The São Paulo Grand Prix would take place on Sunday. The drivers were already assembled for the qualifying laps. Each of them would do a series of laps and whoever got the shortest time would start in the best positions on race day.

Kako was one of the youngest drivers in Formula 1 and was determined to get a good place this time. It had been some time since he had talked or had fun with his teammates and other drivers. He spent a lot of time focused, training. On the training day, he realized that the hours he spent were affecting his mood. Friends constantly complained about his isolation.

It was the first time Kako wore the old necklace given by his mother. He took time to look at the amulet attached to the artifact, the tips resembling the horns of a bull. Suddenly he remembered that during the night he had dreamed of a white bull visiting him, in a moonlit field. 

Before handing over the box with the necklace inside, Kako's mother repeated: "Remember, this is one of the few things your grandfather left behind". Kako did not understand his mother's words, but he had refused for years to wear the necklace. This time, he took advantage of his return to Brazil and accepted his mother's gift for good. She believed it would make him lucky during the races. 

The laps would finally begin. If Kako got the best time, he would start first the next day. His biggest concern, however, was Spanish driver Gomez. Two years older, he had won first place in the last two training sessions.

Gomez had also been on the podium in the last few races as well. He was the absolute favorite of the season. In comparison, Kako was on the podium in just one of them. The boy had been lagging behind and his performance had declined. It was essential that he started in the first positions in the next races. He needed to score points in the overall classification.

Before the cars left the warehouses, Gomez passed by Kako and waved, trying to get closer. They had never talked since Kako started in the main category. Gomez seemed to have payed a lot of attention to the Brazilian's necklace. 

"I have something to discuss with you," he said.

Kako turned his face away and pretended he didn't see. Had he been rude? He thought. However, he could not allow the opponent to feel at ease, not in qualifying training. It was necessary to intimidate opponents also off the track.

During Gomez's qualifying lap, all the other pilots were apprehensive, despite already expecting a good result. They hoped their performance would ger worst and so they could have a chance to move up the rankings. Finally, however, he confirmed his favoritism: he conquered a very short time, very difficult to beat. 

Kako still tried. In his turn, he put the pedal to the metal, he wanted to try a shorter time than his rival, so he made all the curves perfectly and was confident that he was doing well. Before completing the laps, however, he noticed something strange on the horizon. Smoke was coming from one of the warehouses where the cars were kept. He interrupted the route and accelerated towards the place. Training was over for him.

A dark bird-shaped creature attacked everyone.

The creature destroyed, one by one, the cars parked in the warehouse. Kako found it hard to believe what he was seeing before his eyes. Pilots and mechanics who tried to escape quickly, ran in all directions. Kako ran out in an attempt to save his team's spare car, before it was destroyed as well. 

Another three cars were already completely smashed. He hid from the creature behind a red car. The dark monster, at last, went towards the exit of the garage, as if it was looking for someone. Kako then threw himself in the direction of the team's spare vehicle, got into it and tried to start it. His objective was to accelerate, dodge the monster and leave the garage unharmed. 

Kako remembered, however, that to start the car, he needed a special key card, which would probably be on the neck of the other driver of the team. At that moment, the monster noticed the boy's movement and returned to him slowly. It was his end, Kako had no chance against the white-masked creature.

The ghostly giant came closer and closer to Kako. When it was inches from him, it raised one armored hand. Behind his body, two dark wings spread. It was like a black angel. The dark being then ripped off the car's right wheel, which shuddered. Kako feared for his life. 

It was then that Gomez, the Spanish pilot appeared and threw an object, hitting the creature's white mask. The dark being seemed to feel the impact of the blow, but then went back to chasing Kako. As if on impulse, Gomez threw himself on the creature's back and began to hit it on the head. His ghostly body was like dark smoke, with no definite shape. 

Gomez strangled the monster, who fought back, throwing it at the wall. After being unable to fight back, the monster slowly dissolved in the air, as if its forces had drained away. Gomez fell to the floor. Kako found it all very strange. He had heard of similar situations, but he had never seen one, much less like that.

After a few minutes, the pilots concentrated on understanding what had happened. They seemed to be quite confused. Kako was now curious to solve everything that Gomez had done to stop the obscure being. How could he have defended himself against the creature, had his eyes deceived him? Gomez seemed to have used brutal force against the being.

Kako then approached his colleague, who was in the corner of the warehouse collecting some debris from the mess. The other colleagues got together and also wondered how it could have happened. When he realized Kako's approach, Gomez shouted:

"I knew you were going to change your mind"

"You saved my life. Actually you saved everyone's life."

"I did what was necessary, but I confess that I was quite afraid", he replied.

"I didn't think anyone could do what you did."

"Do what, fight back?" Said, in a tone of surprise "Look, I couldn't help noticing that you were carrying something very important. That's why I tried to talk to you earlier".

"About fighting dead creatures?"

"Fighting creatures, what are you talking about?"

Gomez took an amulet out of his pocket, identical to the one Kako had received from his mother the day before.

"This is the Bull Amulet. You have one like mine. I need to know how you got yours."

"Let's talk, I can explain it better", Kako replied. 

"That creature was after something and I'm sure it was one of these amulets", he added.

Kako was completely paralyzed by the sight of Gomez's amulet. It was identical to his. He felt like Gomez was pranking him, but after seeing the creature's attack with his own eyes, he felt he shouldn't doubt anything anymore.

..........

This translation was done with Google's help. If you have any suggestions for the use of the language or on how to improve the translation, let me know in the comments.