The building surprised her. Laura had been walking down the dry river bed for about an hour, her mind on just about everything except her surroundings. The one nice thing about her path was that she merely had to turn around and she would be headed home. The joke in her house was that she'd get lost in the bathtub. Thusly, Dry Creek was not just a map for her; it was like an old, familiar friend. She knew every rock, every twisted shrub, probably all the clumps of grass if she put her mind to it.

"When did someone put a building here?" she asked out loud, but the birds and the wind ignored here. She brought up her camera and took a couple of shots. Before her daydreams took Laura away, her initial reason for this walk had been to get some shots for her photography class and this was perfect.

As she drew closer, the decrepit state of the structure told her it had been abandoned for a very long time. She'd lived here all her life and had never heard about any building out here. How every odd, she though as she started down the weed-and-grass-covered walkway. The concrete had been cracked and the resulting holes allowed plants to take root. She was very careful with her footing

Two upright marble pillars supported a weather-worn sign between them.

"Avulsion Manor." Laura clicked a photo of it as proof. "What a weird name. This can't get much creepier." She didn't know what the word avulsion meant and she really didn't care. Her teacher liked to go on about that attitude of hers.

As she drew closer to the structure, she realized it was one of three buildings. The others were smaller and set off to one side. Since she was here, she might as well do some exploring with this one. She glanced over her shoulder at the sun. She still had about four hours of sun left and the light would be perfect.

The door was padlocked and she shivered as she touched it. It was freezing cold. Shaking her head in wonder, she went around the corner and slipped in through a gaping hole which had once been a window.

She snapped photos without really focusing on anything, just taking random shots. That seemed to work the best for her in the past.

Laura came to a large room and she winced as a pain caught her stomach. Damn it! It was too early for her period. She took a few deep breaths and felt a little better. Sipping some warm water from her canteen, Laura took a moment to just stop and listen. Outside there had been the whisper of the wind and the chirping birds, but in here is was eerily quiet.

The room seemed oddly preserved, as if the occupants had just gotten up in the middle of whatever they were doing and left. There was a pile of rusted narrow cots crowded into one corner of the room as if they were either trying to escape or cringing from fear. She smiled at that thought as she snapped a photo of them.

There were items stuck on the walls, their wording long-faded. Children books and broken toys were scattered over the floor like dust. In the center of the room was a playpen, long empty, but oddly free of the dirt and debris that clung to everything else in the room.

She snapped shots of the room and then one of the playpen. Looking through the viewfinder, she gasped. There was a figure in the playpen and Laura swore it was looking right at her. She dropped the camera, but there was nothing there. Looking into the viewfinder again, it seemed to be reaching for her. She snapped off two more shots before retreating back to the door.

Suddenly, the pain struck her again. She started to make her way down the hall and then stopped. It was dark outside. Frantic, she looked at her watch, but it had stopped running.

"Man, I'm gonna get it now." She turned back, figuring she would cut through the nursery or whatever it was and she froze. There was something, some formless mass, at the end of the hall, watching her. Without thinking, she raised the camera and took a shot. It roared and she covered her ears, thankfully that the camera was on a strap.

It began to race towards her and she screamed, turned, and ran. She nearly missed the room with the window, but at the last second she realized it and threw herself towards it with the snarling raging mass at her heels.

She hit the ground, rolled, and started to get to her feet when something grabbed her and for a moment smothered her in its embrace. She screamed and fainted.

ALL IRREGULARITIES WILL BE HANDLED BY THE FORCES CONTROLLING EACH DIMENSION; TRANSURANIC HEAVY METAL MAY NOT BY USED WHERE THERE IS LIFE. MEDIUM ATOMIC WEIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE: GOLD, LEAD, COPPER, JET, DIAMOND, RADIUM, SAPPHIRE, SILVER AND STEEL. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED.

She came to with a jerk and looked around her. There was a blonde woman kneeling beside her, stroking her face.

"Are you all right, Laura?" The stranger held out some water and Laura reached for it. Her hand was trembling so badly that it spilled.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"My name is Sapphire. We heard your scream and decided to investigate." Sapphire pointed to the necklace that hung around Laura's neck. "I am assuming the necklace is yours."

"Yeah, my dad gave it to me…" Laura stopped and frowned. Sapphire was wearing a beautiful floor-length evening gown. "Who would wear a ball dress out here?" A noise pulled her focus and she looked fearfully in that direction. When she looked back, the woman was dressing in a light blue denim jumper and a red-checked blouse. "Weren't you just wearing…?"

"I'm sorry?" Sapphire's eyes opened wide and the thought fled from Laura's head.

There was movement in her peripheral vision and a dark shape detached itself from the shadows and moved towards her. She gasped and jumped to her feet.

