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Hague Publishing
presents

Just Human

by

Angel Hellyer

Supernatural classmates, deadly mysteries, and homework.

"Just Human" is a gripping tale of resilience, friendship, and the courage to stand out when everything around you changes.

Praise for Just Human.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

Hellyer’s riveting young adult fantasy blends an alternate reality storyline with the empathy of its narrator, whose singular voice comes from active and impassioned contemplation. This Australian high school student is nameless, and Hellyer, befitting the title, doesn’t put labels on the character’s gender identity—touchingly, the narrator and their sibling Leigh feel stung by the “the gendering and inequality” they observe at a potluck put on by a church’s “women’s group.” In first-person journal entries, the narrator reveals a penchant for teenage snark and a heightened sensitivity to their small town’s new social order. It’s been nearly a year since half the population were transformed into folklore creatures, and while the narrator has remained human, the change has widened their already expanding consciousness.
Book Life by Publisher’s Weekly

... brimming with magic and mythical creatures—perfect for anyone who loves a dose of the fantastical!
Charlie Helton – Goodreads

There’s fun and humour, drama and suspense and one real great plot twist awaiting you, so join this amazing adventure and you’ll particularly love all the fantastic facts peppered through the story!
Zebaish James – Goodreads

"This is a really cool book!"
Carola Schmidt, awarding winning Children's Book Author

Chapter One
30 May

I know writing in a diary is a bit pathetic, but the new school counsellor said everyone had to try it after everything that’s happened. I think she’s just overwhelmed by how many students want to see her and has no clue how to treat all the new problems everyone has (I mean, this stuff probably wasn’t in her degree), so she’s trying to fob us off with this whole “writing feelings down” thing. But I guess I’ll give it a shot. And hey, you’re my diary. It’s not like you’re going to tell anyone I’m doing this.

I should probably start at the beginning, when everything changed almost a year ago. You see, all those things like werewolves, vampires, druids and stuff used to be just make-believe. Stuff in books and shows that you dressed up as for Halloween, or that people believed back before there was science. Then they suddenly became real overnight. Or at least overnight where I am, and thankfully not on a full moon.

The worse part was that it happened to people who already had lives. Like, it wasn’t that there were suddenly all these Creatures among us. No, it was us. About half the population suddenly became . . . something. Something other than human while still being themselves. It’s complicated.

No one knows why it happened. Scientists say they have ruled out viruses or radiation. I mean, who thought it was radiation? This isn’t a comic book. But they’ve also ruled out everything else, so I guess they’re out of ideas.

The current theory most people are going with is that belief makes things real, and “young people” have been “engaging with the unreal” too much. Of course they blame us!

If that was the case, why didn’t some god of pop music or books come around ages ago? I saw a video online the other day suggesting it’s all atheists’ fault for having stopped believing in religion and that the power of belief moved to the fantasy stuff instead. Another conspiracy theory. As if we didn’t have enough of them BEFORE it all changed!

Anyway, I don’t know why it happened. And I don’t really care. I’m more focused on the fact that it’s real, and I have to live with it.

What I do know is that my dad now has to be chained up on a full moon so he doesn’t accidentally kill us all, like he did Fluffy Cat. I think he’s still a bit messed up by that first time, but it’s not like anyone knew before then. I have totally forgiven him, though it’s hard not being able to have a pet anymore.

At least some knew what they were pretty early on. The elves suddenly had pointy ears, the pixies and valkyries had sprouted wings overnight, and when the vampires woke up and tried to go outside that morning, the flames and smoke sort of gave it away. Thankfully most were able to get out of the sun quickly, and that super healing fixed them right up. Though there was that hockey player who was out doing early practice on the school oval when the sun came up. There is still a burnt patch of grass that everyone avoids. Weird that it hasn’t grown over so many months later.

But it’s not like they’re using the oval much anyway. Even though school started back up after the panic of the first few months, people haven’t been doing much sport. Not until they figure out what gives an “unfair advantage” and how to restructure the leagues. There are a lot of people arguing over that. I mean, can a selkie compete in swimming with humans? Does there need to be a vampire category in weightlifting? Would valkyries be allowed to be at boxing matches when there’s the risk they could influence who wins?

