It felt refreshing to walk outside after a long day at work. A soft breeze caressed Christina's cheek as she walked down the narrow streets of downtown Amsterdam. The sun had begun to set, making the sky slowly turn from blue to a shade of pink, followed by dark crimson, purple and orange. It was a beautiful night, but Christina couldn't quite enjoy it as much as she would have done a few weeks ago. The reason? She really, really didn't like her new job. Since last week, she was Jan Bakers' newest personal secretary in the Amsterdam main office. She had to take calls, send mails, schedule appointments for meneer Willem Snijder, her boss, receive meneer Willem's guests and bring him his coffee from time to time. Those things she actually liked, meneer Willem was a strict but just man who liked her results, he wasn't sentimental and never asked personal questions. Besides that, he had an amazing talent as an architect but he was hopeless when it came to planning and scheduling, making Christina's work all the more important. What made Christina dislike her job, was the environment where she had to work. The building was seemingly made entirely out of glass and concrete, lacking all the charm that she remembered Amsterdam to have. During her working hours, the sun shone brightly into her small office and although it wasn't as bad as being outside, Christina was forced to always wear sun block combined with thick clothes that covered all of her skin. It didn't really help that the walls and floor, even most of the furniture were all painted white. "To create the illusion of a larger space," meneer Willem would declare. 

Today she had requested to let her writing desk be moved to the other end of the room, where the sun wouldn't be pestering her all day long. But even more than the sun, the simple idea of taking orders from someone who wasn't even a quarter of her age was nerve wrecking. For the last two hundred years, Christina had been able to decide exactly when, where and what she would do in whose company. She had been as free as a bird, traveling from one place to the next whenever she felt like it. Or well, maybe an old wolf who sensed he wasn't the only hunter in his woods, would be a better metaphor. She hated to admit it, but wherever she had gone she had felt haunted. She had thought that maybe she'd feel less hunted down if she'd start behaving like an actual human again. But she hadn't had a clue how hard it would be to adjust to a human routine. Waking up at six, breakfast, shower, at work around nine, pretend like the blood you're drinking during lunch break is actually tomato juice, back home around six, eat a little, drink, sleep. She had forgotten how dull the life of humans could be. 

Christina let her thoughts wander as she walked. It usually took her about an hour, walking from her work to her canalside house. She didn't really mind, after all it was good exercise, it was great to just be able to let her feet carry her along as she let her mind wander after a long, stressful day and thirdly; she didn't have a car nor license, so even if she had wanted to, the only way to shorten her journey would have been to let Jan pick her up after work (as he had often offered to do) or use the tram on some parts of her journey. She had never really gotten used to cars, trams nor bicycles. And the sight of a nineteen-year-old attempting to learn how to cycle was something that made her pride forbid her to learn how to ride one. But the last and best reason was that Christina wanted to rediscover her hometown -it surprised her that she still thought of it as that, her hometown. How long had it been since she had actually had a home here to return to-. 

The first fifteen minutes would guide her through the newest parts of the city, the always over packed highways, the office buildings, towering into the sky like concrete giants with lamp-lit eyes that woke after dark. After that, the road would take her past the railways, into one of the little places filled with green, making her feel as if she wasn't in the city at all but on the countryside. Unfortunately, the sound of cows mooing had been replaced by the sound of metal wheels on rails when a train passed with the sound of thunder. And finally, the new city would make place for the old, the real heart of Amsterdam. Luckily, unlike Rotterdam and Arnhem, Amsterdam had been spared during the War and most buildings that framed the canals were the same as Christina remembered them. 

A sigh of delight crossed her lips as she reached her street. The beautiful sunset sky had turned a darker shade and the azure turned to sapphire. Her house was one of the larger ones and was painted completely white. A wall lantern provided her with just enough light to rummage through her bag in search of her keys. However when she finally found it, the door had already opened. "Welkom thuis mevrouw Christina." A young, blonde man in his late twenties stood in the hallway with a broad smile on his face. "Thank you Jan." With a few steps she was inside. 

The second sigh of relief of the evening crossed her lips as she let herself fall onto her sofa in quite an unladylike manner. The sofa in her small personal library on the second floor of the house was her favorite place in the house by far. She gracefully lifted one leg and Jan quickly knelt down to relieve her of her shoes. "Oh, Jan. When you go downstairs, please be a dear and bring me something to drink. The Gressièe from last July would be most pleasant." Jan's only answer was a short nod as he left the room, taking her black heels with him. Christina realized that she should remind herself not to wear heels anymore to work. It was quite satisfying to be able to look others into their eyes, but the hour walk back was too much to handle while wearing heels. She had actually taken them off and walked a part of her journey barefoot a few times. But with all the tourists and students throwing their empty beer bottles wherever they liked, walking barefoot in the centre of Amsterdam wasn't such an intelligent plan. 
Jan returned as silently as he always did and he had to cough before she noticed his return. "Ah, thanks dear." She said with a smile. Jan answered with his boyish smile and twinkling eyes. After she had taken the glass with blood from his outstretched hand, he settled down on one of the armchairs standing next to the sofa. 
"So, how was work?" 
"Hmm... Just utterly delightful, as usual. I did make some progress on getting rid my arch nemesis, Mr. Zonlicht. So perhaps there'll be some improvement in my working conditions."

