I often commute at night and quite late at night at that. Sometimes I'm in some pretty dicey places as well. You have to listen to your instincts and trust your intuition but balance it with resisting the urge to psych yourself out.
Judging from the time stamp on your post you just got in from the ride. Give yourself some time to let the experience settle and take another look at things in the light of day. See if you can determine how much of it was legitimate and justifiable (useful) and how much of it was imagined (destructive). Let go of the imagined/unreasonable fears
and see if you can make adjustments to reduce the legitimate fears to a more manageable level
. Lots of people alter their route home after dark out of safety considerations. Sometimes streets that are too busy for daytime riding are well-lit, safe and ridable late at night.
You did not mention your gender and, though I loathe to admit it, women have to be even more particularly on-guard. I'm 6'3" and ride pretty hard and fast so I'm less of a target than a smaller, lighter person riding at a slower speed might be.
Good luck and good night!
