Gemotions

The fluorescent lights flickered overhead, a rhythmic strobe show against the stainless steel. Every few seconds, a buzz of static crackled through the intercom, followed by an unsettling silence. Amelia pulled her cardigan tighter, as if it could shield her from the air itself.

She eyed Mark, her coworker, across the small space. His casual stance and the way he fiddled with his phone seemed too relaxed. Was he pretending? Did he know something she didn't?

"Do you... do you think anyone *knows* we're stuck?" Amelia asked, her voice a little too high. She clasped her hands together, a tremor running through them. Her gaze darted to the ceiling, then to the floor, as if expecting something to fall from either place.

"Of course, they know. Someone will get us out," Mark replied, but his easy tone did little to calm her. Amelia couldn't shake the image of the elevator cable snapping, the sudden plunge, the crushing weight.

She started breathing shallowly, as if each breath had to be measured, controlled. She jumped at a sudden clang from the ventilation system and felt a cold prickle across her skin, as if something unseen had brushed against it.