Waking up wasn't exactly a hardship for Ainsley. He never needed much sleep, after all, and getting by on three or four hours after his shift at the club was perfectly normal. He didn't even really need those few hours, but he had found that being rested made a lot of things in his life easier. And even though he really didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do, he rolled out of bed anyway.
He pulled yesterday's jeans on over his pants, but didn't bother hunting for a shirt. He yawned and shuffled out to the tiny kitchen of his flat, grabbed one of the plastic containers from the butcher shop, and poured its contents out into a small pan. He let it heat slowly, stirring the whole time, just warming it up enough to make it palatable. Pig's blood was bad enough on its own, but cold pig's blood? Was simply inedible.
He wondered how Mason had fared the night before. He kept track of the moon now, like he never had before. Even if he didn't remember dates and waxings and wanings, he could tell by the state of his friend. A couple nights ago, Mason's demeanor had clearly pointed at the impending fullness of the moon, and Ainsley had made sure to double check on the tacky nudie calendar pinned up in the break room at work.
Ainsley tipped the pan over his stupid novelty mug from some crap shop in Cardiff, and stirred it again one more time. He took the mug with him over to the couch, reached for the remote control, and flipped on the telly. His nose twitched as the first taste of blood hit his tongue, and he ignored it, as always. His body didn't want Pig Liquid, it wanted Human. But Ainsley kept even his visits to the blood bank down to a minimum. The more he took from them, the less there was for the A&E supplies at the local hospitals.
It wasn't until he was five sips in that he realised his nose was trying to tell him something else. That there was something else. Something he needed to pay attention to.
He put his mug on the coffee table, stood, and followed the scent, opening the door to his flat and letting his eyes adjust to the dimly lit hallway outside it.