"Blue sprites?" I repeated. I had never heard of them- none of the stories my mother had ever told me had contained blue sprites.

"Blue sprites, the sprites of the night," Sirius said. "But you have not answered my question."

"You can't be sprites," I said. "I'm a sprite, or half of one."

Whispered broke out around the circle. I saw that the blue sprites had begun to look at me with curiosity.

"You are one of the green ones then," Sirius said. "A sun sprite." Suddenly he frowned. "What do you mean, 'half of one'?"

"My mother was a sprite, my father was human."

I heard gasps of shock from the blue sprites. Sirius looked angry.

"Where do you come from where such unnatural wickedness is allowed?" he asked.

"Australia," I said indignantly. "And it's not unnatural, not even uncommon."

Sirius was looking at me in horror. "Maybe where you come from this is a normal practice. Where we come from, such things are unheard of."

"Where do you come from?" I asked curiously.

"We come from the mountains- the alps of Europe. We come to see the great land America, and to find more of our own kind."

I was painfully reminded of my parents trip here to find more sprites, and of the result of our search.

"Have you found any?" I asked.

"We have found no sprites of any breed, save for you." Sirius answered.

"Oh," I said sadly. I would have liked to think there were others out there, but I wasn't sure I'd ever find any.

I suddenly realized how late it must be. I had to get home.

"I have to go," I said, standing up quickly.

"Wait!" Sirius commanded. I saw him glance at another middle aged male sprite, who nodded. "Let me have a minute of discussion with my brothers." he said.

I didn't want to hang around while they talked, but the circle had closed around me and I had to choice but to wait. Acourtas and a group of other sprites- all male- stood in a tight circle and talked in hushed tones. I couldn't hear what they were saying. My eyelids drooped as I waited, wishing I was at home in bed.

After what felt like forever Sirius turned to me.

"We wish to know more about you and your life here," he said. "We are visitors in this country and know very little. Tomorrow, you shall return to us, and we shall talk more."

"Um, yeah, sure, okay." I said. Tomorrow was Saturday- I could find time to come to the forest. And I did want to know more about these strange blue sprites.

Sirius nodded, pleased.

"Sol," he said, and a younger sprite, not much older than me, stepped forwards. Sol was tall- as tall as Sirius. His jet black dreadlocks hung around his bare shoulders- he was shirtless. He smiled, his white teeth contrasting with his dark skin.

"Sol will guide you back to your home," Sirius said to me. "He will light the way for you. For now, Juniper, goodnight."

He snapped his fingers, and the clearing was plunged into darkness. I couldn't see a thing, not even their blue eyes- they had all disappeared and left me alone...

"Juniper!" I turned around, but I couldn't see who was speaking. Then something touched my arm.

"Ah!" I said in fright.

"It's only me, Sol," Blue eyes appeared out of the darkness. "Don't worry, I'll get you home."

"Oh, thanks," I said. "How can you see? It's pitch black."

Sol laughed. "I can see in the dark."

"As well as daytime?" I asked in wonder.

"No, I can't see very well in sunlight. Our eyes are so used to darkness, it hurts to be in the sun. We sleep most of the day."

"You're nocturnal then?" I asked, unable to control my curiosity.

"Yes. We are creatures of the night." Sol said. "Which way is your home?"

"Oh, we have to go to... someone else's house first. I left my scooter there."

"Your scooter?"

"Oh, it's like a... bike? Do you know bikes?"

"No..."

"Never mind then. It's, um... can you see a big hemlock tree?"

"Yes."

"It's that way."

Sol's took my hand in his and gently guided me along. I was scared I'd trip in the darkness, but we went slowly and Sol's calm, accented voice warned me of possible hazards. It took a long time, but eventually we got out of the forest. The moon shone above us, and I could make out the Cullens house in the distance and the shape of my scooter by the steps.

"Thanks, I can go from here," I said.

"Wait- I want to see your scooter." Sol said.

I laughed and led him over to where I'd parked it. Sol examined it.

"I have seen these before. They are very popular where I come from."

"Yeah, they're big in Europe."

He walked around it slowly. "How do you make it go?" he asked.

