Disclaimer: Nothing but the original characters belong to me.

Rating: T, overall (for violence, mild language, maybe some sexual innuendo in later chapters, but there will be absolutely NO smut!)

Author's note: Sorry if the formatting is off, I'm still trying to figure everything out!

"I was carried,

To Ohio in a swarm of bees..."

- "Blood Buzz Ohio" by The National

~o~

Chapter 2: The Land of the Living

"Miss Cross? Miss Cross?"

A voice stirred her from her slumber and her eyes lazily fluttered open, in front of them, she could see pale stained wood, and the glare of cheap fluorescent lighting stung the corners of her vision. She lifted her head from the cradle formed by her crossed arms, and found herself sitting in a desk chair, in a large auditorium. She snapped her head from side to side taking in her surroundings, and the seventy-odd faces staring at her expectantly. Where was this? The last thing she remembered was the fire, the demon, the Temple crumbling to ruins around her and now...

"Miss Cross, would you care to join us in the land of the living, and tell us what Tennyson is trying to say about society in his ballad 'The Lady of Shalott'?"

She turned towards the voice, which was coming from the front of the auditorium, and found a large whiteboard mounted on the front wall. In front of it sat a sturdy wooden desk, with two novels stacked neatly in the corner, and papers scattered from a file folder spread across its surface. Next to the desk, staring at her in contempt, in a crisp grey button-up, and freshly pressed dress pants stood,

"Spike?" she sputtered incredulously.

The blond man's eyes widened in shock, but he recovered his composed and authoritative expression quickly.

"That's Professor Pratt to you Madeline." he attempted to respond in a stern manner, but a slight shakiness was still evident in his voice, "now I know Victorian literature is not the most rivetin' subject, but I'd appreciate if you could all try to stay awake in my class." he sighed, then rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, "Well, I suppose that'll be all for today. Remember, your paper is due in two weeks, and any late submissions will be penalized. If you have any questions, you all know my office hours... have a good weekend." he turned sharply and began to gather his papers from the desk.

Around her, the other students began to gather their belongings, and chattered animatedly as they all worked their way through the aisles and out the door. Quickly, she grabbed the large brown leather messenger bag sitting at her feet, and hurried out of the room. Once outside, she found herself in what was obviously a school hallway. Students filtered in and out of other rooms along the corridor, while others hurried by, obviously heading off to another class, and yet others loitered about in small groups, probably discussing plans for the upcoming weekend.

She began to breathe heavily... this was a dream... it had to be a dream... there was no other explanation. Yet, it still didn't make sense - wasn't she dead? She would have choked to death in the fire, then been completely incinerated. She had died before, she knew this wasn't the afterlife, so where was she? She brought her hand up to massage her temple but stopped in front of her face - these were not her hands. They were obviously still female, but they were not hers. Her breath became short and quick, and she touched her face... it felt different as well, her skin was not the same, the proportions of her features felt... foreign. She scanned the hallway, and to her luck spotted a bathroom sign just a few meters away. She scurried across the hall and pushed the door open. Once inside, she hastily checked underneath the stalls to make sure they were empty, then after locking the bathroom door behind her, she crouched in the corner, and dumped the contents of her messenger bag onto the floor. Brushing aside some pens, notebooks, a hairbrush and a tube of lip balm she found an agenda with "University of Braebrook" stamped on the front. flipping it open, on the first page she found written in neat but unfamiliar writing: 'Madeline Cross, 97 Hillcrest Drive'. Madeline... that's what Spike, or the Professor, whoever he was, had called her. Still utterly disoriented, she closed the agenda and tossed it back in her bag. Sitting by her knee was a small black wallet embellished with a silver buckle. She picked it up, her hands trembling slightly as she undid the clasp and opened it. Inside, there was a State of California drivers licence, and smiling back at her in the picture was none other than, "Madeline Cross..." she whispered. Dropping the wallet to the floor, she rose slowly and turned to face the mirror. She gasped, there reflected in the mirror in front of her was the girl in the photograph. Deep blue-green eyes wide in shock, long blonde hair, slightly darker than she usually kept it, hanging loose, framing her oval face. She lifted her hand to her cheek and the girl in the mirror mimicked her actions. There was no doubt, this was her, she was in this body... but how had she gotten there? Why had she gotten there? And where was this girl now? Just before panic could overtake her completely, the sound of a phone ringing cut through the silence of the bathroom. She looked back towards the scattered pile of her - no, Madeline's belongings, sitting on the floor, and noticed a small light glowing next to one of the discarded notebooks. She picked up the small cell phone and studied the screen, 'Lily calling...' it read. Should she answer it? Would it be suspicious if she didn't? Something began to tug at the back of her mind... she felt like she should know who Lily was. Chewing on her lower lip, she pressed the answer button and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Maddy! Where are you? Olly and I are waiting for you outside!" chirped a pleasant female voice on the other end.

