Hi everyone. I was let into the world of ACOTAR by my best friend, who bought me the first book for Christmas. After whipping through the first few books, I could not let the story die. I had to write a fanfic about it or I would go raving mad in anticipation of the new book. However, I wanted to deviate from the actual storyline because (1) there are a lot of specifics in these books that I do not want to mess up and (2) I know that there's another book coming out soon. I hope you all enjoy! Please leave me a review. -Sarah

Chapter 1.

The warm breeze gently pressed against my limbs and rippled the grass surrounding me as I gazed up at the night sky. Idly, I sat up checked my surroundings. Were it not for the rare occasion of a meteor shower, I wouldn't have ventured out into this cornfield. I silently begged with every fiber of my being to be able to enjoy the falling stars uninterrupted as my eyes roamed the farmland around me. The coast was clear. No roving animals. And none of my brothers had come to drag me kicking and screaming back to the house. I sighed and laid back on the matted cornstalks.

My heart lurched as the first star was gracefully pulled down to the horizon. Soon enough, meteors flooded the inky darkness, as though a faucet had been turned on. A warm, fuzzy feeling pulsed through me, as it typically did on occasions such as this. I'd tried to equate it to words, and failed many times. It felt almost like a soft glow would feel, or how subtle happiness would appear. I smiled to myself, taking it all in.

I was a toddler when I was found in this very cornfield. I could hardly walk, had oddly pointy ears and I could only say a few "strange words" or so I am told. Most commonly, I aggressively corrected others to call me Astrid, which had been assumed to be my name. I was raised here in rural Pennsylvania, among a family of farmers. I'd been loved, and given a wonderful life, but a part of me always felt as though there was somewhere else I belonged or some higher purpose or direction that I lacked. Staring at the stars somehow seemed to fill a piece of this void, at least temporarily.

Here, I lay, in the small crater where I had ended up (where corn had since been regrown), no longer a toddler, but still gazing at the night skies with the eyes of one. I was eighteen, and restless. The stars gave me hope that I would someday solve the mystery that had eluded me my entire life, or to maybe at least escape the confines of this small rural village.

Thankfully, the shouts and calls of my family held off until the meteor shower had ended. Their shouts cut through the serene night like swords through cloth. "Astrid," My brother Hal said quietly, as he came up beside me, "There you are,"

"You found me," I muttered, shrugging to my feet. Deep down, I realized how predictable I was. I was the family astronomer. There was no way I was going to miss a meteor shower on a blissfully clear night in mid spring. I even hunkered down in the same crater in which I'd been discovered.

"It wasn't too hard," Hal joked with a smirk, "You haven't picked a new hiding spot since I've known you."

We shared a laugh, and he helped me maneuver out of the maze of stalks. He pulled out his phone and dialed the home number. "Mom?" I could hear him say as I wandered back toward the house, Hal trailing behind, "Yeah… I found Astrid… Same place as usual… I think she just wanted to see the stars… Yeah… We're on our way back… Okay… Bye."

Hal broke into a slight jog to catch up to me. "So, Strid, how was the show?"

I grinned slightly. "Excellent," I didn't need to explain it further.

"It better have been," He teased, "Because you're going to catch hell for sneaking out again. I don't think you'll be seeing the stars for a while," He chuckled.

"Worth it," I responded, although in truth, nothing that barred me from the night sky was really worth it in my eyes.

In a matter of minutes, we reached our farm house, the old, borderline dilapidated monstrosity that had graced the land of Strong Farm for nearly as long as it had existed. (Whenever that was.) I let Hal lead me into the living room, lest I walk in head first to a firing squad.

My mother was seated on the couch in the living room, frazzled. My father sat beside her with a stern look of disappointment stretched across his face. Hal silently showed himself out, strategically joining my other brothers in the kitchen. Lucky him.

"Sit," My father ordered. His one word commands were only unveiled when he meant business. I sat on the chair across the room; the one that was the furthest away from them. And for good reason.

"What did we tell you about sneaking out?" My mother began. "Going unaccounted for is how you get yourself killed,"

"I was just in the cornfield," I attempted to defend myself calmly, "I wanted to see the meteor shower." I doubted that there were any rabid animals or serial killers that would have destroyed my plans. I was too close to the house.

"We understand that," My father said diplomatically, "But…" I knew there was a 'but' coming. "It is still unsafe for you to be leaving the house at night without our permission. Understood?"

"Understood," I unwillingly agreed.