Sapphire caught her hand. "It's all right, Laura. This is my partner, Steel. He's the one who rescued you."

The man flicked a glance in Laura's direction before shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever it is it's gone now." He walked a few feet from her and turned back. "What did you see?"

Laura shrank from the intensity of his glare. "I don't…I don't know. It was big and black and it screamed… or something."

"I thought you screamed." Sapphire rested a hand on her arm.

"I… I did, but it was first."

"A sentry, Steel?"

"None missing that I'm aware of."

"What did it look like?"

"I don't really…" She looked down as Sapphire squeezed her arm and suddenly she was back in the hall and that thing was racing towards her. No, not a thing, it was a crowd of people, all kinds of people. She could see heads, bodies, legs… but no arms. She groaned and tried to run.

"Open your eyes, Laura."

She did as she was commanded and realized she was in the field, away from the building with the sun shining down, birds singing happily and two complete strangers staring at each other. She amended her earlier statement. Apparently today still had much weirdness in store.

Sapphire purged her mind of the image. It was angry, evil, and it wanted something.

What did it want, Sapphire?

I am not sure. Revenge?

We've certainly confronted angry spirits. Is it the Darkness, like that at the train station? The thought of poor Tully made Sapphire's heart ache, but Steel's voice filled her mind. We don't have time for pity, Sapphire. Is it the Darkness?

I don't think so. She's back with us. "How are you feeling?"

The girl drew a breath and let it out. "Still shaky. What is this place?"

"It would appear some sort of sanatorium." Steel waded through the tall grass and picked up something. "Hmm, an Admissions and Record sign." He looked back at the building. "That must have been the building you were in."

"There was a nursery in it." The girl held up the camera. "I took a picture, but then started feeling really sick. I started to leave and that's when I saw… well, whatever I saw." She clutched the camera closer to her chest. "I don't think it wanted to have its photo taken."

"You have a photograph of it?" Steel was amazed at the girl's presence of mind.

"Well, I took a shot; I don't know that it came out. I have to develop it first."

Sapphire, we need to see those photographs.

"Laura, might we come along and see your photographs?" Sapphire asked, politely.

After a long moment, Laura nodded. "Ah… sure, I guess Mom and Dad won't mind." She still couldn't tear her eyes from the buildings.

"What's wrong? What do you see?" Steel whispered in her ear.

"That building wasn't there yesterday, I swear it wasn't." She spared him a fast glance and then back to the administration building. "I've lived here my whole life and have walked the river bed for nearly as long and it's never been here... before. There's something really wrong in there."

Steel sighed and looked at his companion.

I'm going in for a look around.

I'll go with you.

"No, stay with her. Keep back. She is right that there is something very wrong here.

Be careful.

He smiled and touched her cheek nodding.

"Where's he going?"

"He wants to investigate."

Frantic, Laura grabbed her arm. "He can't! The light will be gone soon."

"He'll be fine. Steel has excellent night vision."

"That's not what I mean. I just have a feeling no one should be in there at night."

"He's not what you think. He'll be fine."

"I don't think so…" Laura whispered and turned her face back to the sun.

Steel approached the main door to the administration building and reached out for the lock. It was biting cold, but that was of no matter to him. He yanked the padlock loose with little ceremony and tossed it into the grass. It was probably his imagination that the grass seemed to die and whither the moment the lock touched it.

He looked at the palm of his hand and it was black, almost as if it had been charred. How odd. He closed his fingers and then opened them. His palm was again normal looking.

He pushed the door and it fell inward. It opened into a debris-filled room. Furniture was scattered and piled into broken bits as if someone had been building a bonfire and gotten interrupted. The walls were stained and paint blistered and peeled from it. It was some sort of waiting room, he imagined.

A gush of wind hit him as he stepped inside and a pain slammed into his gut. Gasping, he doubled over, but managed to stay on his feet.

"Now behave or I'll give you another." The voice was cruel and low.

Steel straightened and was surprised. The room was clean and stank of a mixture of human excrement and bleach. Bile rose in his throat, but he swallowed it down.

Steel studied the speaker. He was flanked by a pair of men, each one beefy and brutal looking. "What am I doing here?"

"Your family is having you committed. They've gotten tired of your antics." The other man's voice was no kinder.

Steel was pulled forward to a desk. The woman there looked as kind and gentle as the men. "Who is this?"

"A newcomer."

"Dr. Franks will be thrilled. Admissions have been down the last couple of months. He's had no one to… examine for a very long time." She slapped shut a folder and Steel was surprised to see his photo on the cover. "Prepare him!"

He allowed them to drag him along, showing as much resistance as would be usual with a new person. He wasn't quite ready to tip his hand yet.

