"What? What did you just say?" Alex shouted over the phone.
"Alex. I. Need. Your. Help. Now meet me as soon as you can." Michael ended the call before Alex could say anything else.

Dressing up in exactly seven minutes, he left his room and marched towards his front door.
"Hey boy! It's Sunday! Where are you going leaving your old man alone with this woman?" Mr. Black stopped him and pointed towards his wife.
"Sorry dad. I'll be back home soon, a friend needs help so I have to go. Bye bye," he turned towards the door and stopped midway to say, "And she isn't that bad!" He left his home chuckling slightly at the bickering that had begun even before he had stepped out of the front door.

The first thing he saw as he drove his car around the garage was Michael's tall figure leaning against the wall. Alex parked his car and Michael gestured him to follow him inside. He followed and they were soon in the same familiar room he had spent his past few years, teasing Mike as he worked under and over cars. He wasn't a teensy bit surprised at Jason sitting in a corner smoking a cigarette.
"I thought you quit smoking a few weeks ago." Alex sat by Jason's side and saw Michael pick up a stool and place it in front of them.
"I did. I'm just a little..." His voice trailed off as he saw Michael sit in front of them and clench his jaw.
"Sad? Depressed? Confused?" Michael suggested.
"Not sure about him but I'm confused. What were you talking about this morning?" Alex frowned. He had sensed the urgency in his friend's voice when he called but still couldn't figure out the reason for their urgent rendezvous.
"It's about Thomas." Michael enunciated each word slowly.
"Figured that out but what is it?" Jason asked impatiently.
"If you'd let me finish, you would know. I told you both that I'm more than sure that Thomas didn't kill himself," he swallowed, "I knew him well enough to know that. The police closed the case even before the investigation had started and even though it was obvious that he was murdered, no investigation ever started and they simply declared it as another-suicide-case."
Alex and Jason both listened to him intently, believing everything he said even though sometimes he himself thought that he was going crazy. They all trusted each other and knew that they'll stand by each other's side when in need.

"You were talking about getting a lead. What is it?" Alex asked, sounding as serious as Michael had.
"I went to the crime site yesterday." Michael spoke in a low tone. Both Alex and Jason shared a look that said he-is-mike-what-else-do-you-expect-from-him.

"Yeah?" Jason asked, the seriousness in his voice would've felt alien to everyone else except his best friends.
"There were CCTV cameras there. Now wait and listen, this might be our only chance to prove to the world that it's a bloody murder and not a suicide. I think you both know how we'll get the tape now." Jason's lip twitched on hearing Michael say this.

"Dude, we haven't been doing this all our life, have we?" Jason cocked his head to Alex's side and asked.
"Yeah, he is right. Beating up bullies and firing shitty teachers from the school is one thing but personal investigation on a murder case is different. What do you say?" Alex directed his question to Michael who had his face cupped in his hands.
"Beating up bullies? Remember punching Thomas? He wasn't one but he got a broken nose by only interfering in our fight with that jerk who had been groping girls of our school. Don't you think we need to make up for that? Even if that is by finding that damn murderer and removing that tag of 'coward' he got." Michael's tone was higher, his hands now rested on his lap and his back as straight as an iron rod.
They all sat in silence for a minute until Alex spoke, "I'll try to pull up some strings. Don't worry, no one in my house will know about this. I can get those lounge people easily. Just give me a few minutes, I need to make a call." He walked outside and after a few minutes returned, "Time to go boys."

Jason left his car at the garage and they all went to the lounge in Alex's car. As soon as the man standing by the guards saw Alex, he greeted them all and guided them inside to a room. The room was dimly lit and there were about six screens showing different locations of the lounge. The man they had followed gestured the guard sitting there to move outside and he did. In a minute, the trio was left alone standing in that room.

