Tattoo of the Black Angel Vol. 1 (SAMPLE. Full book available on Amazon)

Tattoo of the Black Angel: Chapter 1

'I was thinking of like a partly decapitated witch,' Beth said indicating her neck. 'I could have a deep fake wound on the side of my neck with blood oozing from it, ooh that would be so cool.'

Heather smiled. 'Defo! And what about the witch costume?' she asked her. 'Are you going for bare legs or those weird stripy leggings?'

'They aren't leggings, they are very long socks,' Beth told her. 'And maybe, I don't know, depends on how cold it is. But I will be taking my black and purple dress.'

'Ooh, it sounds so pretty,' I said butting in.

Beth and Heather turned to look at me and comically blinked in shock. 'Oh, it's so fantastic!' They said together, happy that I was joining in.

'Isn't there a costume competition?' Amanda finally contributed to the conversation.

Happy that Amanda was talking, Beth nodded, 'Yup and I hope I win it.'

Laughing, I shook my head.

'So what are you going as?' Amanda asked me as a waitress came round and took our orders, scribbling them down, she took the menu and left. The conversation continued, uninterrupted.

I shrugged, 'I don't know. I didn't really want to go if truth be told.'

'Please do, it'll be fun.' Heather smiled.

'Well... I won't be going as a witch.' I laughed. Beth winked at me again. 'I've never been good with costumes,' I told them truthfully. 'All of the formal dances I had at school were stuffy and boring. I didn't take much interest in them.'

Heather cocked her head and stared into space. 'A mummy would be interesting... Oh, I have it!' she practically screeched, 'you could go as an Egyptian goddess! It's perfect, plus you have the long raven black hair too, so no need for hair dye. Also, I have the perfect costume for you. I have this gold slip,' she said in a whisper so that other customers around us wouldn't hear. 'And I have a load of gold jewellery you could borrow and Beth is great with makeup, oh this is coming together nicely.'

'I do like that idea, Heather.' Beth nodded in approval.

As I thought of a way to get out of this disastrous party, I noticed the girls went quiet, their attention turning quickly to someone seemingly much more important than a dance. 'Oh my god, its Henry Simmons,' Heather whispered as she and I looked over towards the door.

Amanda and Beth remained facing forwards as Henry Simmons, the most gorgeous guy in the entire second year, and probably the university, walked into the café. My eyes flicked up to look at him carefully and, strangely enough, his eyes found me. I had seen him quite often around the campus. Sometimes I'd see him alone in the sports hall where he'd come to practise squash. Though most of the time, he'd seem uncomfortable to be near me. And yet other times he'd be accompanied by his girlfriend at the Student Union. But whenever he was close, I couldn't help but feel those weird butterflies in my stomach. And when he didn't notice, I'd steal a glance at his eyes; they were like a deep pool of water, endless and mystifying. He was the epitome of tall dark and handsome.

I snapped back to reality and found that I'd been staring at him. He frowned at me a little, and then after a quick glance at the girls around me, walked past our table and sat down at the back of the room, not saying a single word.

'One day, he shall be mine,' Beth said, her eyes watching him constantly.

Snorting, I said, 'Yes when pigs fly and he dumps Jennifer, then he can be yours.'

Beth and Amanda were leaning so far to the right to get a peek at Henry that they nearly smacked into one of the waitresses who was carrying a tray full of drinks. The door then opened again and there was Jennifer Ladle, a very petit mousey brown haired girl with soft hazel eyes. I'd heard she was a pleasant girl but was possessive.