Oh yeah, and there was that whole call for everyone who displayed non-human traits to be locked up. But with half the politicians now in that category and the others having loved ones who are, that wasn’t ever going to happen.

Instead, they’ve cracked down on the human supremacy movements that were forming militias and are just trying to convince everyone to “get along”. It’s funny: racism and sexism seem to have reduced a lot since it happened. All it took was a worldwide calamity, and another group to think of as different.

According to the news, particularly the more conservative channels, some groups of non-human Creatures are banding together, thinking they’re better than the other types (and, of course, better than humans). Ayan at school said there is some “vampires only” club starting a few towns over that serves blood from rare animals. And the valkyries at school have got their own little clique, although it’s not an official club or anything. As if getting a say in who wins a fight is some awesome skill to have. Just don’t get into a fight and it’s fine. At least, that’s my plan.

Either way, no matter what group we’re talking about, us basic humans are at the bottom of the food chain.

Dad says maybe I’ll still be something and that we don’t know what will come out in time. So far, the only druids and muses we know of are adults or late teens, so there’s a theory it’s a puberty-related thing. By process of elimination, there’s not much else left. There are no noticeable body changes. I’m no stronger or quicker than I used to be. And no matter how hard I try, I haven’t been able to transform into anything.

It’s so lame. Even my cousin Anna became a selkie. I mean, who had even heard of a selkie before? The scientists say there is a “statistically significant correlation” between the Creatures people turned into and the dominant cultures of the society, so the theory is all the Celtic immigrants made selkies happen here. But seriously, a seal? What good is being able to turn into a seal when we live inland?

Though it could be worse. The other day, I saw a video from China of this vampire guy that became so stiff he could only move by hopping.

Dad tells me that humans are interesting now, that we’re needed to “continue the species” given we’ve got a much lower population now, and we still don’t know what happens when people of different species interbreed. But I know he’s just saying that to make me feel better.

I mean, that’s what dads are supposed to do. At least it’s better than Mike’s parents, who split up after the change because one couldn’t handle the other being a dryad. Or maybe the dryad couldn’t deal with his husband having been a lumberjack for twenty years. I guess that would be sort of weird. But now Mike gets to stay in a tree house every second week, which he says is cool but a bit limited in the cooking options given his dad is now terrified of fire.

And at least Mike is just human like me, so we can be basic and boring together.

Anyway, that’s the state of the world. That’s my life. It’s all messed up, but at least school started back up so I can see people again. It was getting really rough those first few months, with Dad being too scared for me to go out, so I could only really contact people online or through text. Felt like back when COVID first happened.

My school has even started video streaming classes for the vampires, though they still complain about having to be awake during school hours. I mean, it’s not like we’re all going to adjust to nocturnal hours just for them!

Daisy Nguyen-Smith is the worst, of course. Because she thinks everything needs to be about her.

Vampires should just be glad we have digital photos and videos now, unlike the stuff that used silver from ages ago, where they couldn’t check their makeup or have their picture captured.

Daisy’s only response when someone said that to her was: “It’s not like I touch silver, anyway. I’m all about the gold.” Ugh.

She’s probably annoyed that she’s suddenly not getting everything her own way. Just because she used to be the most popular girl in school doesn’t mean she still is. I swear, she must be layering on the fake tan trying to keep looking like she did. And the rumour is she’s got herself some fancy coffin with rhinestones and satin lining.

No, the coffins aren’t a real thing vampires need, but I wouldn’t put it past Daisy to do it just to have the fanciest coffin around.

I can’t really think of anything more to write just now, so I guess that will do. And it’s not like it made me feel any better or anything.

But here it is. The diary of a normal human teenager. Pathetic, right?

Chapter Two
2 June

I had my school-mandated monthly counselling session today. I mean, I get why the school is doing it, but I don’t need it. I’m fine, really. It’s not like I need to drink blood, or randomly cry and screech. Those banshees are so annoying. Thank God there aren’t many of them.

The school counsellor, Ms. Hoxha, wanted me to share with her from this journal, but the idea made me feel really weird. I don’t want her reading this. Not that I’m taking this seriously or anything; I just was supposed to write every day and have only written once so far. That’s all.