"Now go to bed," Mom said, "And know that you are grounded for the next few days."

I groaned. Really? All I needed was to be on house arrest while the school year was coming to an end and the weather was ideal.

"You are to go to school and come straight back," My father elaborated. I nodded and retreated up the stairs to my bedroom.

Once I crossed the threshold, I immediately flung myself onto my small bed, shoes and all. I laid on my back, gazing at the neon glow-in-the-dark stars that were stuck to my ceiling, imagining that they were the real thing. When this failed to suffice, I pulled off my sneakers, changed into my sweatpants and a t-shirt, set the alarm on my phone, and climbed into bed.

That night I had a reoccurring dream. I typically experienced a dream similar to this whenever I witnessed a meteor shower.

Night had fallen in a strange and unfamiliar land. People surrounded me. Happy people. Or maybe they weren't people. Some of them were flying. Some of them were glowing. A few of them had wings.

They were standing on some sort of stone terrace, overlooking an expansive and glimmering city. A woman with soft blue eyes and golden brown hair was dancing with a tall, dark-haired man with violet eyes. They were happy and carefree in the moment, although it was evident that they had seen harder times.

Stars fell from the sky. Except the stars weren't solid. They were liquid-occasionally sticking to the faces of spectators, evoking laughter. The man and the woman held hands solemnly, and gazed into each other's eyes, as a tear slipped from the woman's eye….

That is when I was jarred awake by the inevitably harsh reality that is cell phone alarms.

I groaned, and launched myself out of bed, stopping the awful sound that I'd once deemed gentle enough to wake me up. I was not a morning person. As usual, I was chronically late this morning to top it off. In fact, I was more late than usual.

Realizing that I only had ten minutes to get to a school I lived fifteen minutes away from, I quickly rushed to my closet and threw on the first clothes I could find: a maroon novelty t-shirt that proudly stated "Normal People Scare Me" with jeans and my blue sneakers. I grabbed my bag and my keys and sprinted out the door, on the way, shouting my goodbyes to my parents.

I drove a tiny blue sedan. It was on its last legs, but it made no difference to me when I thought of all of the freedom it afforded me. I started the car, put it in drive, and sped down the driveway en route to my school. I began to flip through radio stations waiting for an acceptable song to come on.

I was not into country. Heavy metal only occasionally didn't jar me. I was not into the top 40 hits. Frustrated, I opted to watch the farms blur by me in silence.

I sped along, faster than the posted speed limit in the hope that I would make it to school faster. I leaned down to grab the coffee my parents had allowed me to grab before rushing out the door, hoping to multi-task when…

It all happened so quickly.

I looked up to find that a car had attempted to turn left in front of me, cutting me off. They didn't have enough time to do this. We were going to collide. I screamed, dropping my coffee, as I threw all of my weight onto my awful brakes. I closed my eyes in my fear. I wanted to will myself away from this situation. Away from my terrifying fate of painful death that loomed ahead. Please. Please. Let me get out of this alive. Somehow. I thought of stars and planets, hoping that there was some kind of higher power that could save me now. Let me be among you, I silently begged, expecting the impact.

But the impact never came.

Instead, it felt as though I was traveling along a long, folded, piece of cloth. I felt myself hit the ground, but before I could become confused, everything went black.

I opened my eyes, groggily, to find a massive man with wings and a ton of weapons standing over me. I gasped in my surprised fright. "Wh…where…?" I began, but I was soon interrupted.

"Where do you come from?" The voice asked firmly. I sat up, and looked around, clutching my aching temple. There was another winged figure in our midst, but I could not distinguish his details right away.

"P-Pennsylvania," I choked out, trying to relax my breathing. His eyes widened.

"Az?" He asked, trying to conceal the nerves in his voice. The man called "As" approached me now, for future questioning.

"Where is this…Penns…" He tried to pronounce it and failed. Come on. How could they not know where Pennsylvania was?

"Pennsylvania," I corrected gently, and he nodded. I smiled, hoping that this was a joke. "It's in between New Jersey and Ohio, basically. Or New York and Maryland if you want to think of it that way," I laughed nervously, hoping they'd join in.

The two men looked at me as if I had three heads. "A-are you okay?" I asked nervously. They didn't respond. They just exchanged a glance. Fear filled my entire body. As I looked around, I realized that these trees… this land was not like Pennsylvania at all. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen.

It hit me. I was not home.

"W-where am I?" I asked, my heart beating out of my chest.

Their eyes grew impossibly wide as if they could not believe that I was asking this question. "Prythian," The first winged man answered.

