Gemotions

"Turn it down!" The bellow sliced through the air, shaking the very walls. Elias flinched, as if physically struck. He dropped the wrench he was holding, the metal clanging against the concrete floor of his workshop. The noise, the incessant banging, he knew it was him.

His heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat. He stared at the offending speaker, the source of the music he hadn't even realized was on. He had been trying to finish the project. The sound had just been... there, and he thought it was helping him.

He felt a sudden, desperate urge to flee, to disappear. He wanted to scream, to lash out. Instead, he forced a shaky laugh, a brittle sound that cracked in the quiet room. "Okay, okay," he mumbled, his voice catching in his throat. He fumbled for the volume control, his fingers clumsy and unresponsive.