Because I said no to her reading the diary, she wanted to talk about feelings and stuff. Even did the whole “How did that make you feel?” and “What is it you want?” stuff, head tilt and all. I thought that was just in the movies, but maybe they teach that to all the psych students.

And how am I supposed to know how it feels to have half the people you know suddenly become some sort of Creature? To have the world be totally different and no one knowing their place in it anymore? Even me, and I haven’t changed.

At least I got out of that session early after all the incense Ms. Hoxha’s constantly burning made me start coughing, and then I couldn’t stop. I guess that’s one benefit to being human, in a weird way: I still have my asthma. Some of the Creatures with super healing no longer have issues like that. Dad says I need to concentrate on the positives of being human, and I’m trying.

I don’t know why she insists on burning incense all the time. I swear she’ll set off the fire alarm someday with all that smoke. Maybe she’s one of those new age groupies. According to the news, lots of humans have gotten into all the tarot cards and crystals and stuff to make themselves seem interesting to the critters.

Not that Dad likes me calling them that. He says it’s “Creaturist”. As if that’s even a thing! How can I be the person being discriminatory when they get all the cool stuff? Everyone wants to be something new now. No one wants to hang out with the boring humans.

Anyway, that wasn’t the most interesting thing to happen today. This afternoon, we all suddenly got called into an all-school assembly. Even the teachers didn’t know what was happening, so we knew it had to be BIG. Mike was just happy we got out of Chemistry early. The teacher, Mr. Dane, thought enough of himself and too little of everyone else even before he became an elf.

So, we all filed into the hall. Not that there are that many of us. Small town, small school. But that made it even more interesting: everyone always knows the news immediately here, so surprises are rare.

On the stage, the principal was acting weird. I swear Mr. Rusico’s chest was puffed out so far it matched his gut for once! He was wearing the suit he only wears for special events, like graduations and student-teacher nights. And up beside him on the stage was Adriana.

Oh, Adriana.

Oh yeah, I guess I should give the backstory. You’re a book, after all, you don’t know what happened.

So, Adriana, Mike and I were best friends growing up. She’s a year older than us, but we all lived on the same street, so we used to hang out a lot as kids, and then through school.

I think the word is “inseparable”. It was always the three of us, or at least two of us hanging out when the third couldn’t convince their parents to let them come.

Then, one day, Adriana’s parents caught me trying to kiss her. It was innocent, I swear! I mean, I was 13, and stuff was happening and I. . . I mean, she. . . it didn’t mean anything!

But the Pereiras are super strict. They’re all into this ultra-conservative evangelical church, one of those religions with people singing and talking in weird languages, which believes this whole Creatures thing is God’s doing and found obscure Bible verses to try to justify it.

I did not know before this that there are vampires and werewolves in the Bible. There are even unicorns! I wish we’d gotten unicorns when the change happened, but for some reason it only affected humans, as far as we know so far.

But yeah, her parents freaked. That was the last time we were allowed to hang out.

Adriana’s not even allowed to talk to me at school. She crosses the hallway when I’m near, just in case her parents see us near each other, though she at least sometimes gives me a guilty look for it.

And today, her parents were also right there, beaming alongside Mr. Rusico. Adriana had that half-smile she gets when she’s super uncomfortable and just wishes the ground would open and swallow her whole.

Her hands were clutched so tight in front of her pleated tartan skirt that I could see the knuckles whitening. Why did her parents insist she wears what looked like a uniform, anyway? We weren’t one of those fancy schools where everyone had to dress alike, and Adriana hates how those knee-high socks keep falling down when she walks, no matter how many elastics she uses.

“You OK?” Mike had whispered to me.

He knew the whole thing, of course. He’d been cut off at the same time, even though he’d done nothing wrong. But the Pereira’s had decided that Adriana needed “better influences” in her life than us. Which, of course, meant no socialising with anyone at school.

I felt terrible about that, but Mike never blamed me for destroying our group. He is great like that. The best friend I could hope for. And it’s just been us two since then.

“Sure,” I replied. “Course.” I was fine. Totally.

Thankfully we all had to sit down and be quiet right after that. Except for the five people on stage: Mr. Rusico, the Pereiras, and an elf standing to the side of the stage looking like a Secret Service agent from an action movie, crew cut and all, with a coiled cord going into one pointy ear.

