The inmates were eventually allowed to wander throughout the walls of the asylum that afternoon (only for a specific period of time, of course). What confused River the most was that everyone was okay to roam around the facility. Everyone. Even the ones that were supposed to be the most violent. River wasn't scared that some random psycho killer person might jump out of nowhere and attack her, she was scared that maybe Midnight might jump out of anywhere and attack someone.
But River felt different. As if it's just one person inside her own mind now. As if her mind had now finally became an empty shelf. River was alone, alone in a relieving way.
She didn't know if she could trust what Rose gave her. A serum that temporarily subdues her other more violent personality for the rest of the morning? Sounds too good to be true, River thought. "I don't see an ad for that. Tired of sharing your brain to other douchebag personalities? Well, not anymore with this revolutionary bullcrap!"
"Do you have some sort of imaginary friend or something?" said Juno, with her voice muffled as she was munching down on an apple.
River found herself at the cafeteria, right next to Juno who was sitting down on an empty table with just her tray of food on it. "And I'm guessing you don't have friends or something?" she pointed at the empty seats right next to Juno.
"And you do?"
"I…..do….did."
"Did you?" Juno gave River a look.
River eventually got her own food and sat down ate breakfast with Juno. Juno watched as River was spacing out, not eating, probably thinking if something.
"So, who are you really?" Juno asked. "You said your name was River the first time we met, and then you said your name was Midnight or whatever when you attacked those guards. You got a multiple personality disorder or something?"
"Wow, you got it spot on." River replied.
"How many more are there?"
"Just two. Me and Midnight. Hence the name, River Midnight."
"Huh. Makes a whole lot of sense now," she said, putting a grape inside her mouth. "So, what's buggin yah?" now she was munching on some fries.
"Fries? Served to inmates in an asylum?"
"So?" Juno asked. "What's wrong with good food being served here?"
"Something just doesn't feel right here." River puts her food tray to the side and leans in closer to Juno who was on the opposite side of the table. "You know about the warden's daughter?"
Juno munched on the last piece of fry before drinking her soda. "I don't know much about his daughter, only that she's the youngest ever psychiatrist and has been all over the news lately god River have you ever watched the news?"
"Who the hell watches the news anyways? Only old people do."
"Um….concerned citizens?"
River crossed her arms. "Well, I'm not really the type to be concerned with society."
"Well anyways, you see that portrait of the warden at the lobby right?" Juno asked. River nodded. "Well, the warden is actually 35 years old now."
A few seconds of silence went by. "And?" River finally broke that silence.
"Rose Pink is 18 years old now, she's the same age as us!" Juno exclaimed. River still looked like she doesn't get what was so shocking for Juno.
"It means that Rose was...conceived.....when her parents were just 17 years old. Teenage pregnancy stuff." Juno looked at River, who finally got what she was trying to say. Teenage pregnancy is no joke, River thought.
"How is she 18 years old and a psychiatrist? Is she—?"
"Incredibly smart?" Juno interrupted. "Yep, pretty much that. I bet she wowed some….council of psychiatrists with her psychic-ing or something, I don't know." Juno finished her soda and threw it on the trash bin on the other side of the room. The can went in the bin and she let out a "Score!" She then turns to River. "All I know is that her and her father's one of the big hotshots in the 'psychiatrist world' or something. I mean, they literally made this asylum like….9 months ago or something?"
"Stop saying or something." River had more questions. Like why she was visited by the warden's daughter, the youngest psychiatrist, earlier that morning. How she knew about her having another personality in her head and what she wanted with her.
River noticed that Juno was already looking at something at her side. She looked and noticed a guy was already sitting down eating food next to her. The guy had white straight hair and pale skin. He looked like he was the same age as River and Juno. His uniform smelled of cologne that River almost had to gag upon smelling a high concentration of it. The guy looked at River and Juno as if he was wondering how he ended up in that table with them.
"Oh sorry," The guy said. He was smiling, or at least trying to smile. River noticed that his voice wasn't natural at all too, kind of like a bad impression of how a surfer talks like. "Sorry ladies. I didn't know you two were here."
"This table is literally occupied," said Juno. "How can you not see two people here, with pink uniforms like everyone else here, eating breakfast?" Juno's right hand was already semi-raised.
"I didn't see you because you weren't just two people," he replied. "You were two lovely ladies."
"Oh god." River sighed, not even daring to look at the guy right beside her.
"At least he called us lovely."
The guy reached out his hand to greet River with this giant smile on his face. "Hi, the name's Joseph Valeska. You can call me Brad."
"No, thank you," River replied with no hesitation. Where did he even get the name Brad from? She wondered.
"What do you want? Joseph," asked River. She watched Juno's arms playing with the grapes on her tray. It's as if the grapes were more interesting than Joseph.
"I was just wandering around and saw this beautiful woman being sad and all," Brad replied while looking at River, who wasn't even looking back at him.
"Hey there Joseph, or Brad, my name's Kristen Juno. You can call me Juno," she kindly introduced herself. In her head, she thought it would just be good to show some kindness so that he'll respect her when she says "Can you please get out of our table?" a few seconds later.
"I don't know if I can leave yet," Joseph replied, putting his hand on his face to cover it.
"Huh?"
"I'm not someone who leaves someone behind, nor someone who leaves when someone pushes me away. I will stay, for you and for me. Because that is what we need. Nobody really needs to be alone, everybody needs each other. Even if we had just met, we will still need each othe—"
River punched Joseph straight in face, sending him flying out of his seat and into the floor below them. Joseph was knocked unconscious, lying on the floor.
"Oh my god! He slipped and fell on the ground!" Juno exclaimed. She knew that wasn't exactly what had happened and only said that to not attract any guards.
"Midnight!" Juno whispered at the girl that just punched a guy to the floor. "Why'd ya do that?!"
"What? No. Juno, it's still me, River," she replied.
"Sorry, I thought you were your other personality! You suddenly punched the guy out of nowhere like what Midnight did yesterday to those guards!"
"Hey, if there's one thing you need to know, it's that I am nothing like my other personality," River corrected her.
Three guards rushed in and immediately tended to Joseph's wounds. Joseph was unconscious and was barely moving. The guards were asking people around about what had happened and luckily for River, nobody could give them an answer.
"I guess you punch hard and fast," complemented Juno.