The Exchange Is Complete

Late one night I was scrolling through old family photos on my grandmother's laptop when I found

a folder labeled "DO NOT OPEN." Obviously I clicked it. Inside was a single

video file dated three days before I was born. I pressed play. The footage showed

our living room but everything looked wrong. The furniture was arranged differently

and the walls were covered in strange symbols drawn in what looked like ash or charcoal.

My grandmother stood in the center holding a crying baby. She was chanting something in a language

I didn't recognize while rocking the infant back and forth. Then she stopped

suddenly and looked directly at the camera with this terrifying blank expression.