Use the power on Brad.

Hillman looked up at Brad and Becca on the back porch, thinking about the long relationship he had with them: Brad and Becca. Yeah ... Brad was the one. Brad had been bullying him for too long. If this magic ball could do what it seemed to, Brad was going to go through a real change of heart.

He pulled the ball out of his pocket, clutching it tightly in his fist while he checked to see no one was watching. Opening his hand, he glanced down at the black ball in his palm, then looked up at Brad, drinking on the porch.

He started thinking about all the times Brad had humiliated him. Just today, throwing him over the hill, then attacking him for that remark about Becca. And all the bullying and humiliations that had happened earlier ... for years. Hillman's mind filled with resentment - with hate. He was filled with rage. Rage like he had never known before. His hand closed over the ball, his fist tight, his knuckles white. Suddenly, the ball was red hot.

He gasped, dropping the ball, watching it bounce once on the concrete then roll a little before stopping. It looked the same, not glowing like he thought it might be ... it was the same shiny black. He touched it with his fingertip -- it wasn't hot. He looked at his hand. It looked normal -- the pain receding, then gone completely. Did he imagine the burning?

As he picked up the black ball and slipped it into his pocket, he heard a cry from the porch. All at once, the crowd was silent, all eyes turned toward the porch. On the porch, he could see Brad's cronies bending over a figure on the floor, Becca sobbing into her hands. Moving through the crowd, he stood next to Paula and Reena, who like the rest, were looking up at the porch. "What happened?" he asked Paula.

"Something happened to Brad. I think he's dead." Then, glancing at Hillman, "He probably drank himself to ****, the way he was putting those beers away."

"Of course, it's awful," Reena said. "But he brought it on himself. Everyone knows what kind of guy he is ... was, and what kind of lifestyle he led."

It wasn't long before the paramedics arrived, and then were wheeling out Brad's body. As Becca walked past, Hillman stopped her, "What was it, the beer?"

"Oh Hill," she sobbed taking his arm. "They don't know yet for sure, but they think it was a hear attack. How could that happen?"

Clive, Becca's brother interrupted, "I'll take you home, Becca. You need to be home after this."

As Hillman walked out to the street with the other guests, Brad's **** bringing an end to the party, he couldn't escape the feeling that what he did with the black ball had been brought about Brad's ****. And he wasn't sure how he felt about that. As he watched the crowd of partygoers dissipating, he felt a small smile turn up the corners of his mouth.