WHEN EMMET NEXT WOKE UP, HIS DAD AND CALVIN were still there, and this time Riley, Stuke, and Raeburn were in the room, too. Emmet’s face still felt like someone had pounded on it with a croquet mallet, but he managed to wave weakly at his friends from the hospital bed.

“Wow,” Stuke said. “Animals really don’t like you, do they?”

“Stuke!” Riley and Raeburn said at the same time.

“What? I just meant all kinds of critters tend to show up whenever Emmet is around. Flying gators, super-eels, and now … whatever these are,” he said.

Emmet coughed, trying not to laugh, and it made his face hurt.

“While you guys catch up, I’m going to stretch my legs and get some coffee,” Dr. Doyle said. He left the room and it was just the five of them. Emmet’s friends clustered around his bed.

“Stuke’s sort of right. Wherever I go, monsters seem to follow,” Emmet said.

“Well, geez,” Raeburn said. “We’re glad you’re okay. It does look really painful, though. I feel sorry for you and Stuke.”

A long red scar laddered with stitches ran up along Stuke’s leg, where a Muraecuda had taken a big chunk out of it earlier in the year. It was all discolored and looked kind of like spoiled hamburger. Stuke was going to need a lot of plastic surgery to repair the damage. Which only made Emmet want to stake Dr. Catalyst to an anthill that much more. Stuke was still using a walker to get around while he rebuilt strength in his leg.

“What were … are those things?” Riley asked.

“Calvin’s mom is having them checked out at the lab. But right now we’re going with ‘Blood Jacket.’ Calvin invented it. I’m very proud of him,” Emmet said. Calvin hadn’t invented it at all, but Emmet liked to give Calvin credit for stuff when Riley was around.

Riley laughed and Calvin blushed.

“ ‘Blood Jacket’?” Raeburn said.

“Yeah, apparently Dr. Crazylyst mixed a vampire bat with some kind of hornet or yellow jacket. It can bite, suck your blood, and sting. And I’m probably going to turn into a vampire at any minute … so, you know … watch out for that,” Emmet said.

“That’s a myth,” Raeburn said. “Vampire bats do drink blood, but usually from livestock. They almost never feed from humans. Unless you were passed out or something.”

“Do you know everything?” Emmet asked, smiling.

“Pretty much,” she answered.

“Whatever they are, there were a lot of them, and they were mean. And aggressive. And mean.”

“You said that already,” Stuke said.

“Just wanted to get my point across,” Emmet said.

“So Dr. Catalyst went from big and scary to small and terrifying. Why do you suppose that is?” Riley asked.

“Emmet has a theory,” Calvin said. “I was saying how I didn’t see what invasive species he created the Blood Jackets to combat. And Emmet said, ‘us.’ ”

“I did? Oh, yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Emmet said.

“What do you mean, ‘us’?” Stuke said. His face turned a little white and he stood up straighter.

“I don’t think he’s so hard to figure out,” Emmet said. “He created Pterogators to eat snakes and Muraecudas to clear out the lionfish. But there’s no invasive species for bats or hornets to go after. At least not an obvious one.”

“Are you saying those things are going to feed on people?” Stuke asked, now clearly animated.

“Stuke … easy,” Calvin said.

“Dr. Geaux thinks they’re nocturnal. So if everyone stays inside at night, they’ll be okay. But not everyone can do that. Think of people who have to work after dark. They have jobs and houses, and they can’t just pick up and move. And these things are really aggressive. Eventually they’re going to get really hungry and —”

“Emmet,” Raeburn said, nodding her head in Stuke’s direction. He was standing ramrod straight, the blood drained from his face, gripping his walker so tightly he might squeeze it in two if he wasn’t careful.

“What do you think will happen?” Riley asked. “Will there be some kind of curfew or something?”

“I expect there will be,” Calvin said. “My mom is meeting with the task force now.”

“I wish there was something we could do,” Raeburn said.

“There is,” Emmet said. All four of them looked at him.

“When I get out of here, we’re going to figure out where Dr. Catalyst is hiding. And then we’re going to stop him.”