Charity Case (Creepypasta/Jeff the Killer Love Story)

Chapter 4

I was back in my house, and the sun had set. My dad had returned from the school building, and we sat at the table, eating dinner. The news played on the TV in the living room next to us.

It was a circular dining table, so I could clearly see both my parents. Dad looked worn down, like usual, and my mom was tired from her work as an accountant. We all ate the soup she had quickly thrown together quietly until my dad asked, "So, Ronnie, you haven't told me much about your volunteering. How is it going?"

I shrugged, "It's okay. I'm enjoying it, even if it is cold and early. All of the homeless have been really kind, and it's nice to help them. I think my supervisor might even be warming up to me."

He continued, "Have you made any friends? Met anyone interesting?"

I contemplated mentioning Woods, since he was a pretty interesting character, but I decided against it. Mom was worried enough without mentioning him, and I really didn't know enough about him to be talking about him to anyone. I lied, "No, none of us really have the time to talk to each other. They keep us busy."

"Well, I guess that isn't too surprising. The homeless population has doubled in our town in the past year," my dad reminded me for the umpteenth time.

Mom pitched in, "It's just so hard to think about. I can't believe you can stand to be around them, Ronnie. I always feel so sad. I mean, they never have much food. They don't even have a roof over their head." As she spoke, I sipped my soup slower and slower until a sick feeling settled in my stomach. I silently placed my spoon down. "It's even going to snow tonight!"

Alarm bells went off in my head, "What?"

She looked a little shocked by the urgency in my voice, "Oh, uh, it's going to snow. It said so on the news." My mind went immediately to Woods, and I got up out of my chair and rushed to the living room with my parents calling out to me.

The news anchor said, "There'll be more on the recent murders and the rumored killer behind them, the infamous Jeff the Killer, at eight. Now, for the weather forecast. How is it looking, Emmerson?"

The shot switched to the set up showing the radar behind the weatherman. Emmerson replied, "Not too good, Carson." He pointed to the giant white area slowly moving over my town in a time lapse. "As you can see, we are expecting some very heavy snowfall all through the night, which is supposed to start in about fifteen minutes." The screen stopped moving to show the temperatures of many different towns. "Here in McKenna, it's going to reach a staggering nineteen degrees tonight with a high of twenty-five." The numbers changed again. "Our area is expecting an eight-inch snowfall, and there will most likely be icy roads. We are advising you to stay inside if you can, but if it is unavoidable, please drive carefully and bundle up."

I stood there with my mouth hanging open as the screen switched back. "Thank you, Emmerson. We just got information telling us the snow has started, so we would like to warn you to be careful. Now, we have sports with...." Carson continued on, but I quit listening. I rushed to my window and moved the curtains to see it was, in fact, snowing. Was Woods all right out there? The blanket he had was extremely thin, and I knew that hoodie couldn't offer much protection. What if I went back there the next day and found him in a terrible state?