Elias was awake, because he was always awake now, waiting. This time, he had earplugs. He had noise-canceling headphones over those. He had a mattress wedged against his bedroom door.
They called it the "Deep Throat" not for any political scandal, but because the sound bypassed the eardrums entirely. It entered through the throat, vibrating the larynx from the inside out, forcing the vocal cords to produce a scream the person never intended to make. deep throat sirens
It didn't matter.
You are now breathing manually. You are now aware of your own tongue. And somewhere, right now, a whale is singing a note that will reach you in twelve years. Elias was awake, because he was always awake now, waiting