I started the engine to show him. He yelled in fright at the sudden loud noise.

"Don't worry, it's just the engine. It can't hurt you." I assured him.

"It sounds angry." Sol said nervously.

"It shouldn't be, I just got it serviced." I replied.

I gave him a demonstration of how it worked by driving around him in a circle. He watched me in amazement.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then," I said. "I have to get home."

Sol nodded sadly. "Yes, I suppose you better go," he said. "Where do you live?"

"In Forks- that's the town, not too far from here."

"Can I see your home?" he asked eagerly.

I was a little taken aback by the request.

"Um... I guess so." I said. "You'll have to ride on here though."

Sol nodded enthusiastically.

With Sol on the back, I made my way back to Forks.

Clearly the blue sprites hadn't had much contact with humans. Sirius had said they lived in the Alps- I supposed there weren't a lot of people up there, and those they had seen would have been from a distance. My mother had spoken of sprites like this, who lived in seclusion and had no contact with the human world.

"So, this is where I live." I said as we pulled up outside my shop. "Would you like to come inside?"

Sol nodded and I followed me inside. He gazed around the shop.

"You have a lot of clothing." he said.

"No, this is a shop. Other people come and buy clothes from here. I live upstairs." I explained.

"Can I see there too?" he asked.

We went upstairs. He walked around the room, staring at everything. He held his hands behind his back, as though he was worried he might touch something accidentally. While he looked I unpacked my bag, getting out the homework I'd have to do over the weekend.

"Who's that?" he asked.

I turned. He was standing next to the photo board I'd made only a week ago. After the Cullens left I realized I didn't have photos of any of them. So I'd decided to get photos of my other friends, especially Andy. The photo he was pointing to was of me and Andy together. We were standing outside school, his arm around me while I wrapped my arms around him. Both of us were grinning at the camera.

"That's Andy. My boyfriend." I said.

Sol pointed to a picture of Matt and Tom. "Are these your boyfriends too?"

"Oh, no," I said, realizing he wouldn't understand the concept of boyfriends. "They are just friends. Andy and I are... in a relationship."

Sol nodded, understanding."You love him?"

I nodded. "We love each other." I said.

Sol nodded solemnly.

"I should go," he said suddenly.

"Do you know how to get back?" I asked, worried he'd get lost by himself.

"Yes, I can use the stars to find my way." he said. "Goodbye."

He turned and walked downstairs. I heard the door open and shut.

I went downstairs and locked the door- I always did at night- and then went to bed, exhausted. My dreams were full of the blue sprites, dancing in the light of the glowing trees.

When I woke I thought it might have been a dream. I had no proof that the previous night had happened at all, save for the fact I'd spelt in unusually late. But it was all so vivid in my memory, and I doubted I'd be able to dream something like that, and so I decided it must have really happened. Which meant, for the first time in such a long time, there were others like me. Well, not exactly like me, but sprites, which was close enough. I couldn't wait to tell Andy...

Then I remembered: Andy and I were fighting. I didn't know if Blake had told him the real reason why I had been in his car yesterday morning. I supposed he had by now- Steph would have demanded an explanation- but why hadn't Andy called? Was he still angry about me going to La Push? Or was something else bothering him?

I spent the morning working, while obsessing over this question. I couldn't work it out- it was so unlike Andy not to call me, especially after I ran out of the classroom like I had.

I realized that I hadn't paid for my scooter repairs, and so quickly got together the money and drove to the mechanics. He wasn't angry at all, just concerned.

"I thought something must have happened to you," he said.

I smiled. "Nothing too exciting," I lied.

I returned home and worked for a few more hours, before deciding to go the forest. I had promised Sirius and the other sprites I would return. We hadn't specified a time, but sprites measured time differently, using the sun, the stars and the bark of trees. They had said tomorrow- I could go anytime before midnight. It would be getting dark in an hour or so. By the time I got to the clearing the blue sprites would be awake.

I packed a bag with my iPod, phone, a torch and a warm coat- it got cold in the forest at night. I wondered how Sol could stand to go without a shirt, but I supposed compared with the Alps, Forks must feel quite warm to him. Then I went outside and climbed on my scooter, and went to meet the blue dancers.