The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Versailles Automotive 
by Kendra Smart  

The warehouses had become eyesores in the eyes of the small town of Venice Valley. Once they had been a beacon of providence for the town, ensuring food on tables and shoes on feet. Nights out at the drive through or at the local burger joint. But that had been when the automotive business was booming, and to look at the broken glass from the windows and the overgrowth of greenery, it hadn’t been blooming for quite some time.

Whispers were abound in the forties when the shiny candy colored cars came off the lines and were ahhed at from prospective buyers and creators alike. The brilliant reds and aquamarine blues, the attention to detail on the leather interior, the lines that drew the eye to the streamline smoothness of the car. The Versailles was created by George and Henry Versailles in 1926 and they had chosen Venice Valley due to their exclusivity. The labor was paid for in far less coin than had they sourced out the work and they had the lineage that came with the people of a small town. Everyone wanted their kin to work for the factory, it was almost a career day goal.

But rumors of weird accidents and strange encounters became undeniable in 1942 when seventeen year old Ronald Johnson went crazy in the middle of the Fourth of July celebration on the grounds of the factory. Those who had seen him that day told the tale of how his eyes had glazed over black and he had been unresponsive to his name as he displayed inhuman strength lifting the display of fireworks and letting them launch into the unsuspecting crowd. 

Three died that day, while fifty four others suffered from major and minor injuries. The blood ran to the factory floor that day. Ronald was never the same and spent his remaining three months of life in the mental ward of the hospital before choking down a light bulb, ending his suffering and “delusions”. Those who found him claimed the look in his eyes and all that blood, it stayed with them. 

The years passed and the fine automotive business left the town of Venice Valley. Versailles went under hard and the brothers were found the last day the factory doors remained open. A bullet between the eyes for the both of them. But the medical examiner would ponder many a sleepless night on the deep nail scratches around the orbital sockets. The self-inflicted ones as the DNA under their individual nails would later confirm. 

The town became a wasteland compared to what it once was, more and more families were forced to move elsewhere looking for anywhere that might provide them with wages and stability. A source of living.  Those that stayed were treated to adventurers and ghost hunters looking to exorcize the demons and free those tragic souls. 

But the factory wasn’t always safe and every once in a while teams wouldn’t come back. Not in peace at least. Certainly not in their right minds. What existed and fed on the carnage in that factory always hungered and had no mercy. None at least it was willing to spare. That was the warning given to the first team, Paranormal Secrets, to stay in the factory. Alone. Overnight. But those warnings fell on deaf ears and all encompassing ambition. The leader of the team was too excited, too aggressive… and the team paid the price. 

The headlines would sweep the nation the following months and word spread like wildfire drawing eyes and interest. 

“Ghost Team torn asunder in the iconic Versailles Automotive warehouse. No Survivors.”

Fiction © Copyright Kendra Smart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from author Kendra Smart:

Just Emotions:
A Gothic Bite Magazine Anthology

A collection of poetry.

‘Just Emotions‘ is exactly as it states, a group of writers who had feelings they wanted to express in poem form. Inside, there are a range of emotions to explore. Each writer has given a bit of themselves to you, each in their own way.

We hope that you enjoy these writings and that among the poems you may find some thing you can identify with or relate to. Thank you for giving us this chance to open the catacombs and share with you.

Available on Amazon!