The Adventures of Kelsey, Leah, and Izuzu (part I)

So the other night Leah and I were on our regular evening run, when we came up with this crazy storyline about a monster called Izuzu. Well, I decided to go with it (just for fun) and now I'm creating a short story series based on our idea. So I'm posting the first part here, and hopefully soon I will be posting part II. Should be fun! Read it and then you can wait in anticipation for the next part of the story!

"The Beginning"

It was a dark and stormy night (isn't it always?). The clouds were slowly thickening and the moon was almost completely hidden from sight. Leah was sitting on her bed painting her toenails as her uber-amazing friend Kelsey typed away on the computer. Kelsey had driven down to Leah's house about an hour and a half earlier, and the two had walked over to Subway to eat dinner. They were planning to go on their evening run. An hour after eating, they decided that it was about time to start. Leah threw on her bouncy Adidas shoes while Kelsey laced up her performance-enhancing Nike Shox. They were ready to run as they stepped off Leah's front porch and onto the darkening Park Street together. Little did they know that this night would change their lives forever.
Leah had suggested that they run along Riverview that night. They had only run this route once before. Riverview had a nice path along the river, laid out in bricks. There were plenty of lamps and benches along this route.
"Let's start here," said Leah when they crossed the street. Kelsey agreed, and the two friends began their jog in unison. They didn't talk much, after a mutual decision that it threw off their breathing patterns. They soon reached the end of the path (or the beginning, depending on your point of view). Both of them turned on a dime, like the expert runners that they were, and continued on, unfazed. Their serene run would not last for long.
As they passed by a staircase heading down to the lock and dam, Leah jumped. Kelsey glanced over at her, curious about what had mad her friend so nervous.
"I could have sworn I just saw something crawling up the hill next to the stairs," she explained, shaking her head. Kelsey just laughed.
"What did you think it was?" she asked.
"I don't know, it looked like, half human, half animal. Or something. I couldn't really make it out. But don't worry, it was just my imagination."
"It better have been your imagination," laughed Kelsey, "because if something like that is prowling around Bellevue, I'm pretty sure it could polish of the entire population in a single night." (Bellevue-population 23-ish)
The two girls laughed about the idea, then continued on their run, not thinking twice about the "monster" that Leah had seen. After passing the laundromat, Kelsey noted that to their left there were no more buildings, just a long, steep hill that led straight into the Mississippi. Leah shivered, and the hairs on Kelsey's neck stood on end. They were not alone.
"Did you feel that?" whispered Kelsey, as they silently made their way along.
"Yeah," replied Leah, "I sure felt something."
A few more seconds passed, when Leah began to whisper to Kelsey again.
"I'm still not feeling very-" but she didn't finish her sentance. Kelsey looked over to see what was wrong, and found her companion vanished. She stopped abruptly and looked around quickly.
"Leah!" she called, "Leah, what's going on? Where are you?"
Feeling an eerie sensation radiating from near the riverbank, Kelsey instinctively headed toward it. Her instincts served her well that night. As she looked over the edge of the hill, she could see the very monster that Leah had described, carrying Leah savagely away. Giving a little yelp, Kelsey whipped out her cell phone (because of course she had it with her while they were running) and was about to call for help when a voice next to her said,
"Don't do that." Whipping around to face the unknown speaker, Kelsey gasped in surprise to find an old familiar face looking back at her. It was an older man with thick white hair and a well-cut beard. He was wearing a white shirt, green tie, suspenders, and a green bowling hat.
"Mr. Donovan?!" exclaimed Kelsey excitedly, "What are you-" then suddenly she remembered Leah's awful predicament.
"Oh my god, Mr. Donovan! Leah, it's got Leah! This horrible beast, it grabbed her and now it's carrying her away! We need to find help!" Kelsey was amazed to see Mr. Donovan looking strangely calm upon hearing this news.
"The creature's name is Izuzu," he told her, "and I am very sorry that he has gotten ahold of Leah. She is a very... what do you kids call her? Oh, she is a very rad girl. I wish that I could help her, but I can't."
Kelsey was astonished. Mr. Donovan was always a man whom she admired greatly. Why wasn't he going to help save Leah?
"But, Mr. Donovan-"
"Kelsey," the wise old Senor silenced her, "you haven't let me finish. While I said that I cannot save Leah, I didn't say that no one could."

(to be continued…)