair gradually rolled over onto his back and looked up at the rage that filled the Shaman's face.

Blair licked his lips, tasting the copper in his mouth, as he spoke. His voice was low, barely audible now, "Do you believe that your daughter would want you to do this?"

The Shaman, with one hand, lifted Blair by the collar and brought the young white man closer to him. "You do not know my daughter and what she would want. She is no longer here."

"And neither are those that caused you and your people that pain."

The Shaman, Blair hoped, was considering his words as he felt the grip on his jacket loosen up a bit before he was tossed down to the ground. Though his ears rang, Blair could hear the Shaman lashing out verbally in his native tongue.

During this time Blair was struggling to regain balance as he stood up, his legs almost giving out. Every part of his body was screaming in protest. his broken arm, ribs, and fingers made sure he knew that what he was doing was nothing more than a suicide mission.

If they could talk, Blair swore that he could hear them bitching at him.

Just what he needed.

He sighed loudly, gritting his teeth and biting back a cry as he finally stood up, and for whatever reason, using his injured arm to help hoist him up.

It was then he saw that he was now at the entrance, the direction in which he was initially going to go anyway.

"The souls of men have been corrupted back centuries ago and they will remain as such. Nothing can change their ways. Nothing."

As if a guiding hand was assisting him, Blair studied the Shaman before him as he felt a new found strength. "You're wrong."

For the third, and final time, with lightning fast speed, the Shaman's fingers, bony and if Blair was going to describe them, it'd be sharp, dug painfully into his throat, cutting off his airway.

Blair fought to loosen the grip around his neck but was, unfortunately, unable to. "I have seen the greed that the white man possesses."

Blair was losing consciousness as the grip began tightening even more so as he frantically reached into each of his pockets before he found his knife, and flicking it open, he slashed the Shaman's arm, hearing an inhuman screech escaping the entities mouth as the grip loosened completely and he was dropped. For the umpteenth, irritating time, Blair found himself glaring up at the Shaman, getting back to his feet once more.

"I get...I get it, alright?" Blair snapped. "There are a shit ton of people who take so many things for granted, I won't bullshit you. But there are so many more out there that genuinely care about everyone...no matter their race."

"You lie!"

"I don't." Blair insisted. Gradually, and as slowly as humanly possible, made his way back to the exit. "You are blinded by your hatred...hatred for those who weren't even born yet to understand or to realise why you despise them. These are people who did nothing to deserve your anger!"

"You are the one who is blind."

Enough was enough. It was time to get the fuck out of there.

As soon as Blair turned around he was greeted by none other than The Shadow Men, each one blocking all three exits.

It was then, Blair saw, was that their hoods was also drawn, revealing what reminded him painfully of those zombie apocalypse movies he used to watch as a kid.

Except, for these weren't actors playing dressup.

They were real.

And they intended to kill.

Oh, it was going to take a miracle to get him to make it out of there.

The young man bit his bottom lip, mind racing on a solution to this problem that he seemed to have.

Blair blinked, pausing for a mere second as an idea struck, and he bolted for the door that he was closest too, hissing in pain as he felt his skin begin to turn hot as he got closer to one of The Shadow Men, and how he managed to escape past, he wasn't sure, but he didn't wait to see what was happening as he hobbled as quickly as he could down the winding corridors, cursing as each way he turned took him either into a dead-end or another corridor.

Blair's breathing was heavy and sweat rolled down his face and neck as he reached a room that was vaguely familiar and cursed when his eyes caught sight of something metal seemingly glittering in the moonlight that filtered in through the opening above him and knew that he was back to square one.

"If you are looking for that bastards bones I can lead you to a secret passageway there, buddy." The words, cutting through the eerie silence made Blair's eyes widen in surprise as he recognized that voice and being careful as he turned around, feeling his jaw drop as he saw particles of light forming into a human form, and soon, that form turned into someone that he knew quite well.

"Carlos?"

"No. I'm the queen of England." The apparition's eyes rolled back, and Blair thought, for a split moment, that they were going to get stuck. "What are you staring at?"

"You." Blair stammered out, coherent words weren't his forte right then and there as he struggled to find what he wanted to say. "You're...you're supposed to be..."

"Dead?" Carlos asked, finishing his friend's sentence and sighing as Blair nodded. "Yeah, I am, but until this asshat learns his lesson about going after innocents I'm here to help you rid this town of this curse."

"Okay. So where do we go?"

Blair's shoulder's sagged as he looked in the direction that Carlos was pointing in and wanting to, so very much, punch him right in the kisser. "You do know that The Shadow Men are down there, right?"

"Yeah?" Came the response that made it seem like both men were discussing the damned weather and not how to break a damn curse. "What? Oh, dude, you should know by now that I'll protect you as much as I possibly can, now get your ass in gear."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah."

Blair could see in front of him as Carlos' body led the way through the passageway and soon, they stopped as they entered the room in which Blair had encountered the snakes, he supposed, and felt a shiver run violently down his spine. Carlos' head turned to his friend upon hearing the loud gasp that ripped from his mouth.

"See in the corner?" Carlos pointed to a small opening in the corner, small enough for him to crawl through, which Blair knew, was going to be painful as his arm throbbed. It was as black as black could be as he went over and knelt down in front of it, squinting to see anything further in the tunnel.

The room, which was once warm, turned cold as a sinister presence entered the room.

Carlos ushered him in there, "Go. I can only stall them for so long before I can't. Get those bones and destroy them. Go now! Hurry."

And hurry he did.

Fighting through the pain and the trying to regain his footing as he crawled through the small space, gasping loudly as he then felt himself falling forward before his face planted into the ground below him.

He was thankful that there was a small torch lit, it brightened the room just enough that he could see a small box laid upon an old worn out fur blanket. Blair glanced around the room to see if there was anything amiss and just waiting for either one of The Shadow Men to pop up or even their boss.

Breathing a sigh of relief as he grabbed the box, brought it down to him, opened it up, saw a skull and a few other bones, and took off through the opening again.

He emerged quickly on the other side and saw that all three of The Shadow Men were now encased in that warm glow that he first encountered when Carlos showed up.

A voice echoed through the room.

It was Carlos.

"Hurry. Out. Out now, out!"

Well, he didn't have to be told that twice.

A shriek could be heard travelling through the tunnels and rooms that was underground, and as much as it scared him shitless, Blair couldn't stop. And he wouldn't.

He reached the room in which he knew that he fell in and with as much strength as he could muster, pulled himself up and out of the hole. Blair cursed when he found himself on his back, staring up at a young pair of eyes that belonged to one boy that was going to find himself in a world of hurt.

"Jaden, did I not tell you to leave? It's too dangerous!"

"So?" Jaden shrugged, huffing out in frustration. "I told you that I wasn't going to fucking leave you down there by yourself."