Twenty-One Days to Her Downfall

In my previous life, my best friend, Tara Bennett, took my hand, her eyes burning with excitement. “Stella, if we don’t eat anything for twenty-one days, our bodies will be purified.” At the time, I thought she’d lost her mind. I shook my head and refused. Tara flung my hand away, her expression turning cold. “I’m trying to help you evolve, and this is how you thank me?” She started pushing her “fasting detox spiritual practice” in our mutual friends’ group chat. Everyone began looking at me differently. Even my mom called and asked cautiously, “Stella, is that fasting thing really as amazing as she says?” Rather than let Tara and our friends treat me like an outsider, I gritted my teeth and joined. I posted one check-in after another, forcing myself to keep going through the dizzy spells. A week later, I didn’t even have the strength to stand. When my mom couldn’t reach me, she brought the property manager and a locksmith to break down my door. I died of organ failure in that rented apartment. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day she first pitched fasting to me. Tara was holding her phone in front of me. On the screen, someone was sharing their fasting experience. “Look! This master says hunger is the universe’s greatest gift to us!” She looked at me expectantly and took my hand, just as she had in my previous life. “Stella, let’s do it together this time. In twenty-one days, we’ll be completely new people!” I stared at her, my heart pounding wildly. Slowly, I smiled. “Sure.” My voice sounded calmer than it ever had. “I’m in.” Tara froze, then her face lit up with joy. “That’s amazing! I knew you’d finally awaken! I’ll add you to the group right now!” Her fingers flew across her screen. A group invitation soon popped up on my phone. The group was called “Higher Wisdom Connectors: 21-Day Water Fast.” I tapped Join. Dozens of messages immediately flooded in, welcoming their “new sister” to the journey of purification. My smile deepened. Tara, I’ll play along this time. I’ll play until you lose everything. I ended the call, yanked open the curtains, and let the sunlight wash over me. I drew in a deep breath, feeling my lungs expand. In the final moments of my previous life, that was what I’d wanted most. My stomach was comfortably full from a normal meal. God, it felt good to be alive. I locked my bedroom door and dragged a box of snacks out from under the bed. Chips, chocolate, beef jerky, snack cakes. It had everything. I tore open a bag of chips with a satisfying crackle and closed my eyes in bliss. I needed a full stomach if I was going to fight this battle. After eating and drinking my fill, I took out my phone, opened a selfie app, and picked the filter that made me look the most exhausted. Then I faced the camera and weakly raised a glass of water. “Day one of my fasting check-in.” “My body already feels so much lighter. I’m a little dizzy, but I feel peaceful inside. Thank you, Master Tara, for guiding me.” I posted my carefully performed video in the fasting group. The chat immediately blew up. “Wow! Stella, you’re doing so well on your very first day!” “You must have an amazing spiritual foundation!” Tara shared my video right away and tagged everyone. “Look! This is what sudden enlightenment looks like!” “@Stella has the most potential of anyone here. Follow her example!” I stared at the screen without expression and stuffed another piece of chocolate into my mouth. Follow my example? What, learn how to stuff your face in private while fooling a bunch of idiots? Tara soon sent me a private message. “Stella, you’re making me so proud! I knew you weren’t an ordinary person!” I answered weakly, “It’s all thanks to your guidance.” “Oh, by the way,” I asked, pretending it had just occurred to me, “Has anyone in our group completed the fast before? I’d love to read about their experiences.” Tara immediately sent me a file containing several “success stories.” She made a point of warning me, “Read them carefully, but don’t contact those people without permission. Some left the group after succeeding. They don’t want worldly distractions.” I opened the file. One username caught my attention: “AvaLovesCandy.” Her account felt especially real. She described reaching the tenth day of her fast, feeling her soul float out of her body, and seeing a white light. Those details sounded far too much like what I’d felt while dying in my previous life. It didn’t read like something she’d made up. I immediately went to the health forum she’d mentioned and searched for her username. Along with her other posts, there was an old thread from two years earlier buried at the bottom of the results. Its title was a single word: “Regret.” I clicked it. After describing how her fast had failed, she’d attached a hospital diagnosis with her personal