I’m an Uber driver, and I think people are after me because of what I witnessed. I don’t even know where to start. I’ve only been doing this as a side job for a couple of months now, mostly on weekends, and sometimes on weeknights. I liked driving at night because it was quieter, the traffic was lighter, and the pay was better. Sometimes, especially the weekends, I would stay out pretty late. I would usually pick up passengers, but was open to food deliveries as well.

On this particular evening, an unusual food order came through. It was well into the night, and I had never gotten an order that late. Since it was slow otherwise, I decided to fulfill it, hoping to get a good tip. I picked up the food, and drove to the drop off location. However, as I began to approach the destination, I realized I was driving in an area I was unfamiliar with. There were no streetlights, the houses looked run down or simply abandoned, and there was an eerie sensation about the area. I already started to have a bad feeling, and it amplified once I reached the house.

The place had no lights on, there were no cars in the driveway, and the house looked decrepit and worn down, as if it had been abandoned for years. I took a deep breath, grabbed the order from the passenger seat, and made my way to the front door, with my car lights illuminating the way.

I was in front of the door, ready to knock, when I noticed a note beside the door handle. I ripped it off and it read: “Uber driver — we went to another house, please drop the food here [an address I will not disclose]. We’ll tip good. Thanks.”

My gut immediately told me that there was no way in hell I was going elsewhere. I placed the food in front of the door, snapped a photo, and completed the drop off. I sped walked to my car, and took off. Not only was I upset from the whole experience, feeling extremely unsettled, but I also knew these guys were going to give me a poor review and no tip. I called it a night, then and there.

When I awoke in the morning, to my surprise, I received a 5-star review and a tip from that order. Confused, I tried not to think about it. It all worked out fine and it was over. At least that’s what I thought.

That night, I was out and about again, doing my usual routes. It was another quiet evening, until a food order came in around the same time as the night before. I knew it had to be the same place, and I refused to take that order again. However, someone else accepted it.

I wanted to forget about it. I really did. But when I looked over at the passenger seat, the note was there. I don’t remember picking it up. I don’t remember putting it in my car. But I read it again. A chill went through my body. It was a slow night, at least that’s what I told myself, and curiosity got the better of me. I inputted the address of the original house and drove off.

I parked a few houses down, with my lights off. I was feeling a sense of exhilaration. I’ve never done anything like this before, as if I was doing a nighttime lookout, like the movies. When I saw a car turn onto the street, its headlights glaring in my rearview, I reclined my seat so I couldn’t be seen. I watched the red car pull into the driveway of the house.

The darkness was so prominent that I could only see a silhouette of the delivery person, created by the light emitting from their car. I noticed it was a girl, carrying the food to the door. But, she stopped, as I did, and she was reading a note — it had to be the same note. I had a horrible feeling now: this wasn’t a coincidence, something was wrong. My heart started racing as I noticed she was taking the food back to the car. I knew she meant to bring the food to the new location. I opened my window a crack to yell out to her, but I froze. Not only did I feel creepy, in the darkness yelling out to a stranger, but I doubted my own instincts. Was it really wrong, or was I overthinking it? By the time I unfroze, she was gone and on her way to the new house.

I had to follow her. I looked at my note, typed the address in the GPS and made my way. When I turned on the street of the new house, I turned off my lights as it was another dark, eerie neighborhood. In the distance, I could see lights from a car, and I knew it had to be her.

When I got close enough, what I saw still haunts my thoughts and dreams to this day. With her headlights illuminating the scene, I saw three men attacking the lady. She was flailing as one was behind her, keeping her mouth shut, another attempting to grab her feet, and another one helping the others. I was petrified with fear. I couldn’t believe what was happening before my eyes. Then I saw one of the men run to the red car and turn it off, all the lights fading with it — we were in complete darkness.

When the man stepped out of the car, all I could see was an object shining bright in his hand, most likely her phone. But, the man wasn’t moving, he was standing still. Then it came to me — he knew I was there and watching. I turned on my car lights, and there he was, staring right at me, with a phone in one hand, and something else in the other. I couldn’t really see it, but it looked like a gun.

I instinctively turned my high beams on to blind him and took off. I was in panic mode, and I still can’t remember where I drove. But when I reached the illuminated streets once again, my mind became focused once more. I did what I should have done immediately: call the police.

The cops went to the location while I went in for questioning, as it was a serious matter to accuse people of kidnapping, and I essentially admitted to stalking. The police’s attitude got worse when they found nothing at the scene — no car, no people. In fact, the place was actually abandoned, and has been for years. But then, their attitudes changed once I proved the order to the original address, which we found out was also an abandoned house. The note from the door also helped raise their suspicions.

A day later, a missing-person report came in: a female Uber driver with a red car, last known address — the house with the notes. And that was it. No news on the kidnappers, no sightings, nothing. There hasn’t been any other information about this lady, as if she disappeared from the face of this earth.

The idea of her gone so easily, and the fact I could have helped her haunts me. Their motive as well; it was random targeting; I could have been kidnapped. So what are they doing with these people? What would they have done to me? What if I delivered the food the previous night? All these questions keep chewing at me.

I decided to stop Uber driving. As things started to settle and I started feeling normal again, I found a note in my mailbox. When I saw it, terror filled me without even reading it because I knew it was the same writing as the note I found on the door. It read: “We’ll see you later.”

I contacted the police and they took the new letter. However, since it was not threatening, and there was no proof the two letters were related, there was nothing the police could do. They simply advised me to stay with a friend or family. That is exactly what I did.

I haven’t been home since. But, one morning, when I was going to work, I discovered a note on my car’s windshield. It was in the same handwriting as the other two notes, and it read: “Hello stranger.”