Steel was shoved into a room and he nearly tripped. Spinning around, he went back to the door, but it was already shut and locked.

"Ah, the new patient."

Another new voice. Steel thought as he turned. There was something so cruel and twisted in the man's eyes that Steel took an involuntary step back.

"It's been a long time." The man gestured to a tray of surgical instruments. "Welcome to Avulsion Manor. If you obey me, your pain will be minimal. If you resist and attempt to hold onto your former life, I can assure you, things can be made most difficult."

"I have no intention of staying here," Steel said, squaring his shoulders.

"Oh, I'd hoped you resist." He picked up a pair of rusty garden clippers. "First things first. Hold him!"

Steel hadn't even heard the other people enter the room. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to cut off your fingers, of course. It makes identifying the body harder for the family, but easier for our cleaning crew."

"Why would you do that?" Steel gave his arms a tug as the doctor approached.

"Why not?" One of orderlies holding him laughed. "And if you don't behave, we'll have to take you to the room."

"What room?"

"The avulsion room, of course." The receptionist was there as well and she looked hungry, like a starving dog watching a meaty bone. "Many people think we named our sanatorium Avulsion because we sit in a dry river bed. We prefer the other definition. All those filthy hands clutching and digging at you. If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out."

She laughed and Steel watched the doctor slip the jaws around is finger and squeeze. When nothing happened, the doctor applied more pressure and the clippers snapped.

"What in the name of God?"

"I suspect your god has been long absent from here." Closing his eyes, Steel began to drop his core temperature and the people holding him suddenly screamed and their hands fell away. His captors danced around the room, clutching their frost-bitten hands to their chests.

"I'm quite through, thank you."

Steel turned and gave the door a tug.

"It's locked, you fool." The doctor snarled and picked up a saw.

Steel wrenched the door from its hinges. "Is it?"

"Who are you?" One of the orderlies groaned as he attempted to bring comfort to his hands.

"Perhaps what would be closer, but for now, an ex-patient, thank you."

Steel stepped out of the room and into a long hallway. At the far end was a shape. He belatedly realized it was a crowd of people as they screamed and raced towards him, tripping and stumbling along the way.

Steel was built for strength and fortitude, but what he saw made him sick to his core. He turned and started for the door. He wasn't made for speed, however, and the figure overtook him, surrounding him with their anguish and pain.

TELL THEM! Multitudes of voices demanded. DON'T LET THEM FORGET!

He staggered, struggling to free himself. Somehow he found the door and stumbled out, falling to his knees. Almost instantly, Sapphire was there.

"Don't touch me," he ordered harshly, even though he clutched at himself, not in cold but in bitter sadness. "There is nothing. Get her out of here quickly."

"You?"

"I will follow. Go!" Steel wait for Sapphire to walk and then he stood and looked back at the building. Preparing himself, he stood and went back to the doorway. "Tell them what?"

EVERYTHING!

Laura kept looking back over her shoulder. "Will your friend be okay?"

"I hope so." Steel?

I'm here. Sapphire breathed a sigh of relief. The voice was stronger and as they rounded the bend in the river, they saw Steel standing in the middle of the dry river bed.

"Boy, how did you get here so fast?" She turned to point at the distant building and stopped. "It's gone. Where did it go?"

Where did it go, Steel? Her partner looked tired and sad. In fact, she'd never seen him look sad before and that bothered her.

Back to where it belonged.

Which is?

In people's memories.

Laura carried her photographs out to the porch where Sapphire and Steel sat, sipping lemonade and chatting with her parents.

"I can't believe there was anything there." Daddy was saying as she approached.

"It was a blight on humanity," Mama continued. "For a long time no one knew what was going on out there. Dr. Franks was very careful about the sort of patients he allowed in."

"People who would not be easily missed," Steel murmured, his eyes still distant. Every since they'd gotten home, Laura had been touched by how sad he seemed.

"The saddest part was the children. How they suffered from his cruelty. When he was exposed, the place was flattened."

"What about the doctor?"

"Let's just say he and his staff got a taste of his own medicine. It was ugly." Her mother suddenly smiled at Laura and held out an empty plate to her. "Sweetheart, why don't you get your friends some more cookies?"

Laura recognized that she was being sent away to spare her and while part of her wanted to hear another part didn't. Before she left, she stopped. "Daddy, what does avulsion mean?"

"It's a medical term for a limb that is forcefully removed from a body as opposed to be amputated. It also refers to a dry river bed cut off from the main river."

She looked down at her top photo of a mass of people reaching for her. Without limbs, they pleaded with their eyes. She carefully tore the photo in half and dropped it. "That's what I was afraid of."