information blurred out. There wasn’t a single reply. It was like a cry dropped down a deep well. My pulse quickened. I immediately saved screenshots. She was probably one of those “successful” members Tara claimed had left because they didn’t want to be disturbed. Then I began going through the thousands of messages in the group’s chat history. Every day, Tara posted dozens of “spiritual teachings.” “Is your heart racing? That’s your heart opening to receive cosmic energy.” “Is your vision blurring? Your physical eyes are weakening as your inner eye awakens.” “Feeling nauseated? Want to throw up? Your body is expelling toxins. It’s a wonderful sign!” Every message had a crowd of believers singing her praises underneath it. I took screenshots one by one, sorted them, and saved them. This was hard evidence of her reckless disregard for human life. By day five, my “performance” entered a new phase. I covered the color in my lips with concealer and painted dark circles under my eyes. My hands even trembled a little in front of the camera. “Day five. I feel like I could float away at any moment. The world has become so quiet.” The praise reached a new peak after I posted the video. Even Tara said, “Stella, you’ve already entered a demigod state. This is incredible!” She even suggested, “Let’s pin Stella’s check-in videos, everyone. She should be our spiritual leader!” I lay in bed eating spicy noodle soup I’d ordered, reading their fanatical praise on my phone. Their spiritual leader? Fine by me. I wanted to see whether their faith would come crashing down when their leader fell.On the seventh day, something happened in the group. A member called “TheKiteGirl” posted a photo. In it, she was wearing her work uniform, collapsed on an office floor. Several frightened coworkers stood around her. She sent a voice message, sounding close to tears. “Tara, I suddenly passed out at work today. My head hurts so badly, and I feel weak all over.” “Should I go to the hospital?” The group went quiet for a few seconds. Then Tara spoke. Her tone was unusually harsh. “@TheKiteGirl, how many times have I told you? This is a detox reaction!” “It’s a good thing! You don’t need a hospital. You need a quiet place to meditate and feel the energy flowing through you!” “You actually want to go to a hospital?” “Hospitals are full of sickness and polluted energy. They’ll contaminate the body you’ve spent seven days purifying!” “I’m so disappointed in you!” The girl replied timidly, “But my manager insists on taking me…” Tara answered immediately, every word brimming with cold fury. “Anyone with such weak willpower doesn’t deserve to stay on our journey of purification!” A second later, a system notification appeared: “‘TheKiteGirl’ has been removed from the group by the administrator.” The chat fell silent again. A long time passed before someone cautiously tried to smooth things over. “Don’t be angry, Tara. She isn’t spiritual enough. It’s her loss.” “Exactly. We’ll keep purifying ourselves. We won’t let this affect us!” Only then did Tara send another voice message, her tone softer. “I’m not being cruel. We simply can’t let our energy field be contaminated. All right, keep posting your check-ins.” I put down my phone, my heart hammering. Here it was. The exact same thing that had happened in my previous life. I quickly took screenshots of the entire exchange, including the system message showing the girl had been removed. Then I opened the “success stories” file Tara had sent me. “TheKiteGirl” was in there, too. I copied her username and searched several major social platforms. Nothing came up. She’d probably changed her name or deleted her accounts. I didn’t give up. Instead, I tried different combinations of “fasting,” “passed out,” and “kicked out of group.” Eventually, I found a post on a local healthy-eating forum. The author was “TheKiteGirl.” Rather than ask for her number right away, I sent her a private message. “Hi. I’m in that purification group. I think there’s something wrong with Tara, too.” “I saw that you passed out today. Are you okay?” It took her several hours to reply. We exchanged a few messages. I told her I’d saved the chat showing her removal, and that it could serve as evidence of what had happened when she became ill. She went quiet for a long time. Finally, she sent me her number. “Are you planning to stand up to her, too?” I saved the number but didn’t call. It wasn’t time yet. I needed a bigger opening. That evening, Tara called me. “Stella, did you see what happened in the group today?” I gave a weak hum of agreement. “Don’t you dare follow her example. That was a textbook case of wavering faith allowing lower energies to invade. How are you feeling?” I held my phone and answered weakly while watching a comedy. Tara froze, then her face lit up with joy. “That’s amazing! I