Christina couldn't help but frown as she took a sip of the red liquid. Some claimed that the older the blood was, the better it tasted. But Christina had tasted enough samples to know that the fresher it was, the more delight it brood to the palate. Jan noticed her discomfort and for a moment his ever-present-smile disappeared from his face. 
"It's not any good, is it Mevrouw." He didn't ask, he simply stated a fact. But Christina preferred not to speak badly of the bottled blood he had managed to obtain.
"Tch, I always tell you to just call me Christien or Chris or Christina or whatever you prefer. Just not that "Mevrouw" every time. It drives me mad."She continued as she put the glass on the table standing next to them. Before she continued, she took his hands in hers and looked him in the eye. "Aren't you after all my dearest and eldest friend. You've been everywhere and back with me. It just pains me that you are still so formal. And yes, I know that you are just the son of a sailor. But look at the world. It has left those days behind."

"I just hope it didn't leave us behind Chris." Jan answered, looking worried for the first time since they had come to Amsterdam. "I mean, honestly Mevrouw...Chris... I love to be back, but everything has changed so much, I looked around the old centre today and I couldn't spot Oude Kees' bakery shop, nor Elizabeth's tailor shop and I didn't see Maester & Sons either." His voice started to sound panicking and Christina moved her hands to his face. 
"Snap out of it Jan, look at yourself. Look. Look at how that coiffeur lady cut your hair 'to the latest trend sir, I guarantee' and that nice suit you're wearing. You're more than certainly keeping up with time. Nobody will ever suspect a thing.." His pained expression made her halt for a moment.

"Honestly... Please forgive me speaking so frankly Christina. But honestly, it's you that I'm worried about. Don't you see? You never go out to meet... our kind. You just try and pretend to be human, while you are not. You're still living in the past, trying to act as if nothing has changed. But sweet Christina, everything has." Slowly, Christina removed her hands from his face. Her lips tightened and the look in her eyes turned from compassion and pity into a glare. Slowly she raised from the sofa, as she stood tall she looked down upon Jan. Her hand reached down to the table where it found the half-filled glass. She hesitated but a second, before she threw the content in Jan's surprised face. 

"Don't. Ever. Say. That I live in the past. After. All the. Effort that I went through to keep up. Well... I'm sorry for not quite being able to forget. But may I remind you I had a fabulous life before that bastard took it all away." She was close to screaming and crying at this point, but she managed to contain herself. It took all of her strength to not break down and apologize to Jan, tell him that she didn't mean it and that she loved him like a brother. Her pride wouldn't allow it.
"Very well. I'll go and seek some of our.... kind, if that pleases you. Don't bother to come and find me, I'll be perfectly fine on my own." She didn't want to hurt him, but it felt so right. He was always nagging about the way she handled things. She had simply had more than enough. Christina quickly turned around and ran off the stairs to her bedroom. Jan's face, covered in blood and his bright blue eyes almost overflowing with loyalty and hurt... She wouldn't be able to forget that... Not for a while.
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Christina had managed to find one of the better looking bars in what was usually called the Red Light district. The whole atmosphere of the neighborhood felt wrong and this place, "The Burlesque", was the first place that she had come across that actually felt inviting, without the seedy vibe the other establishments gave off. Christina walked in circles for a while in front of the pub. She wasn't sure if she'd enter or not and even if she'd want to, she first needed to get invited to be able to go inside. She'd heard that most vampires these days were able to just go inside wherever they pleased, but for Christina it was a part of her system, something unable to be untaught. 

Just as she was thinking of just leaving and returning home to Jan and her bed, a blonde girl who had watched her from her spot near the door as Chris had walked around, approached her. Although, 'girl' wasn't really the right word for the woman. She was obviously a regular at the gym and looked as though she'd stand her ground in a bar fight and most likely win it too. "Can I help you m'am? My name is Jo and I'd like to invite you into our humble pub. I'm sure you'll find The Burlesque quite to your taste, we have the finest liquor, fresh or bottled and our own house band is performing tonight." Jo had seemed to sense that Christina was feeling uneasy and after her kind yet polite words, Christina felled her tense muscles relax slightly. "Thank you, that's most kind of you." Jo nodded with a polite smile and stepped aside as Christina walked inside. 

The atmosphere inside was indeed very pleasant. The pub was decorated in about the same style as Christina had done with her house. Elegant, fitting with the building's age. Christina smiled slightly as she remembered how her father had told her about the fuss that had been made back in the day because of the new tax on buildings, based on their width. Of course the Amsterdammers, pragmatic as always had found a solution by simply building their houses in length and height instead of width. 

The life band also added to the pleasant atmosphere and Christina found herself unconsciously tapping her feet along to the beat. It was a shame that she didn't have her violin with her, otherwise she'd have asked the gentlemen if she'd be allowed to join them for a song. The place also wasn't as crowded as she had feared it to be. Content with her new environment, Christina slowly walked towards an empty table. Her heels weren't kind to her feet but she still had convinced herself that if she'd reintroduce herself to the vampiric scene, she'd at least do it in style. She was wearing a dark blue velvet dress that fell down just above her knees. Her black heels and the black rose she had attached to her pinned up hair matched the black bow on her waist. As she sat down on the comfortable chair, she decided that she'd first watch the other clients before she'd take any action herself. The unusual politeness Jo had showed to her seemingly nineteen-year-old self made her suspect that she knew -or at least suspected- Christina to be a vampire. It'd be wise to first make sure who in the establishment were humans and who were not before she'd order her blood and be extra sensitive to their emotions. And knowing humans and their liquor, she was sure that most of them would experience some extreme emotions tonight.