PART 3: What Bigfoot Really Is…David Paulides Reveals the Evidence
THE THING BEYOND THE TREES — PART 3
THE 1957 FILE
The first thing David heard was a heartbeat.
Slow.
Heavy.
Not his own.
Boom.
A pause.
Boom.
Another pause.
Boom.
He opened his eyes.
Everything was dark.
He couldn’t see the trees.
Couldn’t see the sky.
Couldn’t see the man who had been standing beside him.
For several seconds, David wondered if he was blind.
Then he realized something was wrong with the darkness itself.
It wasn’t ordinary darkness.
There were no shadows.
No shapes.
No depth.
It was as if the world had simply been switched off.
David reached forward.
His hand touched something cold.
Metal.
A vehicle door.
He pulled himself upright.
The door opened.
Gray daylight flooded his eyes.
David stumbled out.
He was standing beside a black government SUV.
Two men were unconscious on the ground.
One was his former partner.
The other was a stranger.
Both were breathing.
David looked around.
The forest was gone.
They were standing in an empty field.
A military helicopter hovered overhead.
Soldiers surrounded them.
Weapons raised.
A man in a black uniform approached.
“David Pites?”
David stared at him.
“Who are you?”
The man ignored the question.
“Where are the others?”
“What others?”
“The creatures.”
David looked toward the forest.
There was no forest.
Only empty fields.
He turned slowly.
The mountain range in the distance looked unfamiliar.
“Where are we?”
The officer hesitated.
“Washington.”
David frowned.
“I was in the Cascades.”
“You still are.”
“No.”
David pointed toward the horizon.
“That isn’t where I was.”
The officer looked at him carefully.
“You’ve been missing for fifty-two days.”
David’s stomach dropped.
“That’s impossible.”
The officer nodded.
“That’s what everyone says.”
They took David to a facility buried beneath the mountains.
He was questioned for six hours.
The questions were repetitive.
What did he see?
How many creatures?
How long were the lights visible?
Did he enter the opening?
What did the pale beings look like?
What did they say?
David refused to answer.
Instead, he asked his own questions.
“How long have you known?”
The interrogator didn’t react.
“Known what?”
“About them.”
Silence.
“About the creatures.”
The man folded his hands.
“You’ve spent twenty years investigating them.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“You’ve seen the evidence.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
The interrogator leaned forward.
“You believe you discovered something.”
David stared at him.
“I believe you already knew.”
The man smiled faintly.
Then he pushed a folder across the table.
David looked at the cover.
There was no title.
Only a date.
OCTOBER 17, 1957.
David’s hands became cold.
He opened it.
The first photograph showed a forest.
A group of men stood beside a military vehicle.
Behind them was something enormous.
A black-haired figure.
David stared at it.
The photograph was old.
But the creature’s eyes were clear.
It was looking directly at the camera.
The next photograph showed footprints.
The next showed a strange circular disturbance in the ground.
The next showed a shimmering wall of light.
David turned another page.
Then stopped.
A handwritten note appeared.
SUBJECTS ARE NOT HOSTILE.
Below it:
THEY ARE AFRAID.
And underneath:
AFRAID OF WHAT?
David looked up.
“You’ve had this since 1957.”
The interrogator nodded.
“Longer.”
David’s eyes narrowed.
“How much longer?”
The man didn’t answer.
The file described an incident in October 1957.
Three forestry workers disappeared near a remote mountain range.
A military team was sent to locate them.
They found the men two days later.
Alive.
But none of them could explain where they’d been.
One claimed he had been inside a cave.
Another said they had been walking through a forest.
The third insisted they had never left the truck.
Their watches disagreed.
One had stopped for six hours.
Another had gained three days.
The third was running backward.
Then the military discovered the footprints.
Hundreds of them.
Humanlike.
Massive.
The tracks surrounded the missing men’s vehicle.
But the strange part wasn’t the footprints.
It was what they found in the center.
A circle of burned grass.
Inside the circle was a metal object.
No larger than a dinner plate.
The object wasn’t radioactive.
It wasn’t magnetic.
It didn’t respond to electricity.
But every compass within fifty feet pointed toward it.
The military took it underground.
Three days later, everyone in the laboratory reported the same dream.
A forest.
A red sky.
And something enormous watching from between the trees.
The laboratory was shut down.
The object was moved.
Then the incidents began.
David turned page after page.
The same pattern repeated for decades.
Every few years, something happened.
A creature sighting.
A strange light.
Missing time.
Equipment failure.
A portal.
And always—
the footprints.
David pointed to a photograph.
“These are the same creatures.”
The interrogator nodded.
“Some of them.”
“Some?”
“There are different types.”
David looked up.
“What do you mean?”
The man opened another folder.
Inside were photographs of different creatures.
One was enormous.
Another was thin and almost human.
Another appeared pale.
Another had unusually long arms.
David stared at the photographs.
“These aren’t Bigfoot.”
“No.”
“Then what are they?”
The interrogator looked toward the observation window.
“We don’t know.”
