I’m never taking an Uber ever again in my life.
My friends asked me to meet them over at a bar we used to go to often back in the college days. My house is about ten minutes away from downtown up in the hills toward the valley, and I don’t have a car.
I don’t like taking taxis or Ubers up to my house since the long stretch of driveway is dark, and I’ve always been paranoid about strangers knowing where I live.
I had taken the bus earlier in the day and planned to hang out at my aunt’s house until 9pm, doing work and whatnot on the computer, yes, on a Saturday night, before meeting up with my friends. I figured one of them would be able to drive me home.
After a fun night of dancing and drinking, my friends started going home, and I didn’t know their designated driver very well so I didn’t want to ask her to drive me to my house. I figured I would just suck it up and take an Uber.
Almost everyone had left, it was just me and my other friend waiting outside. I looked at the app and it showed that the driver was nearby, when an older man in a car rolled down his window and said “Uber?” that was it, here we go, I thought.
I got in the backseat and said goodbye to my friend.
Then I got the alert from the Uber app letting me know that the driver was waiting for me. I looked at the man and he grinned at me. I asked him to pull over and to let me out, but he just laughed and told me to shut up. He used more colorful language than that, by the way.
In a panic, I tried to open up the door, but the child safety was on. My phone started ringing. It was my friend, but I couldn’t answer right now.
The man was asking me to calm down as he seemed to be pulling out something, maybe a weapon, from his glove compartment. I wasn’t about to wait to find out.
He made a quick left and I hit my shoulder against the car door. If he was to make another left after this, he’d be taking me to the alleys and up toward the woods. I’d be done, I remember thinking.
I unbuckled my seat, scooted over to the middle, leaned back, and kicked at the window. It took three or four hard kicks to finally break. The man was swerving and saying that it was okay, that he was going to let me go. But I didn’t believe this freak.
I reached out to open the door from the outside, cutting part of my forearm on the broken glass, when I saw a car flashing its headlights behind me. I finally got the door open, the man stopped the car with a sudden jolt, and I practically jumped out as he started to take off again. I heard the tire’s squeak as he made a hard turn to the right on the next corner.
The car who was behind us stopped. I was freaking out. I know these guys plan these things out. They act in teams.
Then, I heard a familiar voice in the distance. It was my friend. She was yelling out my name in a complete panic. She ran up to me and gave me a hug. I accidentally stained her little white dress she liked so much.
An Uber driver had pulled up to her and mentioned my name. My friend put two and two together quickly, and told the guy, a nerdy skinny-looking dude, that I had been kidnapped and she needed his help. That’s how they ended up tailing the car I was in. Who knows what would’ve happened if they hadn’t.
We called the police and everything, but they still haven’t found the man.