Puppet

Zak Bagan stood outside of the mansion, staring at it in awe. It was beautiful, that couldn't be denied. Though it had been built in the late sixteenth century, it was in incredible condition. It was a very large building, over eighty feet long with two floors. The walls were made of brick, the color faded with age, vines growing up the sides. The windows had been changed over the years, allowing more warmth to be kept in the house during the water. Plumbing, electricity wiring and gas had been the only other additions to the old building.

“Lincoln should be here soon” Emma Stark, the proud owner of the mansion, said. She put her phone into her back pocket.
“Is that your son?” Zak asked, turning to face the woman again.
“Lincoln is my daughter” she corrected with a small smile. “She's the one who the ghosts seem to like more.”
“Really?” his eyebrows were raised, surprised the ghosts of Stark Mansion would favour a young girl.
“Oh yes” Emma nodded. “My husband and I think its because of her accident, the one she had when she was a child.”

Nick and Zak nodded, deciding not to further question in fear of intruding into business they didn't need to know. Zak turned back to the van, reaching inside to grab a large diary and a black ball-point pen. He opened the diary to the current day's date, turning it landscape.

Two pieces of A4 paper were paper-clipped to the page. The top page had a blueprint of the ground floor of the mansion while the second piece of paper held a blueprint of the upper level. Both pieces of paper had various notes scribbled on the sides, little bits of information which would help during the set up of the investigation.

Zak looked up as the sound of a car pulled into the long driveway. Zak wouldn't be afraid to admit that he checked the woman out as she walked toward them; locking the car using a remote on the key. Her dark blonde hair fell in loose waves over her chest, framing her oval face. Her blue eyes were laced with long, dark lashes which brushed against her pale cheeks when she blinked. Her nose wasn't by any means large, but it also was not as small as a button. Her upper lip was thin while her bottom lip was full and plump. Zak's eyes wandered down her well shaped body. She wore a black vest top, a checked button-up shirt over the top but not done up. Her thin legs were cover by black, ripped skinny jeans and she had a pair of black converse on.

Though Zak was normally drawn to women with larger breasts, a bigger rear and with a tan, he couldn't deny he was attracted to the woman walking towards them. There was something about her that oozed confidence that was oddly attractive, Zak would normally prefer a woman who had to depend on him to protect her.

“Lincoln, honey, what took you so long?” Emma asked of her daughter.
The woman, Lincoln, shrugged with a sigh. “Bikes in for a check-up, the garage loaned me a car... Its been ages since I've driven something with more than two wheels.”
“I told you to get ride of that silly motorcycle, its a death trap waiting to happen” Emma shook her head, scolding her only child in fear of her health. “You would be no good dead.”
“Why, I could join Ollie in haunting your ass” Lincoln smiled.
“If you were to haunt my house, I would bring in a priest dear” Emma told her.
Lincoln chuckled good naturedly. “Ouch, bringing out the bitch claws. Meow!”

Lincoln then turned away from her mother, looking instead to the three men standing in the mansion's driveway. Zak couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the woman giving him a silent once over, giving a little smile herself.
She looked behind him and knew she had seen Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff. They had been standing near the back of the van, getting their camera equipment ready for the walk through and interviews. Zak knew that Aaron, the teams technician, had wanted to make sure the cameras were properly working after the malfunction which had occurred on their last lock down.

“You're bringing cameras in?” Lincoln asked Zak, her eyebrows raised.
“Yep” he nodded, glancing back at his crew.
She laughed, shaking her head. “Mr Lou is not going to be happy.”
“So, you're the girl that has the best connections with these spirits?” Zak questioned, meeting her blue eyes with his own.
“Yep, they seem to like me for some reason” she shrugged. “Ollie's the best, super over protective though. My ex-boyfriend hit me one time... lets just say, Ollie made sure he never came back.”
“Your mom said it started after an accident...” he trailed off, leaving the question open.
“Yeah” Lincoln nodded. “I was in a car crash when I was seven. They said I died for a bit, ya know, heart stopped for a couple of minutes. Had to use that pad-thingy. I can't remember much of it.”

Zak nodded, eyebrows drawn. Lincoln's heart had stopped beating for several minutes, stopped pumping oxygen filled blood around her body. She was lucky that the paramedics didn't just give up on her, that they were willing to trying to bring her back. She could be dead right now.

“Come on, I'll show you around the house” Lincoln smiled, walking towards the door of the mansion.