"I um... I just had to run to the bathroom... sorry." she answered tentatively. There were people waiting for her? What was she supposed to do? What if they noticed something was - different - about their friend?

"No worries, we're outside the main entrance, just hurry up!" and the call ended.

She hurriedly shoved all of her things back into her bag, and exited the bathroom. Anxiety ate away at her insides, she was hoping she'd have more time to figure out what was going on, where she was, who she was, before having to interact with anyone from this girl's life. She didn't even know what this Lily or Olly even looked like, how would she find them? She was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't even realize her feet had unconsciously carried her towards a large set of double oak doors. Snapping out of her daze she stared in confusion at the exit in front of her. Had she subconsciously known where she was heading? Deciding she would have time to scrutinize her situation later, she pushed through the doors and into the bright sunlight. Standing at the top the large stone steps, she looked out at the scenery in front of her. There was a small roadway winding around a large oval grassy area just opposite the steps. In the grassy area, stretched out in the sun, or leaning against the various trees scattered about the lawn were more students, either studying or socializing, and around the roadway a few cars were parked, the people inside waiting for others to exit their classes. Parked amongst those cars, just a few meters away was a large, old, clunky convertible, painted a dusty, faded, grey-brown, with rusted bumpers, and one taillight being held in place by a generous amount of duct tape. Sitting inside was a small girl with pixie-like features and jaw length brown hair styled messily to flip outwards at the ends. Next to her, in the drivers seat, sat a boy with strawberry blond hair and a goofy grin on his face. Once she'd noticed them the girl began to wave at her, and the boy threw his hands up in the air as if declaring a victory. Deciding that they must be Lily and Olly, she attempted to smile warmly and walked towards the beat up automobile.

"Maddy!" the boy cheered.

"Would you look at this thing?" giggled the girl, rapping one knuckle against the torn and dirty tan upholstery on the inside of the passenger door.

"Maddy, my darling, welcome aboard the Ollymobile! What do you think?" boomed Olly.

"It's... great..." she answered, sweeping her eyes over pathetic heap of steel.

"Oh come on Maddy, it's a hunk of junk! It's awful!" chuckled Lily, placing a comforting hand on Olly's shoulder.

"Hey! At least it's running now! And I, Oliver Eaton, do solemnly swear, that as soon as I have the money, this baby's getting a new coat of paint, some new upholstery, and I will have the most awesomest car in all of Braebrook!"

She couldn't help but smiling at his enthusiasm, he reminded her of... no, she wouldn't let her thoughts wander that way, not amidst all this confusion.

"'Awesomest' isn't a word dummy." teased Lily.

"Well excuse me Misses Languages Major! Now, are you ready for your first lift home in my luxurious ride Miss Cross?" Olly asked, the goofy grin spread across his face again as he ran his hand lovingly over the edge of the door frame.

A chuckle bubbled up inside her, despite the hole forming in her heart, at watching these two interact. They reminded her so much of Willow and Xander that it comforted her at the same time as it made her miss her friends. She didn't know what else to do other than go along with this strange situation, "Let's go" she replied, and reached for the door handle.

"The back door sticks a little, you may have to -"

But before Olly could finish his sentence, she'd yanked the back door open, it seemed as though her Slayer strength had come with her into this stranger's body, she would have to test it out more thoroughly later.

"Wow, Maddy, you beast..." Olly joked, she smiled at him sheepishly. "now, there aren't any seat belts back there yet, so hold on tight, and if we pass any cops, just duck."

"Oh god Olly, are you trying to kill her?" Lily groaned.

Been there, done that... she thought as the engine roared to a start, and the car began to roll not-so-smoothly down the road and off of the campus.