knew you’d finally awaken! I’ll add you to the group right now!” Her fingers flew across her phone. I watched her excited profile, feeling the real fullness in my stomach and the strong beat of my heart. This was it. This warm, living feeling. In my previous life, she had stripped it from me with her cold theories and heartless refusal to help. But now I was back. I was going to take back everything, including the “faith” she depended on. In a voice calmer than I’d ever heard from myself, I said, “Sure. I’m in.” Tara, I’ll play along this time.Day fifteen arrived. My acting improved by the day. In my videos, I’d grown so “thin” I barely looked like myself. My eyes were sunken, and I gasped between words. The group had practically started worshipping me. “Look at Stella! She looks like she’s about to ascend to a higher plane!” “I almost gave up today, but watching Stella’s video gave me the strength to keep going!” In reality, I’d gained three pounds from eating whatever I wanted every day. That day, Tara made a solemn announcement in the group. “My spiritual family! In six days, at eight p.m. on the twenty-first and final day of our fast,” “I’ll be hosting a Spiritual Awakening Experience livestream!” “Our most outstanding purifier, @Stella, will join me on camera to share what it feels like to connect with higher-dimensional energy!” “This will be an unprecedented spiritual feast. You won’t want to miss it!” The group exploded. Everyone cheered, eagerly anticipating the “feast.” And I knew the time had come. I put down my phone and opened the online complaint portal for the consumer protection authorities. I uploaded every piece of evidence I’d collected over the past two weeks. The messages in which Tara promoted pseudoscience and organized extreme fasting. The way she persuaded members to avoid medical treatment after they developed serious symptoms. AvaLovesCandy’s hospital diagnosis and social media account of what had happened. The complete exchange leading to TheKiteGirl’s removal. I also included statements from several other victims who’d contacted me anonymously. All of them had damaged their health after believing Tara’s nonsense. At the end of my complaint, I wrote: “The organizer, Tara Bennett, is not only promoting pseudoscience online. In six days,” “she intends to use a public livestream to promote these life-threatening practices to an even wider audience.” “Please intervene promptly to stop her and prevent further harm.” When I clicked Submit, I let out a long breath. That was my first card. But filing a complaint wouldn’t be enough. I needed Tara’s downfall on that livestream to be utterly undeniable. I opened my contacts and stared at TheKiteGirl’s number. After a few seconds of hesitation, I called. When she answered, I briefly explained who I was and what I intended to do. She was silent for a long time before speaking through clenched teeth. “I hate her. That day, I really thought I was going to die. Tell me what you need me to do.” I told her the plan. “On the day of the livestream, all you have to do is share your real experience in the comments.” “You’re not alone. I’m contacting other people, too.” She was silent for a long time, then said fiercely, “I can’t let her get away with this!” “I have all her messages saved as evidence,” I continued. “Someone will step in during the livestream.” “You and your family just need to tell people what happened to you in the comments.” “Okay! I’ll do it!” After hanging up, I contacted AvaLovesCandy and several other victims the same way. Every one of them wanted to hold Tara accountable that night. Everything was ready. The night before the showdown—the twentieth day of the fast— my mom called, her voice full of worry. “Stella, are you really fasting? That Tara talks like she’s in a cult. I’m worried.” Hearing my mother’s voice made my nose sting. My voice caught a little. “Mom, don’t worry. I’m really not fasting. I’ve been eating great. Listen.” I deliberately took a huge bite of chips and crunched loudly. My mom paused on the other end, then laughed. “Oh, you… All right. I believe you. Tomorrow, I’ll watch you deal with Tara.” After we hung up, the sting in my nose grew worse. In my previous life, I’d hung up on her again and again just to please Tara. This time, I wouldn’t make her worry about me again. I sniffed, opened my food delivery app, and ordered a family bucket of fried chicken. I needed to eat well if I was going to have the strength for tomorrow’s battle. My phone lit up with a message from Tara. “Stella, tomorrow we witness a miracle! Are you ready?” “I picked out a long white dress just for you. We’ll make our entrance together!” I looked at the screen and typed two words. “All ready.” Tara, I’d already tightened the noose you’d prepared for yourself. Tomorrow would mark the beginning of your ruin.