Inclusion Four

The Beast walks for a thousand measures of time
A thousand revolutions
Or one that is not measured
He measures the time
Then forgets
Then measures again
Feet over the walls of shattered buildings
Then the grass
The tree-line and in the distance, the rolling hills
Then through the crowds in the arcades
Moving around him
Pushing past his mass
Progressing along the walls of stalls
Stopping
Walking
Stopping
Purchasing
He stands still
They move around him
The large shape there standing
Listening
Watching
Still
Shifts his weight and moves
Slowly parting the flow of citizens
Meeting again and continuing behind him
Sitting there on the cliff
Watching Lons pass over the land
Panning from one side of his vision to the other
Casting a giant shadow

He settles down, folding his legs
Across the street he sees the house
A sun rises
Falls
Then nothing
Then the sun
Then nothing
The asphalt beneath his feet turns to soil
A moisture
Rocks, lichens and moss
Then dryness
Ash
An unseen compression to rock
Fracturing
Gravel
Heat
And asphalt

Standing at the door he needs no light
The blue glow of his eyes gives muted illumination
There is the sound of water
He pans his head
The toilet covered in blood
Blood on the floor
Another pool of blood meeting the first
Or perhaps the same pool
The man lies in one part of the blood
Eyes closed
The Beast pans his head
More blood
Then the bath
Water falling from a fitting in the wall
The woman sitting in the bath
Knees bent
Legs slightly parted
One arm draping down, knuckles touching the base of the bath
The other crumpled beneath her shoulder and pressed against her torso
Head at rest against the tiled wall

The Beast stares
Regarding the room

Shifting of weight
He moves forward
Slowly reaches
Large hands over the body of the woman
A fluid motion
Lifts her from the bath
Turns
Walks from the room
The sound of water on the base of the bath
Returns without the woman
Stops inside the door
Regards the man
Stares
Moves forward
Feet parting the blood on the floor
Lowers his body
Slowly reaches
Fingertips touching the blood
Hands pushing beneath the body of the man
Lifts
Turns
Step
Draw the other foot equal
Lowers the man into the bath beneath the water
Torso at at angle
Shoulder against the wall of the bath
Head at rest against the tiled wall
The Beast straightens
Turns
Regards the blood
The sound of water
Striking the clothing of the man
The smooth hard surface of the bath
Trickling to the drain and down
Stares
The irregular shape of the blood on the floor
Tiny separated shapes at the edges
Uniformity where the tiles resume, uncovered