Gradually, those "shh shh shh" sounds in his ears became clearer, like an old television scattered with snowflakes, its signal shifting from blurry to clear, captured by Lin Yi's hearing.
Within those "shh shh shh" sounds, there seemed to be some dry whispering, a language he could understand, as if saying:
"Time... has it come?"
"Time has come... it seems it has."
"Hurry and get out! Hurry, get out!"
"I'm suffocating!! I'm suffocating!!!"
"Twisting and turning another day, panting through another year..."
"Stop dawdling! Let me out, let me out!"
"I need to breathe! I need to breathe..."
"..."
Lin Yi's scalp tingled, suddenly realizing that these sounds were coming from the flesh mingling inside the elevator box!
"They want to come out?"
"But, I opened the elevator door... Surely it's not yet time for them to be able to come out, is it?"
"What are they going to do now, wait for the elevator doors to close again?"