Disclaimer: Buffy (and associated characters) is owned by someone not me (probably Joss Whedon? I don't know how TV works). But anyway, not me. The POV OC/SI is mine though.

Prologue: Through the Eye of the Storm

I don't remember how I died. Probably hit by a car, or something similarly undramatic. My last conscious memory was of walking down the street, then the next thing I know, bang! Floating in endless space. It was weird, at first I wasn't really feeling anything, then a wave of consciousness washed over me, and I could hear a voice in the distance, chanting.

"… keeper of the … all fate … before time … our offering …"

The voice faded in and out, and I could only hear bits of it, but something about it sounded familiar. It game me something to focus on, and I realized I had been drifting for a long time, but I was definitely drifting to somewhere. Not having been to church since I was a little kid, I suspect that wherever I'm heading, it's probably not going to be filled with hugs and bunnies. Frankly, even if I was due to join the wings and halo brigade, that's not exactly my idea of a good time.

The voice was still chanting in the distance, and I could make out something about the "warrior of the people", and calling on Osiris to release her.

Bingo.

It's like one of those TV trivia quizzes, and I've always had a thing for warrior chicks. Female warrior, brought back to life by an invocation to Osiris? Easy money. Buffy Summers, the Slayer. I always believed that Buffy was fictional, but then again, I thought the same thing about the afterlife, and look how that turned out.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much I can do. Can't move, can't speak, can't feel, I'm not even sure if I actually have a body capable of any of that. I was just drifting along, on my slow way to wherever the hell dead people go. Although, hopefully not actually… you know. Fuck it, I probably am. If I still had a heart, it would be pounding, as I flailed my non-existent limbs trying to do anything, to stop or slow down or change direction.

The chant was drawing to a conclusion, when I sensed motion. I still couldn't see anything, but I had the strangest feeling, as if something vast was passing me close by. I concentrated on the sensation, focussing as hard as I could on it, and suddenly it seemed that something was different. Like when you're driving down the highway on a sunny afternoon, and a cloud covers the sun, and suddenly the whole world looks just a little bit different.

A strange purple light, grew from a tiny pinpoint until it completely surrounded me in a swirling maelstrom of colour. A spark of green lightning burst through me, and I could suddenly sense eternity, the whole history of the world hovering just outside my perception, rushing past me at the speed of thought as I was pulled along in the wake of what could only be Buffy's soul. Oh joy, I get to be the slayer.

I struggled harder.

I could feel the lives of the slayers flicking by, one after another, each one flowing past slightly slower than the one before as we homed in on the time and place of the resurrection ritual. I was starting to get desperate when we hit one I recognized – it was the same essence as I could feel carrying us along, and there was a clear link between them, a resonance. With a jerk of effort, I broke free from the spell carrying me along crashed down into the world, following that faint link. The world faded to black.

OoOoO

A rush of energy flooded past me, pouring into a grave, and I looked around. I was floating in a graveyard, and I still didn't seem to have a body. This didn't look like the woods, so maybe I had managed to avoid Buffy's resurrection?

I saw a women push her way up out of the grave, and grab on to a girl in bright, fluorescent pink leggings. Hold on, is that… it is. Buffy. Only a younger, shinier version. I don't recall her ever wearing anything remotely like that in the TV show, and she seemed to be pretty new at the whole vampire slaying thing, so I guess I must have managed to come back early. Too bad about the lack of body, though.

The fight ended quickly, and Buffy left. I couldn't move very fast as a spirit, not much above a slow walking pace, so I drifted behind, and when I got to the edge of the graveyard, I found I couldn't get out. Apparently, those little cemetary walls might just be decorative for living people, but they're more substantial to the dead.

With dawn, I discovered another drawback to my new condition. The light of the sun felt like it was tearing me apart, freezing and burning at the same time, but luckily I was able to escape it by drifting into the ground. I had plenty of time to think during the day, and when night fell, I went to hover over the freshly turned earth of the most recent grave I could find. When the rush of energy came, I was right in its path, and let it shove me into the waiting corpse.

