The Boy in the Smoke by Maureen Johnson

 … ” Stephen said quickly. “I didn’t come to  …  I thought you’d want to know, and I promised  … ”
    “Does it hurt?” Peter asked.
    “I don’t know,” Stephen said. “But probably not. That’s what I’ve been told. I’ve used it once. It’s quick.”
    “And where do I go?”
    “I don’t know,” Stephen said. “But you move on, away from here.”
    “Which is something,” Peter said. “Freedom by any means.”
    “Freedom by any means,” Stephen repeated.
    “And you can do this?”
    “I can,” Stephen said.
    Peter looked out over the river. He seemed to blend into the smoke.
    “I always thought a handsome boy would come back and save me,” he said, smiling a little. “That’s how fairy tales end.”
    “I don’t know that this is much of a fairy tale,” Stephen said.
    “It is for me.”
    He reached out and took Stephen’s hand. Peter felt more solid than the girl, but cold.
    “I’d like to go,” Peter said. “I’d like to get away from this blasted place. I’d like it if you did that for me, Stephen.”
    Stephen nodded and took a deep breath.
    “Now?”
    “Now is as good a time as any. You’ll stay for the whole thing?”
    “It’s very quick,” Stephen said again.
    He removed the phone. It was an old model he’d picked up online for close to nothing. It had actual touch-buttons, not a screen, and an old battery that could be easily gutted. He’d cleaned out the insides and taped in the terminus, a lithium battery, and wired it all together. All he had to do was push 1 and 9 at the same time to complete the circuit.
    Peter nodded a bit nervously, looked down, then got to his knees and gave Stephen a kiss on the cheek. Then he sat down again quickly.
    “Thank you,” he said. “Now, Stephen, please.”
    Stephen’s hand was shaking. This was different from the girl. Different, but  … 
    But right.
    Peter closed his eyes. Stephen held out the phone, pressing it into Peter’s hand. It had to touch, that was the only rule. You had to make contact.
    “Thank you,” Stephen said. “For saving me.”
    Then he pushed the buttons.

First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books
    Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT
    Copyright © Maureen Johnson 2014
    The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
    All rights reserved.
    No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
    All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
    A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
    ISBN: 978-1-4714-0394-1
    This eBook was produced using Atomik ePublisher
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    Hot Key Books is part of the Bonnier Publishing Group
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