David studied him.
“But you’ve studied them.”
“For sixty-nine years.”
“Since 1957?”
“Since before that.”
David’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
The man didn’t answer.
Instead, he opened another file.
This one was older.
Much older.
The cover was damaged.
The date read:
1943.
David turned the page.
The first report described a military expedition in Alaska.
The second came from Canada.
The third came from Siberia.
The fourth was from somewhere David didn’t recognize.
A handwritten note had been added.
Reports predate modern records by centuries.
David continued reading.
Then he saw something that made him stop.
A sketch.
A creature standing beside a glowing doorway.
Below the drawing, someone had written:
THE FOREST PEOPLE WARNED US.
David looked up.
“Who wrote this?”
The interrogator answered:
“An Army intelligence officer.”
“When?”
“1943.”
David stared at the drawing.
“How did he know about the forest people?”
The man leaned closer.
“That’s the question we’ve spent decades trying to answer.”
David was taken to another room.
This one contained a wall-sized map.
The United States was covered in red points.
Thousands.
David recognized many of the locations.
Bigfoot sightings.
UFO reports.
Missing-person cases.
Strange lights.
Electromagnetic disturbances.
But the pattern was different from what he’d seen before.
The locations formed enormous arcs.
David stepped closer.
“These aren’t random.”
“No.”
“They’re moving.”
The officer nodded.
David followed the red points with his finger.
“California.”
“Yes.”
“Washington.”
“Yes.”
“Utah.”
“Yes.”
“Montana.”
“Yes.”
David stepped backward.
The points weren’t just connected.
They were forming a boundary.
A massive circle around North America.
He stared at the center.
There were almost no reports there.
“What is this?”
The officer answered quietly.
“A containment zone.”
David looked at him.
“For what?”
The man didn’t answer.
David looked at the map again.
Then he noticed something.
A single red point was flashing.
Northern California.
His heart stopped.
“What’s happening there?”
The officer looked at the clock.
“Nothing yet.”
“Yet?”
He nodded.
“That point wasn’t active yesterday.”
David stared at it.
“Then why is it flashing now?”
The lights in the room suddenly flickered.
Everyone became silent.
A low vibration passed through the floor.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
The same heartbeat.
David looked toward the ceiling.
The officer whispered:
“They found another door.”
Alarms began screaming.
Soldiers rushed through the corridors.
Red lights flashed.
A voice announced:
“Containment breach.”
David turned toward the officer.
“Where?”
The man looked at the map.
Then his face changed.
“Here.”
He pointed to Northern California.
David stared.
“That’s where I started.”
The officer nodded.
“Exactly.”
They transported David by helicopter.
The flight lasted hours.
When they finally reached the location, it was surrounded by military personnel.
The forest looked normal.
Too normal.
David stepped out of the helicopter.
A scientist approached.
“You’re the investigator.”
David nodded.
“What happened?”
“We found footprints.”
“How many?”
“Thousands.”
David looked toward the trees.
“How old?”
The scientist swallowed.
“That’s the problem.”
He handed David a photograph.
David stared at it.
The footprints were enormous.
But the strange part was the direction.
Every footprint pointed toward the same place.
A clearing.
David recognized it immediately.
The same clearing where he’d first seen the portal.
The scientist spoke quietly.
“They appeared overnight.”
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
David looked at the trees.
“Any sightings?”
“None.”
“Lights?”
“None.”
“Equipment failure?”
The scientist looked at him.
“Everything within a quarter mile stopped working.”
David’s stomach tightened.
“Then why are we still standing here?”
The scientist didn’t answer.
David looked down.
His watch had stopped.
2:13.
Again.
They entered the forest.
The farther they walked, the quieter it became.
Eventually they reached the clearing.
David stopped.
There were footprints everywhere.
But there were no creatures.
No movement.
No sounds.
The scientist knelt beside one.
“Look.”
David crouched.
Inside the footprint was a thin layer of black material.
Almost like ash.
David touched it.
It moved.
Not like dust.
Like liquid.
The black substance crawled across his glove.
David pulled his hand away.
“What is that?”
The scientist whispered:
“We found it in the old 1957 samples.”
David stared at him.
“And?”
“We thought it was biological.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
The scientist looked terrified.
“We don’t know what it is.”
The black substance suddenly formed a line across David’s glove.
Then another.
Then another.
Three.
Pause.
Two.
Pause.
Three.
David’s blood went cold.
The creature was communicating again.
But this time, the message was different.
The scientist stared.
“What does that mean?”
David slowly shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Then a sound came from the trees.
A deep growl.
The soldiers raised their weapons.
David turned.
A massive figure stepped into the clearing.
The same creature.
The one that had protected him.
It stood silently.
But something was wrong.
Blood covered its chest.
It was injured.
Badly.
David took a step forward.
The creature raised its hand.
Not threatening him.
Warning him.
Then it pointed toward the sky.
David looked up.
Nothing.
The creature pointed again.
Then it pointed at the ground.
David looked down.