The principal took his time, relishing the drama and expectation. He droned on for a while about how wonderful the school was, how this was the proudest moment in his teaching career, building up the suspense with some words that meant nothing. He literally had someone from the school band do a drumroll.

Then he announced it: Adriana had been discovered to be a muse.

I DID NOT cry. Not at all.

Nope.

But. . .

She deserves it. So much.

Muses are one of the most sought-after Creatures there are. Even junior ones, after they do some initial training with some ritual or something (they’re super secretive about it), get hundreds of offers from schools wanting to inspire their students to get better grades. And those who are strongly talented are poached by major corporations in seconds.

I saw an article recently saying that the rates of new inventions being patented rose nearly 75 percent in the last six months, even though businesses were in freefall during the panic after the change. It said they think that’s almost all from the influence of the muses.

Adriana is set for life. It’s like the new version of winning the year’s biggest lottery.

Not that she’d be getting that life right now. Her parents said they wanted her to stay in school, to finish her senior year before moving for her muse training. That was just like them, to stand in the way of her becoming what she was meant to be because they want her to follow the “right” path.

At one point, I swear Adriana caught my eye. I tried to smile. I mean, it was so great for her! She was going to make it, to get out of this town and make something of herself. She would probably travel the world and have so many adventures. I am happy for her. Really.

She looked away too quickly for me to tell if she’d seen.

Mr. Rusico let us all go home early after that. To “celebrate the greatness Adriana was bringing to our little town” by being a muse, even one who couldn’t use her abilities yet.

Muses are a bit weird like that. They’ve got to spend some time with other muses before their powers fully materialise. No one knows why yet, given it was only discovered about six months ago when a group of people who thought they were just human were hanging out, and suddenly weird things started happening. Like much of what’s happening now, we just don’t know how it all works.

But, somehow, those whose powers have manifested know other muses instantly, so they send people around to schools for testing. Not obviously, of course. No assembly or class for it. Just like everything else the muses do, it’s done in secret.

I understand that, though; with how in demand they are, there have been reports of muses being coerced into “helping” people. And that elf on stage turned out to be a security guard sent by the local Chapter of Muses to keep Adriana safe. They would be “accompanying” her at all times.

Adriana will hate that. She likes having quiet time to herself. Sitting in the backyard alone, listening to music, or going for a bushwalk to just lie down and read in the sun, even though it gives her freckles.

After we left the auditorium, Mike wanted to head out to the park to hang out and see if he could get a nice acorn to give his dad. The most common tree for Dryads is an oak, so acorns are special and stuff, and Mike had heard of a stash of acorns from last year that some animal must have made and forgotten about.

I told him that I couldn’t go out with him though, that my father needed me because it’s a full moon. He always wants me home well before he gets ready to transform so he knows I’m safely in my room, away from the cage. And, sometimes, he’s a bit emotional before he shifts and needs some support.

Sure, he’s got the werewolf support group that helps keep an eye on him through the night. And, of course, that includes giving me a “babysitter”. As if I need one at my age?

Anyway, that’s why I decided to come home and not spend time with Mike in the park. To look after Dad.

So, I should go do that. Bye for now.

About The Author

Angel Hellyer is a queer Canberra-based writer, communication professional and author of two urban fantasy books.

An avid reader as a young person, Angel loved losing themselves in fantasy novels, as well as roleplaying games. But they didn't consider themselves creative and, following a rough childhood, prioritised clarity in life so they studied maths and computing.

As Angel grew into their authentic self, they realised they actually loved the greys between the blacks and whites. They moved into a communication career, applying creativity professionally and building belief in their imagination. Working to advance social justice, equity and equality it wasn't that surprising that "Just Human" was inspired by some progressive social media posts.

Angel lives with a chatty and fluffy cat and works in non-profit communication.

For more information visit Angel's web page.

Copyright Statement

JUST HUMAN

The moral rights of Angel Hellyer to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.

Copyright 2024 Hague Publishing

eBook: ISBN 978-1-922984-06-7
softcover ISBN 978-1-922984-05-0
Cover and interior artwork by Obsidian Wax.

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