~o~

The ride home went smoothly enough. She tried to just sit back and listen to Olly and Lilly banter back and forth for most of the trip, however when she did interject, they didn't seem to notice anything amiss. She felt oddly at ease with the two, as though she'd known them her whole life. She was almost disappointed when the clunky old car rolled to a stop outside of a charming little bungalow perched on a small hill and surrounded by tall trees.

"Here you are Milady!" exclaimed Olly.

Lily turned in her seat to face her, "Call me when you wake up tomorrow, we're going to go to Betty's for brunch."

"I wouldn't miss it." she replied, she thanked Olly for the lift, then hopped out of the car. He pulled away leaving her standing in front of what she assumed was her home. The anxiety that gripped her back at campus was again making her stomach churn, Madeline's friends hadn't noticed anything strange in the short ride home, but would her family? How would she interact with these strange people, stuck in a house with them all night? She began to walk up the cobblestone walkway, taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. When she reached the front door she hesitantly reached out for the doorknob and turned, discovering that it was unlocked, she walked inside. Looking around, the house felt warm and inviting, which eased her nerves slightly. To her left was a large living room/dining room with two large overstuffed sofas and a luxurious looking wooden dining table. Straight ahead she could see through the door to the kitchen, and to her right was a long hallway, where she oddly enough, knew she would find her bedroom. Suddenly a figure appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, shocking her out of her reverie.

"Hi sweetie, how was your day?" greeted the figure. It was a slim, older man, with salt and pepper hair. He had deep crows feet at the corners of his eyes, like he spent a lot of his time smiling, and wore a simple navy blue polo shirt with jeans.

"Oh, the same old... you know." she replied. She refrained from calling him 'Dad', still unsure of their relation.

"I see the enthusiasm of starting your first year in University has already worn off." he quipped, still smiling, "Are you hungry? Dinner will be ready in 10."

Though she was still feeling awkward, she felt a lot of the anxiety melt away while standing in front of this friendly man.

"Sounds great," she answered, and he disappeared back into the kitchen.

She slipped off her shoes, and padded down the long hallway, she knew her room was at the very end, across from the bathroom, which startled her slightly, but the sudden growling of her stomach, and the realization of just how hungry she really was made her forget her confusion. She pushed open the door and dropped her bag on the floor beside her. She was about to turn to leave, but decided to take a look around instead. Spanning the back wall just opposite the door was a large window, with delicate pointelle lace curtains. The walls were painted a light caramel brown, and on the right hand wall, covered in a cozy quilt and a mountain of pillows stood a double bed, next to it sat a small wooden nightstand with a drawer and a door underneath for storage. On top of it sat a simple lamp, an alarm clock and a rather tall stack of novels... it looked as though Madeline was quite the reader. On the other side of the bed was a simple wooden desk with a laptop and various textbooks scattered over top and across from it, on the opposite wall stood an enormous bookshelf stuffed with books. Beside the bookshelf was a delicately carved vanity, painted white with brass drawer pulls. Tucked around the mirror attached to the tabletop were various pictures. As she walked closer she could see the majority of them were of Madeline, Lily and Olly. One of them at Santa Monica pier, of them sitting around a table in a place that looked suspiciously like the Bronze, and another of them standing outside of a building marked "Braebrook High School" all decked out in caps and gowns, proudly clutching their diplomas in hand. It was then she noticed, sitting on the vanity in a simple but elegant silver frame, a picture of a young blond girl, maybe twelve or thirteen, with her arms flung around the neck of an elegant older woman with practical shoulder-length honey brown hair, the same eyes as Madeline, and a large caring smile spread across her face.

"Mom..." she whispered, touching the edge of the picture delicately before snapping her hand back, and blinking a few times in shock. Had she just called this woman 'mom'? This wasn't her mother... yet at the same time she knew that yes, this was Madeline's mother. The more she contemplated the photograph, the more a deep sadness enveloped her heart.

"Maddy? You coming?"

The voice calling her from the end of the hallway shook her from her daze, she'd completely forgotten about dinner.

