Enzo found himself in the midst of a vicious storm at sea. The ocean roiled beneath the wooden decks and rain pummeled the crew. Waves crashed into the hull, spraying seawater over the top of the ship and lightning flashed with thunderous booms.

“Steady men! This night won’t be the end of us! Keep the sails full! Cannon volley fire!” Shouted a man from behind the large wooden wheel at the top deck of the ship.

Cannonfire from a dozen cannons exploded at once on the right side of the ship, threatening to shake the ship apart. Enzo clung on to the mast for dear life. What had he gotten into now? He looked off into the ocean where the cannons had fired and saw dozens of tentacles recoiling from the wave of explosives. Each was as thick around as the mast Enzo clung to and unfathomably long. The men cheered at the site of the retreating beast, but Enzo refused to relax.

“It's not over yet! We’ve only angered her now! Cannons reload! Prepare everything we’ve got!” the Captain shouted, pulling his saber from its scabbard and raising it over his head. “Men, prepare for close combat, she’ll come back with a vengeance this time but this is our best shot to kill the beast. For Glory! For the Empire! Hold firm and we will live forever as legends!”

The sailors let loose a war cry that gave Enzo chills. I am definitely going to die here, with the rest of these fools. Didn’t they see the size of that thing? This wooden boat won’t stand a chance.

Tentacles rose from the water and attacked at all angles, some slapping down trying to break the ship, while others wrapped around men and cannons and hurled them into the water like toys. Cannons exploded and men swung knives and sabers through any tentacle within reach. Blood pooled upon the decks as both men and monster lost life and limb.

Eight of the largest tentacles slapped down on the middle of the ship, narrowly missing Enzo still clinging to the mast. Each was as thick as three men. Wood splintered under their weight as they began to constrict the ship. This was the end. The monster and the men all knew it.

The ship was crushed and snapped in two. Men and weapons flew through the air, but this was the moment the captain had waited for. As the deck split apart, the massive maw of the beast was revealed beneath the ship. Row upon row of jagged, glistening teeth lined the cavernous throat of the beast. Intelligent orange eyes stared up with hatred as it let loose a guttural roar and began pulling men toward its mouth. The captain looked at his crew briefly before…

Enzo was abruptly removed from the scene. He was standing in the office again, holding the dark blue book. The sounds were so real, and he could swear he could smell the foul beast’s breath. He quickly shut the book and returned it to the shelf.

That was intense, Enzo thought. I’m not going to try that again. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, before looking around the room again. In the large office chair sat a strange being. From the chest down, it appeared to be a normal person but short, grey tentacles fell from its face like a beard and its grin was full of sharp, triangular teeth. Most disturbing were its eyes, bright orange and feline, the same eyes of the beast in the book and focused directly on Enzo. The creature didn’t blink or change focus, it just stared. Enzo had never felt so small. He was paralyzed with fear. He knew he shouldn’t have touched that book. He knew he was now prey.

It gestured in front of the desk and an obsidian chair materialized from the ground opposite it.

“Come now, have a seat,” the beast-thing said with a smooth, elegant voice. “Still traumatized from the book, are we? My yes, maybe don’t go grasping at things in someone else’s office.”

Enzo stared, still rooted to the spot. Was he really expected to just calmly sit across from that thing and have a chat? Clearly, he was in Hell. Every time he did anything at all, crazy nonsense nearly killed him. What choice did he have though? He was just sucked into a book and nearly eaten by a kraken. Enzo doubted he had much choice in the matter. Slowly, he shuffled over to the chair and sank into it.

“That’s a good chap. What’s with this frigid reaction anyway? I know your experience with the book must have been a surprise but you look as though you’re still living within it,” the creature said.

Enzo gaped. He’d had enough. If they were going to punish me anyway, what’s the point of being cautious? He thought.

“You look like someone took a human and spliced in a kraken head! You have the same eyes as the beast that nearly killed me just a second ago!” Enzo barked.

“Oh, this?” the beast chuckled, holding up a tentacle. “Dear boy, you’re projecting. I am as I’ve always been, it’s your mind perceiving me this way. Now let’s carry on with this debrief, I am very busy today.”

Projecting? Enzo thought. He tried to clear his mind of the fight with the kraken, and to his immense surprise, the form of the beast in front of him shifted. Tentacles and teeth retracted and eyes shifted back to a normal dark brown hue. The thing was now just a middle aged man, brown hair, brown eyes and a sharp charcoal suit. Nothing out of the ordinary, just what Enzo would expect out of someone in charge. He calmed down considerably.

“Well, at least you’ve figured that bit out, then,” the beast said. It took Enzo’s papers and glanced over them.

“As I am sure you are aware, you are dead and now in the Afterlife,” the beast explained. “Well, more specifically, Purgatory. Hence, the in-control-but-not-really sort of situation you find yourself in. You see, starting that forest fire ended a great many lives, really the sort of thing that earns you a one-way ticket to a hellish resurgence, as a sort of learn-your-lesson punishment. We deal with those types of deaths in an automated way, we would never really meet face to face like this normally. However, as your adjuster in this death, I reviewed your case and did notice you saved a child from a certain death. As such, I brought you here to discuss your options.”

“But the fire was a mistake! I didn’t intentionally start it, and when I realized what was happening, I did everything I could to stop the fire,” Enzo responded. “Am I really being sent to Hell for a mistake?”

“Oh, heavens no, don’t be silly. You would have just been bumped down the evolutionary ladder a bit and been reborn as a monkey, doomed to die in a Brazilian deforestation event,” the death adjuster cheerily stated. “Hell is reserved for those who are truly evil, and you’re just incompetent."