I did not remember this from geography class. "Where?" I was in a full blown panic now. I began to hyperventilate.

"Oh…" The second winged man cursed nervously as he kept me from passing out again. "Oh… cauldron!" He tried to bring me to my feet. "Cassian, grab her!" He instructed. As I caught a glance at my hand, I realized that there was a tattoo that I did not remember getting. It was a mountain with three stars. I screamed.

"What?" Cassian asked, nearly dropping me as he took me in his arms.

"M-my hand," I exclaimed, too bewildered for real words.

He replied, uninterested, as he looked at my hand. "What about your hand?"

Then he saw it and saw it too.

"H-how is this possible?" The man called Az asked Cassian in a low voice.

"I was wondering the same thing," I rambled, "One minute I was driving to school and the next, I wake up in the woods with some tattoo I do not remember asking for…"

They looked at me like I was speaking gibberish.

"We need to get her to Feyre and Rhys," Az said, and I felt Cassian's grip around my waist tighten.

"Who…?" I began to ask, but then we shot into the sky. I screamed my head off. Cassian was stone-faced when I looked up at him. But I could see a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Where are you taking me?" I shouted up at him through the wind.

"To the High Lord and Lady," He responded, 100% serious.

My jaw dropped. "The what?" He never responded.

We landed outside of a mountainous cave. A cave that seemed to lead underground. I never liked dark places, or being underground. I flinched.

"Come on," Cassian prompted, leading me inside after Az.

The inside was terrifying. "Welcome to Hewn City," Az announced, as he lead us past unhappy looking people filling a dark, cavernous municipality. I shivered. I would do anything to be in English class at this moment, but even that thought seemed trivial.

I was led into a large room that looked like a throne room. What gave that away were the two marble thrones sitting in the center of the room, with a crowned man and woman sitting on each. My eyes widened at the sight of them. They were the couple from my dream. I could almost picture them dancing as the stars fell around them…

Even as I'd barely entered the room, as I thought this, the man's eyebrows raised. It was like he knew that I'd dreamed of them. I was placed directly in front of them. I watched as the woman tried to conceal her disbelief in seeing me, as I stood there, trembling. The man, who seemed unfazed, looked at me closely before standing to approach me. He stood in front of me, and I could feel his power. Something primal in me told me to stay stark still as he took inventory of my dark, black hair, my blue eyes, by awful posture… and then… Then, he took my hand.

Even he couldn't conceal his surprise. He paused for a second, and I could see the woman nodding in my periphery vision. And then, we teleported out of there. The sensation felt the same as I'd felt when I'd escaped my firey death in the car… like a cloth, folding. Except this time, it took seconds for us to reach our destination.

This destination was far less menacing. It was an open-aired building with white, marble pillars. It looked like a fancy home. The man silently directed me to take a seat on one of the oddly shaped chairs, which seemed to accommodate wings… And speaking of, Cassian and Az flew in minutes after we appeared here.

The woman sat beside me. She was trying to hold in some kind of emotion, but I could not tell what. Surprise? Disbelief? Relief? Her eyes locked with mine. "I am Feyre, High Lady of the Night Court," I nodded, still in shock. "What is your name?" She asked me.

"Astrid Strong," I replied uneasily, "F-from Lysteria, Pennsylvania,"

Her eyes widened. "How did you get here?" She asked, her voice lowered.

I nervously pushed my hair behind my ears. "I-I don't know," I attempted to explain. "I was late for school and I-I was driving too fast, and I almost d-died and then suddenly, I disappeared and woke up on the forest floor."

The man spoke from across the room. "What magic do you know, Astrid?" He asked firmly, implying that he could sense some sort of otherworldly power in me.

"M-magic?" I wanted to think this was a joke. But deep down, I knew it was gravely serious. "Magic isn't real," I said confidently.

Confusion seeped through the entire room. The man stood slowly to approach me. "Magic is very real," He clarified, almost seeming insulted that I did not know this. Still, he reached for my tattooed hand. "I am Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court." He said. "Welcome,"

"W-why are you so transfixed with my hand?" I asked reflexively, and then realized that I was talking to the rulers of whatever land this was, and added "I-if you don't mind me asking."

"Feyre and I lost a daughter a few long years ago during a great War," He explained solemnly. Glancing at her and then back to me. "She bore the same mark as you."

The room started spinning. "W-what are you saying?" I asked.

"Astrid," Feyre said with a soft smile, "You have finally come home."