"Yeah! Just a sec!" she responded, spinning away from the photos and towards the door. She walked across the hall to the bathroom to wash up, and ended up spending a good amount of time staring in the mirror. Madeline's body was close enough in size to her own that she didn't feel awkward or clumsy moving around, but staring into someone else's eyes in the mirror sent her into a panic again. She needed to find out what was going on, but how? Realizing she had been washing her hands for far too long, and had left her father - if that's who he was - waiting again, she hastily mustered her courage and shuffled down the hallway to the kitchen. Turning into the room, the older man was already seated at the small kitchen table, which she noted only had two chairs, a large plate of pasta sat on the table in front of him, which he poked at with his fork impatiently. He looked up at her in the doorway and grinned.

"Well come on kiddo, dig in and tell me about your day!" he said cheerfully.

She slid into the seat across from him and picked up her fork, trying her best to mask her nervousness.

"Not much to tell, classes, teachers, note-taking... it was a pretty uneventful day" she answered. Except for that I've somehow been transported into your daughter's body... but she felt it was best to leave that part out of the conversation.

"How's your art history paper coming along?"

"Oh... very artsy, very history" she responded. Oh god, she takes art history? She was convinced now she had to find her way out of this poor girls body, not only because she wanted this Freaky Friday-esque experience to be over with, but so she didn't completely ruin her GPA.

She took a few bites of her pasta, giving herself a moment to think up a topic of conversation. She decided maybe it would be best to just act natural, to maybe think of what she would have talked about with her own mother over dinner all those years ago.

"So... um... Olly finally got his car running." she offered eventually.

The fatherly man sitting across from her paused with his fork poised halfway into his mouth, then began to chuckle heartily.

"You're kidding me! That old clunker?"

"The one and only... he gave me a lift home from school in it." she replied.

An amused smile still playing on his lips, he shook his head "Tell me all about it."

She began to recall her ride home, finding it remarkably easy to talk to this man. They finished their meal in pleasant conversation, then she helped him load the dirty dishes into the dishwasher before using her art history paper as an excuse to retreat back to the safe confines of her room.

Throwing herself unceremoniously down onto the bed, she sighed deeply and covered her face with her hands, pushing her fingers into her closed eyes until she saw coloured spots behind her eyelids. Opening them again, she hoped she would awake somewhere else, but she had no such luck. Staring up at the ceiling in defeat she decided she should at least figure out where she was, and whether or not she'd be able to contact someone who could help her. This was a thought that made her somewhat uneasy. She was sure for some unbeknownst reason that all of her loved ones must know that she was dead, and she wondered if contacting them would just serve to... complicate the situation. She didn't doubt that they would be inclined to believe her hair-brained story, but she didn't even know if what happened to her was demon-related - what if this was the work of something else? Ushering those thoughts out of her head, she rose from the bed and slid into the chair in front of her desk. She turned on the laptop while pondering what she could possibly research, body swapping? Astral projection? She chewed her lower lip and silently wished she was with Giles or Willow. She decided from the look of things that she would have ample time to figure out how she arrived into this form, and figured it would serve her better to research where she was, so that she could better carry out this charade for the time being. Typing "Braebrook, California" into the search engine, she began to read, feeling very odd that she was so willing to research of her own accord... it was very out of character for her, and left her slightly on edge. Reading about this small town proved to be rather uninteresting; very suburban, small population, low crime rate, excellent school system... it seemed to be your average all-American town. It wasn't until she reached the end of the entry that what she would call her 'spidey-sense' started tingling:

'Braebrook is home to the largest cemetery in the Western United States. Sprawling over half the city, the cemetery has stood for two centuries despite the church which occupied the ground having been destroyed in 1816, when a mysterious fire burned it to the ground. All subsequent attempts to rebuild the structure were met with misfortune, three of which were marked by deaths. In 1820 it was decided the land would be used solely as a resting place, while the church itself was moved across town...'

Though she knew that not all information on the internet was to be taken seriously, she couldn't help but to feel there was something suspicious about a cemetery that large being in a city so small, and the history behind it seemed even more abnormal in her eyes. She decided she would have to investigate, but it would have to wait until another day. The stressful events of the past day finally catching up with her, she turned off the laptop and slid into bed, deciding it would prove better to be well rested if she would have to spend another day in this charade. Much to her surprise, the anxiety she'd felt most of the day did not keep her awake, and she almost instantly drifted into a deep sleep.

~o~

Chapter 3 coming right up!

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