When I died again - Alex Mercer

Day 13

"No! No! I wanna wake up!" I screamed as my head shot up. I was sitting up straight when I realized I had woken up. All of this felt like a nightmare. Willie and Luke ran into the studio. "Alex, you're awake!" Willie said. "Are you ok? We heard you scream." I was breathing really heavily. Whatever just happened in my dream was terrifying. I felt like I was dying for the millionth time.

Willie and Luke sat on either side of me and put an arm around me. It took me a few minutes to calm down. I didn't really know what was happening but I felt uneasy. "What happened yesterday?" I asked. Willie and Luke looked to each other to see who would tell me. "You got really dizzy and passed out." Willie said.

Obviously passing out is bad but it felt worse. I was feeling better. I thought I was ok and things were going back to normal. I was wrong. "Jay has been working for the past couple days on a way to help you. He's coming here later with a plan." Willie told me. That made me feel a little better. I had faith in Jay. Willie said he would be able to help me and I believe him.

We still had a while before Jay was coming but we had nothing to do. "Is there anything you want to do today?" Luke asked me. I'm pretty sure we was bored and just wanted a change of scenery. "I'm still feeling kinda dizzy so I think it would be better to stay here." I said. Luke nodded. Reggie and Julie came into the studio and sat in the chairs around me, Luke, and Willie. We all hung out for about an hour. Even though I hadn't been awake that long, I was getting a little drowsy.

"Why don't we let Alex rest." Willie said. They all nodded and started to walk out. I laid down and saw Willie turn around. He ran over to me and kissed me on the forehead. I grinned as he walked back out. I was really tired but I couldn't fall asleep. Whenever I couldn't sleep, I would write. I grabbed a pad of paper from the table and a pen and started writing. You could call them poems but I thought of them more as songs. If I was going to die again, I wanted to leave something for Willie. A song would be perfect.

I started writing the song. It was surprisingly very easy to write. The words just flowed from my mind and it sounded good. I didn't have much time before Jay was coming so I had write fast. The song wasn't very long but I knew Willie would love it. I heard the gang outside. I put the paper under the couch and laid down. As they walked in I pretended I was just waking up. I sat up and saw Jay walk in behind them. I didn't think he was coming for another half hour but I guess he showed up early.

"Let's get down to business." Jay said. "When you destroyed the stamp originally, you guys were hugging Julie. I know we were about to try the hug again when Alex fainted a few days ago. I have been in my lab for days and I couldn't come up with anything. The hug can't hurt so I say we try it." I started feeling really anxious. Jay hadn't come up with anything. He had no ideas and he was the expert. It was definitely good timing for a hug.

Willie helped me stand up and the group came over to me. I saw a tear run down Julie's cheek. We got into a huddle and pulled each other in. I closed my eyes and hugged my friends tightly. Willie stood behind me, making sure I wouldn't fall. After a minute or so we broke the hug. "Did it work?" I asked. Luke was holding back tears. That wasn't a good sign. "We didn't glow." Julie said. "I don't think it worked if we didn't glow."

"What is this talk about glowing?" Jay asked. "Last time when we hugged, we all glowed and felt stronger." Reggie told him. I didn't feel stronger. I still felt dizzy and sick. I sat back down on the couch. Willie sat next to me. I put my head in my hands and let it out. Willie put his arms around me while I sobbed for who knows how long. I was completely out of hope.