Leila of the Woods [Book Five]

Spring

  The roar of the four-wheeler's engine died as I turned the key before looking through the trees. Listening, it was rather quiet with no sign of movement. Swinging my leg over the seat, I stepped down from the four-wheeler and readjusted the bag over my shoulder.

  Walking through the layer of dead leaves on the ground, the fresh spring air filled my lungs. I was out foraging but decided to drop by where I'd first found Stitch. It'd been nearly a year since I was last here, and I was curious as to what happened here.

  The first thing I noticed was that most of the ship and debris was actually gone. I could figure those people that kept showing up at my house had taken what had been here. Curiosity got the better of me, and I continued to look around for anything left behind.

  Seeing as no one was here, it was safe to assume they'd moved on from this place now. There wasn't even a fence up or a taped-off area.

  It also looked as if the earth the ship had disturbed was being retaken by plants and water. Give it more time, and one might not even be able to tell something had crashed here. However, something was glinting in the water under the mud.

  Going over to it, I crouched and pushed back the mud. The water went murky from the disturbance, and I pulled out the metal cylinder. It was about the size of a pencil case, and a good shake in the water cleaned it off completely.

  The wet silver reflected the light as I turned it over in my hands. Humming, I decided to bring it back to Stitch in case it was something they'd want back. That, or I'd just picked up a piece of junk.

  Grabbing my bag, I pulled it around to put the cylinder in but hissed while dropping it from the sharp pinch I felt. The cylinder splashed in the water, and I saw blood beading on my finger.

  "Ow." I grumbled before putting my finger in my mouth and bending down to pick the thing back up. However, I hesitated when I saw a projected screen under the water. My brows furrowed, and I picked up the cylinder now showing a screen over it in a similar way Stitch's gauntlet did.

  Now, I was no expert in Stitch's alien language, but I had learned a few things over the time they'd been here, and I recognized some of the symbols on the screen. This thing, whatever it was, had taken a blood sample and was displaying the results. Either I was reading it wrong, or this thing had to be broken from water damage. Well, that, or contaminated.

  Shaking my head, I just dropped it in the bag and went on to look around some more.

~

  "Hey, I found this while I was out. Not sure what it's for, but I think it's broken." I said while pulling the silver cylinder out of my bag as I stood in the shed. Stitch was sitting on the floor, holding a piece of wood between their feet so that they could carve it.

  "....Why?"

  "Why do I think it's broken?" I asked, and Stitch nodded. "Oh, 'cause of this." I touched where the needle was, and the screen came up again with the same symbols as before. "Is this supposed to be medical equipment?" I questioned, but Stitch said nothing as their brows knit closer together.

  It looked as if the alien was perplexed.

  They dropped the carving tool to grab the cylinder before hitting their thigh with it. The symbols on the screen changed, and Stitch gave me a look. Their eyes went from the screen to me and back.

  "What? You know I can't read most of that."

  "It's used to determine a creature's health." They explained. "Biological makeup." Stitch then stabbed my thigh with it.