Stories published in my book "Para Vivir Seguros" (2005) If you missed the previous story, here it is #574930

The Ribeiro Riu family moved to the old estate when the mother died, and the father, now widowed and elderly, could no longer live alone. Emerson Ribeiro had lost his job as vice president of a bank. The Ribeiro Riu family had to drastically reduce their expenses and lifestyle. When the mother passed away, moving out of their luxurious apartment to live with the father in the old estate in a São Paulo suburb was a good solution for everyone.

However, the Ribeiro Riu family was used to the amenities of their residential building: cable TV, a security booth with guards 24/7, a CCTV system, an alarm system connected to a security company's monitoring center, smart fences, etc. They felt quite safe there. Now, after moving without all these services, they began to feel very vulnerable. At night, they heard noises, wood and materials creaked, some animals roamed the yard, and pigeons nested on the roofs. Dr. Emerson Ribeiro dusted off an old .38 caliber Colt revolver that belonged to his father. He got a box of ammunition and kept it in his nightstand.

Several weeks passed. One Monday after dinner, the Ribeiro Riu family watched TV for a while, then each went to their rooms. The eleven-year-old twins went upstairs first. Marion, the oldest, followed a bit later. The grandfather, who had long since stopped coming downstairs, and the nurse who cared for him occupied two adjacent rooms. Emerson Ribeiro and his wife Carmen stayed up talking for a while. By eleven o'clock, everyone in the house was asleep.

Dr. Emerson Ribeiro woke up with a start, clearly having heard a loud noise, something like breaking glass. He sat up in bed and listened for a few minutes. Beside him, Carmen was lightly snoring. He looked at the radio alarm clock. The large digital numbers showed 3:25 am. Just as he was about to fall back asleep, he unmistakably heard another noise. This time it was wood creaking against wood, seemingly coming from the kitchen. Eyes wide open and senses on high alert, he kept listening. The creaking repeated, and he even thought he heard the tinkle of a bell they had on the kitchen door.

“Damn, there's someone in the house,” he thought. He hesitated to wake his wife. He rushed to the nightstand, knocking over the alarm clock and the table lamp. He got the revolver. He made so much noise he couldn’t understand how Carmen could still be sleeping. He tried to control himself. He didn’t know what to do. Call the police? They would take hours to arrive. Wake his wife? He’d have to explain, wait for her to fully wake up... And what if it was a false alarm?

He walked to the bedroom door and listened for a few seconds. He thought he heard drawers opening. He took a few steps to the stairs. Everything looked quiet in the dark. “If they came in through the kitchen, they could be anywhere now,” he thought. “But I don’t think they’ve had time to go upstairs.” Controlling the tremor in his legs and the panting of his breath, he started down the stairs, revolver extended. A step creaked, and he stopped. He continued. The first thing he needed to do was verify if someone had actually entered. He had to check the kitchen door that led to the drying yard first. If he found nothing unusual, he’d take a quick look at the rest of the ground floor and return to the warmth and safety of his bed.

Barefoot and silent, he slid toward the service area. He half-opened the kitchen's swinging door. The microwave's digital numbers blinked in the dark. At first, everything seemed in order. But as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw that the kitchen drawers were open. He approached the door. It had a broken glass pane and was forced open, half ajar, with a long piece of wood hanging.

Dr. Emerson Ribeiro panicked. There was no doubt now. Someone had broken in... But how many? And where were they now? He ran back, the only thought in his mind was to get help, to escape this nightmare. He turned on the light and looked for the wall phone next to the fridge. The kitchen was in complete disarray. His hands trembled too much to dial. He didn’t know what to do with the revolver. Then he saw him. Standing in the doorway was a young dark-skinned man in jeans and sneakers, looking as scared as he was. He dropped the phone and raised the revolver. The man quickly turned off the light. Then everything was confusion. Dr. Emerson Ribeiro fired a shot. The Colt jumped in his hand. The muzzle flash lit up the darkness. The doctor ran back into the house while the intruder dashed for the exit. They collided. Dr. Emerson Ribeiro smelled sweat and fear. He fell to the floor and fired another shot. He didn’t know how, but he managed to get up. He ran deeper into the house and came face to face with another silhouette. He made a motion with the gun, either to aim or to shield himself, but felt a strong grip on his hand. Another shot went off. In the flash, he saw an Afro-haired face full of terror, embracing him, struggling with him. He felt the revolver slipping from his hands. He tried to grab an arm but it slipped away. Totally desperate, without the revolver, thinking they were going to kill him now, Dr. Emerson Ribeiro fell to the floor.

Paralyzed, in a detached state, he heard running, shouting, and lights turning on. He crawled, sobbing, to a corner and suddenly saw his wife and the twins. Marion, in her robe, had both hands on her face, while the nurse, from the landing, with curlers in her hair, screamed. Everyone was terrified. “Dad, are you okay?” “Emerson, for God’s sake, what happened?” They lifted him up; he was fine. They only found a nasty cut on the sole of his foot from stepping on broken glass. The Ribeiro Riu family took a while to recover from the scare. They called the police and assessed the situation. The thieves had taken the silverware, the DVD player, the TV from the study, and the old Colt revolver belonging to the grandfather.