Strange sound from beneath the center console

[Symphony]

I've tried searching but to no avail, so I hope this isn't something common I passed up.

First off, let me say I'm not as car savvy as I would like to be so I'm not very good with terminology at all. I usually know what I'm doing and can figure stuff out but this time I don't want to go very far if I'm going in the wrong direction.

On the 4th of July I was coming home from a friend's place. As I was going down the highway, I started to hear a scratching/ticking sound from beneath the center console area. It's strange because there was absolutely no noise before it - it came out of nowhere and was quite loud I pulled over thinking something was about to boom, but it stopped when the car stopped. It didn't start right away when I was left that spot either.

About an hour ago I pulled out the center console to see if anything was loose or something. There wasn't anything, and I went for a drive with the console still off. It was still there, and nothing seemed to be shaking or rattling or anything. Its difficult for me to look closer though since it doesn't seem to happen when I'm idling or going slow. It doesn't happen regularly, but it's not random either. I can't say what makes it start, but I can say it's extremely annoying.

I realize how vague I'm being but I hope someone can help.

My car is essentially a stock '95 Talon TSI AWD with high miles... getting close to 160k actually. I've only had the car for about 2 months now. I'm not sure what recalls, if any, have been preformed.

 

[eclipse13]

Does the drive shaft run directly under the center console. See if everything under the car is OK.

 

[Symphony]

Does the drive shaft run directly under the center console. See if everything under the car is OK.

Ah, forgot to mentin.. I haven't checked beneath the car, but I will (god willing) tomorrow. It's been storming all day and my garage is occupied