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Chapter 3 Unacceptable losses

Kit's attempts to get Dawn alone were doomed as Janice and Joey or the Kendall twins accompanied her everywhere. Quite often other children were there as well. Three times Kit Holburn was taken down by five or more schoolmates and beaten, pinched and kicked. At the end of the second month of the Pact not a single pupil was not a member. And they realized there was strength in numbers. The hunt for Kit Holburn was on.

Kit Holburn took her beatings with the same stoicism she'd shown when she had been the aggressor. She did not run to the teachers, or the principal, or the school nurse. When teachers asked her what was wrong, which was rare, she stayed silent or said she'd fallen.

Even when she left the school with a bloody nose and black and blue all over she did not complain. Dawn was getting worried. Mutual defence was one thing…beating up someone this bad…that was…wrong, as evil and bad as Kit had ever been. That was what rule twelve was about…

This had been the fourth day in a row that members of the Pact had taken out their long restrained anger and fear on the once all powerful bully. Yet Kit Holburn had not run, or hidden, or sneaked off. Every morning she'd walked, or the last two days, limped, onto the schoolyard after taking her beating. Always the Pact members kept her away from Dawn.

Then came the Monday Kit wasn't in school. Dawn heard the talk during break, just as she was giving Janice, Melody and Felicity a description of her ambush of Buffy, Willow and Amy the Friday before, and how the Willow's and hers assault on Aunt Arlene had ended up with both of them being dunked. And how Willow, the instigator of the ill considered attack upon the Army major, had squealed when she was dunked in a wading pool with icy water.

And how Aunt Arlene had repeated the joke and had squealed ever louder as she was dunked in every one of the five wading pools, each with their own bucket of ice.

It was not the sort of rumour to make Dawn happy…A group of ten Pact members had waylaid Kit outside the school that morning and this time Kit had finally broken and run. She wasn't there after the break either.

When the last bell rang and the weekend began Dawn Summers went looking for her nemesis. Climbing over the back wall, avoiding Lewis who was her guard today, she quickly found the location of the attack. A forlorn shoe, the sole almost worn away, was lying on the ground and drops of blood lay scattered on the dry grass. Kit had not left her attackers unmarked, Dawn had seen that. But none of them had bled.

Dawn followed the blood trail until it came to a small stream. She took of her shoes and socks and went upstream first looking closely at the banks. After half a mile she saw that someone had left the water. A faint track led to a junction box in a copse. She put on her shoes and took it.

The Devil of Sunnydale Elementary was sitting against the back of the junction house, on an old ragged sleeping bag. There was a Winnie the Pooh lunchbox at her side, standing open and empty. Dawn felt her ire rising again at the petty act of theft.

"You stole my lunchbox!" She walked into the small clearing and gasped as she got her first good look at Kit Holburn in two weeks.

Kit had always been thin, as long as Dawn had known her and her face had been gaunt but now…bruises covered her arms, the left leg of her jeans was torn and Dawn could see the large bruises and scrapes underneath the worn denim. She had two black eyes and a large bruise on her cheek and many scratches on her face. Her hair was tangled and full of grass and thorns. Her nose was thick and swollen and traces of blood were visible underneath despite the fact that Kit had obviously tried to wash her face.

There was blood on the foot from which the shoe was missing and her sock was a bloody rag. It looked like she might have a broken toe. Her threadbare shirt was torn and bloody too, showing the terrible bruising underneath.

Kit opened her swollen eyes with difficulty. "Summers. Come to gloat?" Her voice croaked from her throat. She tried to rise, but staggered and fell against the wall. Her right arm hung down at a strange angle. A badly worn stuffed bear fell from her hands as she tried to keep upright.

Dawn was by her side in an instant. She could feel the bones and tendons of the bigger girl, her elbows and the bones in her hands painfully visible. She lowered Kit to the ground carefully.

"No. When did you last eat?"

There was a dry forced chuckle. "Before I stole your lunchbox? About two weeks ago."

"Two weeks…" Dawn was aghast. "Did you run away from home?"