"Phew! That was easier than I thought. We didn't even have to punch anyone. Not that I'd liked to fight with these huge guards but still, isn't it being a little too easy?" Jason moved around the room observing the drawers that had dates on it.
"Shut up." Michael said this in a low intimidating tone but Jason chose to ignore it.
"What did you tell them, Alex?" Jason asked.
"It's a secret." He replied, suppressing a smirk.
"What? What are you trying to hide?" Jason imitated that women's voice who's inquiring her husband. Michael groaned but they both kept on talking.
"Honestly, I've no idea how it worked either. I just called their manager and told them my name. And you know the rest." Alex shrugged his shoulders and moved towards Michael who was clearly itching to slap some sense in his friend.

"So we'll have to search that day's footage in these drawers and we'll find a tape?" Jason addressed Michael who didn't seem even a little pleased by the attention diverted at him.
"Is it the 20th century? We won't see any tapes of that day here. It must be in the computer or a memory chip." Michael sat down on the chair in front of the computer. He searched for it in the main system whereas Alex connected different memory chips to search for the footage. Jason scanned the drawers and put up about ten of them in his bag to view them later on his grandpa's player.

"Found it!" Alex jumped in excitement when he found that day's footage. They all sat around a screen and played the footage. Alex fast forwarded it to about fifteen minutes before the incident. Someone wearing a blue jacket entered the parking lot and Jason shouted, "It's him! It's Thomas!"
"Idiot! It's you. Can't you tell the difference between Thomas and yourself?" Alex asked, his eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Don't look at me like that. Anyone could have made that mistake." He replied in defence.
"If that anyone is as dumb as you..." Alex was cut off by Michael when he saw Thomas step in to the parking lot. The room went silent as Thomas slowly walked towards his old car. He glanced back and maybe smiled at the building behind him. They all felt a tugging on their chests' as the boy moved towards his car.

Black.

The screen went black after that.

"What the hell!" They all spoke in unison. They hadn't expected it to turn like this. There was a 10-Minute clip missing from the footage. Fast forwarding it, they found the parking lot empty and there were no sign of Thomas as his old car was parked in a corner far from the camera's sight.

"Michael? Is that you and Elise? Why are you carrying her like that?" Jason looked genuinely confused at the sight of Michael carrying Elise in his arms. If the situation was a little different, they would've teased Michael over it but there were more pressing matters to concern.
"Nothing, I'll tell you about it later." Alex gestured Jason to shut up and waited for Michael to say something.

"If I had even a little doubt that it could have been suicide, it's cleared now. It's a freaking murder! We have the proof! We can ask for justice in the court by this video. We should just report it now." Michael finally spoke. After a few excruciating minutes of silence, Alex said, "But Michael, it's sufficient for us but not for the court. Haven't you realised yet that his murderer isn't an ordinary person? This lounge isn't a common one. The staff isn't easy to buy and neither is the police. The murderer did a clean job. They can blame the old cameras for the missing footage and we won't be able to object because it happens."

"I will do something about it." Michael copied the footage in a USB he had brought with him and they all left the lounge.

*************

He saw the video again and again looking for someone or something that could prove that Thomas was murdered. He saw him smile at the building and then towards his car. Then the black screen. Then he saw himself carrying Elise and didn't skip it. He was again on that part when his phone started buzzing.

"Meet me up in fifteen minutes. I'll be waiting at the park near the school." A message from an unknown number. He had a strong feeling that he should go even though the sender didn't care to mention his name. After shutting down the laptop, he quietly walked out of the house towards the park. He always got there in exactly twelve minutes and today was no exception.

"Hi." Someone tapped on his shoulder and he didn't have to turn to know who it was.
"Oh hi Elise, I didn't quite expect it to be you." He reluctantly smiled at the figure that was now standing in front of her.
"Yeah, I'm probably the last person you would want to spend time with." She smiled back at him.
"True that." The left corner of his mouth twitched but he managed to sound serious.

They both walked towards the park bench and sat on it with approximately a foot distance between them. Michael internally laughed at this situation but managed to keep a straight face.

