Chapter One

From Bad to Worse

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or Buffy, and I make no money from this fanfiction. This is in response to a challenge issued by MistressAshley. Updating in progress.

Prologue

"I'm not sure we should be doing this Wills. We don't even know if Buffy's in hell, she could be in heaven. I mean if anyone ever deserved a one way ticket through those pearly gates it was the Buffster." Xander said, voicing his concerns once more as he watched Willow arrange the ritual instruments around the grave.

"Normally I'd agree, but Xander, Buffy didn't die by normal means it was a portal to a hell dimension. I can't even imagine what she must be going through. We have to save her! I've done all of the research and this is the only way. I know what I'm doing, trust me."

"Maybe we should wait Willow, ask Mr. Giles for help." Tara stammered anxiously wringing her hands as she watched her girlfriend center the urn of Osiris on the altar. Her desire to be a good and supportive girlfriend at war with what she was actually being asked to do. True, she wasn't as strong or as capable, magically speaking, as Willow was, but she had been born to a witch, to a family of witches, and she couldn't help but doubt the wisdom of what they were planning to do. Magic was never free, there was always a price to be paid, and not always the price you thought you were paying. Using magic to violate the natural order of life and death was no small thing and the idea of consequences unknown and undoubtedly numerous left her a shaking bundle of nerves.

"We can't wait for Giles! He's been in England for over a month now and we've not heard anything from him. He's forgotten about us, he's forgotten about Buffy!" Willow exclaimed loudly before turning and reaching for Amy's hands. Her eyes wide and earnest with a pout on her lips "don't you trust me baby?"

"Of course I do." Stammered Amy almost choking on the words as she squeezed Willow's hands in return eager to reassure. She wished she could find the words, the words that would help Willow understand her fears. But Willow was so strong and so fearless how could she ever understand? Worse, what if her inability to eloquate turned Willow from her?

Standing straighter she pushed back her fear with renewed determination, she wouldn't be the weakest link, she wouldn't be too afraid to stand by Willow. Brave strong beautiful Willow, standing by her she could be strong too.

"I trust you."

"Alright, I guess you're right." Xander sighed, reaching forward to take his candle from Willow while the others moved to surround the unearthed grave in a predetermined order.

"Osiris, keeper of the gate,

master of all fate, hear us!

Before time and after,

before knowing and nothing,

Accept our offering,

know our prayer.

Osiris, here lies the Slayer,

warrior of the people.

Let her cross over,

Return her to us!

The daughter of Sineya,

Osiris, let her cross over

Release her!"

As Willow chanted to Osiris Xander couldn't help but feel this was a mistake. A growing sense of unease gripped him as the spell progressed, the air around them shifting, growing somehow heavier, stifling, and making it harder to breathe. As Willow's eyes turned black the temperature seemed to drop turning his breath to mist as he shivered with dread pooling in his stomach. When snakes began to pour out Willow's open mouth he had no choice but to look away, unfortunately he made the mistake of looking down at Buffy's opened coffin. The only way the decomposing body could look deader was if it was already a skeleton. In several places rotted skin peeled back to reveal muscle or bone or even teeth as was the case on the left side of her face. The only saving grace was that her eyes were closed, he didn't think he could handle seeing milky sunk in eyes.

Suddenly her hands which had been folded across her chest twitched. At first he couldn't believe his eyes, surely he had imagined it. But then her hands moved again, shaking her body shifted in the coffin, her head swinging slightly to the left and then right before her eyes opened to reveal a shocking milky whiteness. He could only stare in horror as Buffy groaned while trying to sit up. Willow had said Buffy would heal when they brought her back, why did she still look like a corpse? What had gone wrong?

"Willow! Willow something is wrong! What do we do?" Xander cried aghast staring at the corpse that should have been his friend.

"I . . . I don't know! She should've healed completely, I know I did it right. I'll figure this out, I can fix this. We need to get her out of this coffin for now. Come here Buffy I'll help you up." Willow said reaching down to grab Buffy's hands firmly, bracing her feet she pulled, helping Buffy stumble to her feet.

"Don't worry Buffy, I can fix this. You'll be just fine in no time really. I. . ." Willow gushed before stumbling back with a scream as Buffy lurched forward and sunk her teeth into Willow's shoulder.

Desperately Willow tried throwing herself backwards, but Buffy followed without releasing her grip, landing on top of a very terrified Willow Rosenberg. Following the learned habits of the past Xander jumped forward, diving head first into a situation without knowing or even thinking about the risks involved. He wrapped his arms around Buffy and tried to pull her off the still screaming witch. With tremendous effort he was able to pry her off, but the calm reprise he was hoping for never came as Buffy instead threw herself at him pushing him down to the ground as her mouth tried to reach his throat. He threw up his arm in an attempt to keep her from his neck wincing as blunt teeth bit into his forearm with enough strength to break the skin through his long sleeve shirt.

"Hey! Get off my boyfriend!" Anya screeched as she jumped on the pair knocking Buffy down and away from Xander. As they rolled away Xander staggered to his feet glancing behind him only long enough to see Tara tending to Willow before turning back to the struggling pair in front of him. Those few precious seconds were all that was needed to tear his world apart forever. Before he could reach them Buffy's teeth latched onto Anya's neck and bit down hard. He could see the blood spraying from the wound as Buffy pulled out a chunk of flesh. Without thought he grabbed the closest shovel and swung with all his might, the impact of the shovel hitting Buffy's head sent shutters up his arm, but he kept on swinging, hitting her over and over again until she stopped moving. Letting the shovel fall to the ground he turned and dropped to his knees by Anya's side.

"Anya, oh god." Xander cried as he reached for his fiancé. The open gaping wound had stopped gushing blood and was now slowly oozing as the once bright eyes dimmed to the glazed emptiness of death. Slipping his arms underneath her body he lifted her to his chest and cradled her close. "What have we done?"

"Xander Willow doesn't look good, we have to get her to the hospital."

Gently Xander lowered Anya back to the ground and stumbled to his feet making his way to where Tara was applying pressure to Willow's wounds. Looking around in a daze he could not believe how any of this could have happened. How could things go so wrong? Slowly he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and in what seemed to be slow-motion he pressed down on three well-known but rarely used buttons.

"911 please state your emergency. . ."

A wave of magic, the collateral damage of one witches arrogant actions, spread twisting and changing as it went, across the world. Reaching further and further in an attempt to meet the demands for which it was created.

In a London morgue, Will and Grace Wimbleton held each other close as they confirmed to the police and the coroner that the small body on the slab was indeed their precious daughter Dianna. Missing for three days she'd been pulled from the river Thames just that morning. She lay on the cold metal slab with a stillness that could never be mistaken for sleep as her mother threw herself forward wrapping arms around her with an inconsolable wail.

Will, still lost in his own grief, stepped forward trying to pull his distraught wife off their daughter, never realizing that Grace wasn't the only thing causing Dianna to twitch on the table.

Changed by the same magic that now affected every other potential in the world, for they too were daughters of Sineya, Dianna's eyes opened, void of thought, void of life, of conciseness, she reached out with base instinct for the food leaning over her.

A/N: After several years of silence I have decided to start writing again. Unfortunately, my old laptop and any notes I had on these stories are long gone. So I'll be going through them and deciding which stories I want to keep working on and which ones I'm getting rid of. No idea as of yet, except that I will be finishing this one for sure. This one I still remember the main plot points and how I wanted it to end. Before I start uploading new content I will be revising these first three chapters.