This happened in 2021, when I was trying for Uber full-time.
I live in a city that gets a lot of tourists specially in the summer, so light share Giggs can be decent money if you are consistent in work mostly nights, partly because I am a night owl and partly because it's less terrific and better tips from drunk passengers coming back from bars.
One of the nights this happened. It was around 1:30 in the morning a pretty normal Saturday night crowd, I had just dropped off a group of college kids who wouldn't stop yelling in the back of my car, so I was glad to get a request that looked quieter.
The name said, Chris and the pickup location was a small side street, just off downtown. The weird thing was, the pin was in kind of an old area, not near any bars or apartments, more like near the back lot of an old strip mall, but I figured maybe it was just a bad GPS marker, it happens sometimes.
I drove over and saw a guy standing at the corner; hoodie on, jeans, staring down at his phone.
I pulled up and said, "Chris"... he nodded and got in the back without saying much he didn't smell like alcohol or slur his words, he seemed sober and just really quiet he didn't say hello, nor did he answer when I asked how his night was going.
Some people just aren't talkers, so I didn't think much of it, I started the ride, and the drop off was on the opposite side of town.... 25 minutes away in a suburban neighbourhood.
I had been to maybe once or twice before the thing was, it was dark out there like no streetlights in some areas pretty isolated. I noticed about 5 minutes into the trip that Chris had his phone out, but he wasn't texting or calling anyone he was holding it flat in his lap with the flashlight on just shining the beam upwards slightly towards my seat.
I asked him kind of half joking "everything all right back there?", he just mumbled "yeah" and then turned the flashlight off.
The next 20 minutes were dead silent, just the hum of the engine and a weird tension building in the car. I don't know how to describe it, something just felt off about this guy not threatening but definitely unsettled like he wasn't really there.
We got to the neighbourhood and I followed the GPS to the house, but as we pulled up, I noticed it was totally dark. No porch light, no inside lights, nothing.... I asked "is this the right place?"
Chris didn't answer, he just sat there, I turned around and looked at him, I repeated myself a little louder, saying, "Hey, is this it?" he stared past me out of the mid-window, I repeated myself one more time.
And finally he nodded, so I put the car in parked and said, "have a good night there:, so I asked again, "are you good?"
He finally reached for the handle and stepped out but he didn't close the door.
He just stood outside the car with the door open facing the house. I sat there, waiting a few seconds past than 20 and then a full minute I was just about to say something when he suddenly turned around, looked at me through the open door and said, "I need to go back".
I blinked and said "back where?"
He said "where you picked me up", his tone was flat with no emotion, I didn't know what to say that was a 25 minute drive, and it wasn't like I could just reverse the trip.
I told him he had have to request a new ride, but he just stared at me.
He begged me saying, "please I need to go back".
He just stood there still holding the door open and I noticed he was breathing heavily. At that point I started getting seriously uncomfortable.
I said, "look, I can't just start a new ride unless you request it". He stared for another second then slowly backed away and closed the door; he walked towards the house, even though it was pitch black and looked empty.
I waited until he got to the porch, because before I pulled off the moment, I turned the corner, I entered the trip in the app and started heading back toward downtown.
A couple blocks down, I stopped at a 24 hour gas station to use the bathroom and get a drink. I parked at the side of the building, went inside and came back out maybe 4 minutes later, and when I got back to my car, I felt like my brain short circuted.
Chris was setting in the back seat. Same hoodie and same expression. I thought I had locked the door before going inside, but somehow he was in the back of the car, I opened the driver's side door and stepped back in slowly keeping my eye on him through the mirror.
"How did you get back in?" I asked.
He just said, "take me back".
I said "I am calling the cops" and reached for my phone. That's when he leaned forward close enough for me to hear his breath and said "they're still in the house".
I don't know why but I didn't call the police something about the way he said that made me feel like he was having some kind of episode, I played along and said "whose house is that?" and he said "my parents".
I asked him if he lived there and he said, "not anymore". That made the hair stand up on my neck. I started slowly driving back to where I picked him up every part of me was screaming not to do it, but I didn't know what else to do as we got closer, he started breathing heavier. He was rocking slightly in the back seat.
At 1 point, he whispered, "they're still there. They won't leave, no matter what I do".
When we pulled up to the house, there were still no lights, still no signs of anyone living there, he got out without saying anything and then walked up to the front door and stood there, he didn't knock or anything he just stood still.
I waited, maybe 30 seconds, then pulled away again, making them sure the door were locked. I drove 3 blocks parked under the street light and sat there for 10 minutes, trying to process what just happened.
I debated calling the cops, but what would I say that a guy got into my car twice and said weird things there was no crime, technically as far as I knew. So I just drove home and didn't sleep that night.
The next day I reported the ride to Uber and honestly I regret not reporting this to the police because the man might have been sick in the head needing help. I hope he didn't hurt anyone who knows if that house was even really his parents house or if he actually was just having a maniac episode.