By the time Buffy arrived at the Bronze, it appeared as if all of Sunnyvale's law enforcement force was out in full to subdue the threat that was going on inside based on the many police cars outside. Gun shots rang out and the strange animalistic growls and shrieks could also be heard. Buffy wasted no time in grabbing her stake and ducking her way into the popular night spot as not to get hit by a stray bullet. Never once in her time in Sunnydale had the police taken such an active role in fighting back the supernatural, but based on the alert the officer from before had heard, whatever was attacking The Bronze was something to be truly feared.
It took Buffy a moment to understand what she was seeing once she entered The Bronze. There were unnaturally pale women, some in black capes and clothing, attacking what little of the Sunnydale police were left alive. They soared through the air, shrieking inhumanly. It gave Buffy pause. They were the creatures from her dream!
"Get out of here! Get out now while you can!" the police officer from before called over to Buffy from behind the makeshift barricade him and his fellow officers had formed. He blinked a few times in amazement that it was the girl he had just been talking to, but he soon returned to fighting off the frenzied women.
Buffy saw this and immediately snapped into action to help the police. She pulled her crossbow out of her jacket, took aim and fired at one of the women flying toward the group of men. This particular creature had shoulder-length hair and a red-lined cape. The arrow hit her square in the heart and she was immediately barraged by a hail of bullets from the policemen. The creature wailed in pain and was sent flying backwards into a table. Buffy felt a surge of excitement flow through her body that these things had a weakness similar to vampires.
The blonde Slayer launched herself into the fray, kicking, punching and stabbing away at the women with her stake. The police seemed to rally to Buffy's fighting, and they kept reloading their weapons and firing at the pale monsters. For Buffy, things were moving so fast. It was as if when she had disposed of one of the creatures more and more seemed to come out of the woodwork and attack her. She even saw that there was a growing number of the women that didn't wear the black capes and clothing that seemed to be trademark of this frenzied throng, but clothing that would seem commonplace any night at The Bronze. Then, as she staked a petite creature with strawberry blonde hair and a bright yellow shirt stained with blood it all became disturbingly clear to Buffy. She took a moment from the fighting to look around. She saw the lifeless bodies of the male patrons of the club littered throughout The Bronze. All had been drained of their blood and some were missing limbs. A hopeless sensation flooded Buffy and she realized that these women had transformed the female Bronze patrons into frenzied, bloodthirsty creatures like themselves and they had fed on the men! A creature flew at her, arms outstretched and black, razor-sharp talons barred, and Buffy only just dodged her. Buffy wondered if this was a new breed of vampire?
It then occurred to her that she heard less and less gun shots. Looking over, The Slayer's heart sank when she saw that there were only two police officers left alive. Buffy tried her best to fight her way over, but it was too much of a numbers game. There were just too many of them! Every now and then the police officer from before would look over to Buffy, a mixture of gratitude and hopelessness were clear in his eyes and Buffy could only look on at their desperate situation.
"Enough of this," a feminine voice called out, and out of the shadows came an ear-splitting shriek. One of the creatures flew into the barricade that the two remaining officers were clinging to for some semblance of safety. The force of the creature's attack destroyed it into splinters and the men were left wide open for attack. The pale woman's fangs gnashed together and she glared menacingly at the men before her taloned hand slashed past the other officer's throat. Instantly, his hands gripped at his neck frantically, but it was no use. His dying body never even had a chance to fall to the ground. Instead, the horde of evil women descended upon him and the satiated their ravenous appetites.
It was now just Buffy and the policeman that had been investigating Xander's car that were left alive in the whole macabre scene. He looked on in abject horror at what had become of his fellow lawman and friend, but the pale woman that had ruined their makeshift barricade wasted little time in descending upon him. She grabbed him mercilessly by the neck and held him high above her. He struggled as much as he could in her grip but it was no use. He was entirely at her mercy.
All of the other women stopped their attack and made their way to form a blockade between Buffy and the pale creature, who rose into the air. Buffy looked up at the woman and her eyes grew wide. The creature still held the police officer with her one hand and with the other she gripped the arrow sticking out of her chest. Her evil, golden eyes never left Buffy's and she yanked the protuberance out of her chest. Buffy recognized the woman instantly. It was the same creature with the shoulder-length hair and red-lined cape. She had thought she had made short work of killing her earlier, but in fact, she had only minorly incapacitated the creature. The grim reality was slowly taking her over and she now knew that she had no idea how to kill these things. It was then, almost on cue, that all the other women that Buffy had thought she had made short work of slowly rose to their feet and joined their sisters in hissing and snarling at the bewildered Slayer.
'Bacchus,' Buffy thought back to her dream and Giles' explanation, 'his followers, the Bacchae.' Was that what these creatures were? More and more, Buffy was understanding what was happening, and it all certainly wasn't good.
Suddenly, Buffy was caught off guard and tackled to the floor by yet another extremely pale girl in pale blue jeans and a bloodstained midriff-barring top. Buffy fought with the snarling, hissing, grunting creature. This one wasn't like the others, Buffy frantically realized as she finally pried the mad thing off of her just enough for her to maneuver herself into a position where she could kick the Bacchae away. It was just before Buffy's booted feet made contact with the frenzied-Bacchae's midsection that she looked at the girl's face for the first time. Even with the glittering golden, crazed eyes, deathly-white skin, crimson, pursed lips and vicious, elongated fangs, Buffy recognized the face of Janice Penshaw, one of Dawn's best friends. Buffy stared at her wide-eyed for a moment, the thought crossing her mind that Dawn, her own sister, may have been here and victim to this horror. The Slayer barely missed another of Janice's frenzied attacks, and pushed the thought out of her mind. It was too horrible to even consider.
Through all of her hysteria, Janice paused for a moment when she landed and whipped her head back in Buffy's direction. In between flashing her saliva-soaked fangs and grunting and barking feverishly, there was a brief moment of recognition in the changed girl's yellow eyes.
"Daaawwwwnnnnnnnn," She hissed out slowly.
She flashed her fangs one last time, gave another inhuman snarl, and flew past Buffy, crashing through the Bronze's door and out into the Sunnydale night sky. Buffy turned to the policeman one last time, who was still being held up in the air by the Bacchae that The Slayer thought she had put down earlier. The woman had an absolute evil look in her golden eyes and it was almost like she was silently tempting Buffy to try to save the man. The Bacchae between Buffy and their supposed-leader lowered in an attack position when Buffy took a single step forward. Seeing this, the man shook his head to the side, as much as he could in the vice-like grip of the Bacchae. He was silently telling her to flee. Buffy, tears welling in her own eyes, nodded only once and turned around, fighting through the few Bacchae blocking the door before she finally took off running toward her own house.
As she left The Bronze behind, she heard the loud, cruel voice of the Bacchae with the red-lined cape, "Know this, Slayer. You were helpless to save this man. Just as you you will be helpless to save yourself!"