A crack had appeared in the earth.
A thin black line.
It slowly widened.
The scientists backed away.
David stared into it.
There was no soil underneath.
No rock.
No underground chamber.
Only darkness.
And from that darkness came a sound.
Hundreds of voices whispering at once.
The creature stepped backward.
David heard something inside his head.
The same voice from before.
They are coming through.
David looked at the creature.
“Who?”
The answer came instantly.
The ones who were here before you.
The crack widened.
Something moved below.
The scientist screamed.
A hand emerged.
Not human.
Not animal.
Long fingers.
Black skin.
The creature beside David roared.
The soldiers opened fire.
The bullets disappeared into the darkness.
No impact.
No sound.
Nothing.
Then another hand emerged.
And another.
David backed away.
The creature grabbed him by the shoulder.
Its grip was unbelievably strong.
It dragged David toward the edge of the clearing.
“Wait!”
David fought against it.
“What are you doing?”
The creature looked directly into his eyes.
For the first time, David understood what it was trying to tell him.
It wasn’t telling him to run.
It was telling him to remember.
And suddenly David saw another vision.
Not the past.
The future.
Cities burning.
People running.
Thousands of portals opening across the world.
Creatures emerging from forests.
Military aircraft falling from the sky.
And above everything—
that enormous black eye.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then the vision changed.
David saw himself.
Standing in a room.
Holding the black object from the ranger station.
Across from him stood the pale creature.
But this time, the pale creature wasn’t alone.
Behind it were hundreds of figures.
And one of them was human.
A woman.
David recognized her.
She was standing beside him in the first photograph from 1957.
Except the photograph had been taken seventy years ago.
She hadn’t aged.
The woman looked directly at David.
Then she spoke.
Not telepathically.
With her actual voice.
“You’re late.”
The vision ended.
David collapsed.
When he woke, the clearing was empty.
The soldiers were gone.
The scientists were gone.
The creature was gone.
Only the black crack remained.
And beside it lay a small metal object.
David picked it up.
The same object from the ranger station.
The instant he touched it, his phone came alive.
A message appeared.
No sender.
No number.
Only four words.
COME TO THE FIRST DOOR.
Then another message appeared.
1957 WASN’T THE BEGINNING.
A third message appeared.
David’s hands began shaking.
IT WAS THE LAST TIME THEY CAME THROUGH.
He stared at the screen.
A fourth message appeared.
THE FIRST DOOR IS UNDER YOUR HOUSE.
David stopped breathing.
He slowly looked toward the forest.
Something moved between the trees.
A figure.
Human.
A woman.
She stepped into the clearing.
David recognized her immediately.
The woman from the 1957 photograph.
She looked exactly the same.
Not older.
Not younger.
Exactly the same.
She smiled.
“David.”
He raised the metal object.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked toward the black crack in the ground.
Then back at him.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Why?”
Her smile disappeared.
“Because you’re the only one who came back.”
David frowned.
“Back from where?”
The woman stepped closer.
“You don’t remember, do you?”
David felt a sudden pressure behind his eyes.
The forest blurred.
Memories began surfacing.
A childhood bedroom.
A strange light outside the window.
A shadow standing among the trees.
A voice whispering his name.
David stumbled backward.
“No.”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
The memories became clearer.
David saw himself as a child.
Seven years old.
Standing in a forest.
Beside him was another child.
A girl.
They were holding hands.
And standing across from them was a massive creature.
David suddenly remembered the girl’s face.
The same face standing before him now.
Except she wasn’t seven anymore.
She had never aged.
David whispered:
“Who was she?”
The woman answered:
“My sister.”
David stared at her.
“Where is she?”
The woman looked toward the sky.
Then whispered:
“She never came back.”
Above them, a light appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
The woman looked terrified.
David realized what was happening.
The portals were opening again.
But this time, they weren’t opening in the sky.
They were opening beneath the ground.
Everywhere.
The forest began to shake.
And somewhere deep beneath David’s childhood home, something ancient woke up.
The woman grabbed his arm.
“We have minutes.”
“Minutes for what?”
She looked at him.
“Before the first door opens.”
A thunderous sound came from beneath the earth.
Boom.
The ground cracked.
Boom.
Trees shook.
Boom.
And then, from somewhere beneath them, came a voice.
A voice David had heard before.
His own voice.
But older.
Much older.
It whispered one final sentence.
David, if you want to know what Bigfoot really is, come through the door.
The earth split open.
And beneath it was not soil.
It was a staircase.
Descending into darkness.
A staircase that had been waiting there long before humans ever named these creatures.
David stared into the darkness.
Then the woman stepped onto the first stair.
She turned toward him.
“Are you coming?”
David looked back at the forest.
Behind the trees stood dozens of enormous silhouettes.
Every one of them was watching him.
Waiting.
Not for him to escape.
For him to choose.
David took one step forward.
Then another.
And somewhere far below, something opened its eyes.
Something that had been waiting since 1957.
Something that knew David’s name.
And something that had apparently known him long before David was born.