Being a vampire felt a lot like being human at first.

My senses were sharper, and I could feel the demonic energy animating me helping to enhance my strength. Other than that, not much different. Then I met my first human.

I had left the graveyard and was strolling down washington boulevard, luxuriating in the incredible clarity of my sharpened senses, when I smelled something incredible. It wasn't terribly late, only a little after 10 according the watch that came with my new body, but the streets were largely empty. So when I reached the bust stop and felt my fangs descend, it took me a moment to realize that there was a person waiting there. I couldn't pull my eyes away, and was surprised to realize I was actually growling as I approached them. Then they looked up, took one look at my warped face, and bolted.

The next thing I knew I was twenty feet away, feeling a rush of warmth flood through me as I drained the last of the blood from the corpse in my hands. It's an amazing sensation, a tingle of pleasure combined with a sense of deep satisfaction, as some need I didn't even know I had was fulfilled. I thought I should be more upset, I had just killed someone, but somehow in the moment it was impossible to feel anything other than contentment. No wonder vampires drink, if it feels like this all the time.

I drop the ex-human and look around. Enough with the woolgathering, I need to plan. As a vampire I'm pretty much at the bottom of the demon pecking order. I'll get stronger with age, but old vamps are rare, and I'm going to need to be proactive if I want to make it to my first century. So, first priority, find the gem of amara.

Which is in sunnydale.

Where the slayer is.

Hmm, that might not be such a bad idea. With my foreknowledge from the show, I can probably manage to join the scoobies when they first start out, and that would put me in an excellent position to grab the various powerups they keep running into and destroying. Can you say, Orbs of Nezzla'Khan?

I spent the rest of the night finding a temporary shelter to plan in. Sunnydale may only be a couple of hours away, but staying in LA is risky enough that I don't want to have to come back if I forget something, so I decided to hang around for a few days, and take the time to do some shopping before I leave.

The rest of the week flew by, sometimes literally, as I spent a fair few evenings driving stolen cars into shops. Overkill? Probably, but it was a lot of fun, and since I'm not planning on sticking around anyway, I figure what the hell. Picked up some good stuff, too. All the obvious things, of course; cash, clothes, a van with blacked out windows, and even a couple of very nice handguns. They might not work on vampires, but there are plenty of demons they do work on. I couldn't find any grenades, unfortunately. Turns out, illegal weapons? Not left on the shelves. The big prize, though, was a huge-ass 90lb pneumatic jackhammer. Perfect for busting through those pesky crypt walls, once I figure out where the gem is.

For that, I also picked up a scanning thingy. Gradio- something or other. Cutting edge tech, supposedly able to detect caves and caches of metal up to 800 meters away, at least according to the geologist I ate. Seems simple enough. Along the way I discovered that eating people doesn't bother me. All my memories seem to have come across from my previous life, but my conscience doesn't seem to have made it. In fact, all my feelings are pretty dull now.

I mostly feel nothing when I'm hungry, and then satisfaction after eating. Over the past few days I've started feeling the occasional flicker of emotion, and I can only conclude that, since I remember plenty of vamps showing emotion in the show, it must be something that comes with age. Hopefully it won't take too long – living forever is all well and good, but there's not much point if I don't enjoy it.

I managed to avoid any run-ins with other demons. Don't want anyone remembering me if I do come back later, especially if I'm going to be pretending to be a white hat. I didn't want to leave it too late, and with only a couple of months before the start of term, I'm going to have to move pretty fast if I'm going to find the gem in time to start school with the others. Luckily, my new body is the right age, so that's one less thing to worry about, and it's not too hard to track down a fake id. I decided I would be James Winters, call me Jim. Nothing like my original name, but "Winters" has a nice contrast with "Summers", and every time I thought to myself "he's dead, Jim" I cracked up. And hey, look at that! I'm getting my sense of humor back. Onward to Sunnyhell!

AN: This is my first attempt at a first person POV, which is super tricky. So, please drop me a review and let me know how I did!