"So... you wanted to talk about something?" Michael spoke remembering that she had tried to threaten him.
"Yeah, but not really. I just wanted to see you." She inched closer to him. This was weird, it wasn't how they were supposed to act.
"You are being nice. Weird." He muttered.
"Yeah it's weird. Sitting next to you and not wanting to strangle you with my bare hands, that's really weird." She murmured and he chuckled at her reply. He thought about asking her what she was high on, though not wanting to disrupt her mood he kept his thoughts to himself.

"Mike-"
"It's Michael." He grunted. 
"But you let Jason and Alex call you Mike."
"That's because they are stubborn as hell and would never listen to me."
"Well, then I think I should give you another nickname since there is something wrong with Mike and Michael is a mouthful."
"Michael is not a mouthful." He said while cupping his face with his hands.
"Why don't you like being called Mike?" She asked curiously.
"Why are we always talking about my damn name?" Michael was getting irritated. He hated this topic and with Elise his hatred was increasing by tenfold.
"What else are we supposed to talk about?" Elise raised her hands in frustration "I don't think there is anything of our common interest."
"Well you were the one who called me." Michael hissed.
"Don't use that tone with me otherwise I'll start calling you Mikey or Mickey." She rebutted in the same tone.

Michael's eyes widened in horror.
"You wouldn't dare to do that." He once again hissed.
A smug look crossed Elise's features.
"Would you like to see me try."

"Say it and I'll show you why people are scared of me."
"You don't scare me Mikey." She said in a sing-song voice.
"By the way your jacket is amazing Mickey. I just love it." At some point Elise had gotten up and was now standing in front of Michael.
He stood up abruptly. Elise stood her ground and didn't move an inch. She didn't want to show him that she was scared of the smirk that was growing on his face.
"Elise." He breathes into her ear.
"Yes Mikey." Came her breathy reply.
"I warned you."
"Wh-"
Her nexts words were cut off with Michael's hands on her sides. He was tickling her sides but unfortunately, she was not ticklish.
"That won't work on me." She said with a smug look.
Michael stopped obviously annoyed on not getting a response.
"I hate anyone who's not ticklish." He grumbled.
"Does that mean you hate me too?" She said in a soft voice.
"Maybe I'll make an exception this time." He said in such a low voice that no one was able to hear it.

**********

He was old, probably in his 50s, but graceful. His elegant suit was a perfect fit and his greying hair made him look more handsome than he already was.

"Tenth floor." He passed a smile to the bellhop and saw all the colour drain from his face. He bowed his head and unlocked the almost invisible chamber in the elevator. The tenth floor didn't exist for everyone so it was well hidden and it took him some time to get to it.

He stepped into the red corridor. The strong smell of old oxidised wine filled the air and he would've gagged if he wasn't so used to it. Everyone stopped to see him as he passed through the corridor into his personal room. No one had expected him, he himself didn't expect to ever step in to that wreck again but he had to.

His office was exactly as he had left. Minimal furniture and no decorations. He sat on his chair and closed his eyes. He took out his semi-automatic gun and pulled back the slide. In a few minutes, a knock was heard and one of the many men in his room opened the door.

A guy in his early 30s came inside. He looked terrified but his expression softened when he saw the man smiling at him.
"May I ask..." The man in his 50s spoke in a low threatening yet still sweet tone.
"I can explain..." the horrified expression returned as the man pointed his gun towards him.
"I told you. I don't appreciate mistakes." The man enunciated each word excruciatingly slow.

BAM!

He shot him right between his eyes and gestured the guards to carry the body outside.
The man turned around to face the glass window which gave him a good view of the city. Running his hand through his hair, he put the gun back in it's place. He had killed a human after a really long time. He smiled, a menacing smile and then it turned into a laughter, a humourless cold laugh that would've sent shivers down the spine of a person who wasn't working at the Tenth floor.

*********

A/N
So what are your thoughts on today's chapter?
And what is this Tenth floor? Would anyone like to visit this mysterious man on this mysterious floor? ;)

Don't forget to vote and share.