"My mom went to Vegas during the summer vacation…She hasn't been back. My dad's in jail. I had to leave the apartment 'cause I couldn't pay the rent."

Dawn looked around. She saw the worn bookbag, repaired with bailing wire, with the old, old hand me down books, the small plastic bag of clothes and the battered My Little Pony toilet bag. The ancient eyeless teddy, with the badly repaired rents and tears. A trembling, scratched and bloody hand reached out for the lunchbox, closed it carefully and held it out to Dawn. Dawn saw it was undamaged, even if the very last crumb of was gone from it.

"Take your box and go Summers…You won…I won't be in school tomorrow."

"It wasn't about winning…Where will you go?"

"Mom said they pay well in Vegas…" Kit's voice was toneless and flat and yet filled with despair.

Dawn went pale as a sheet. Her mother tried to shield her from the worst excrescences of life, but she knew enough to know what Kit was referring to. "NO!"

Kit coughed and a little blood came up. Dawn looked at her in horror. The larger girl turned pain filled blue eyes on her. "I might not make it to Vegas…Summers…Dawn…If my mom ever comes back? Tell her I-I'm sorry I lost the apartment…" She closed her eyes.

Dawn dragged out her phone and hit speed dial. "Pick up the phone, pick up the phone, pick up, pick up!"

The ring was answered. "Dawn? Where are you? And why did you run away from school? We've been looking for you young lady!" Her mother's voice was worried.

"MOM! I'm in the forest, near the school…I-I there's a girl here and she's badly hurt mom…I don't know what I should do!"

Her mother obviously had to mentally change gears from righteous anger and great worry to different concerns. Dawn heard the breath that did it.

"Dawn, is there anything that you can use to identify the place?'

Her mother's voice was calm and collected. Dawn felt herself calm down as well. "Yeah. A junction house…Sunnydale Electrical Company…139-B178."

There was a momentary pause.

"I've put Willow on it and Aunt Arlene is calling 911. Buffy is getting hold of Lewis. "

"Thanks mom."

"How did the girl get hurt Dawnie? "

"Kit. Her name is Kit…she b-bullied us and stole money…and then I-I got the other kids to join up in a defence pact…and now they've been beating her up for days…"

"Oh Lord…Dawn, how long has this been going on?"

"Since my first week here…"

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. "We'll be talking about this later young lady. Now, how do we reach Kit's parents?"

"Her dad's in jail…her mom works in Vegas."

"In Las Vegas? Who takes care of the girl?"

"No one…mom…she…Kit…she said was going to…workin Vegas too…" Dawn almost choked on the words.

She heard her mother's sobbing intake of breath as she realized exactly what her daughter meant. "Oh my God…" There was a noise and Simon took over on the other side of the line.

"Dawn love…Is she still conscious?"

"I-I don't know?" Dawn turned to Kit, who was sitting completely still. "K-Kit?"

There was no answer. "Simon? She doesn't answer…H-Her eyes are closed…Should I shake her?"

"No Dawn, better not, we don't know what's wrong. Lewis, Hurst and Bchenka should be there in a couple of minutes at the most…The ambulance is on the way. Dawn, is she bleeding?"

"S-she's got scratches…and she had a nosebleed earlier, but that's stopped. I can't see anything else…"

"I see. Dawn, I want you to feel her pulse, like I showed you. Can you do that for me?"

Dawn nodded. "Yes. Just a sec."

She put her fingers on Kit's neck and after a second felt a weak, thready pulse. "I can feel a heart beat…but I think it's real weak…Simon…she isn't going to die is she?"

"I don't know Dawnie, I'm not there. Dawnie, we're going to the hospital and you should go there too, either ride with Kit in the ambulance or with Lewis, Hurst and Bchenka. Do you understand?"

"Yes…Yes…I'll see you at the hospital?" Dawn's voice was trembling.

"Of course dear and I'll remain on the phone, or your mother or Buffy, Willow or Xander. We're here for you Dawn. We'll all be at the hospital."