He looked down at his hands. They were losing their color, turning the flat, matte grey of unbleached vellum. The edges of his fingers were sharpening into razor-thin creases.
The cursor hovered over the link: .
As the progress bar crept forward, Elias made coffee. By the time he returned, the file sat on his desktop, pulsing with a generic folder icon. He unzipped it. Inside weren’t the usual "Crinkled Parchment" or "Recycled Cardstock" files. There was only one image: . He opened it. Download File Seamless paper texture pack 25442...
Elias scrolled frantically. He found a string of numbers that looked familiar—his own social security number. Next to it was a timestamp for the exact moment he’d clicked "Download." He looked down at his hands
Elias tried to scream, but the sound came out like the rustle of a turning page. The cursor hovered over the link: