"You've lost your way."
 
Her eyes flickered open into the darkness of the room, she could see vague shapes in the inky blackness but nothing more. The wall captured her attention for the moment as she listened.
 
"Yes." The word was filled with the resigned tone, she was painfully aware of just how far she'd strayed.
 
"Why is that?"
 
There was a soft rustling of the covers as she shifted to curl around her body pillow, holding it tight as if to protect her from the words.
 
"I've let the darkness in." She answered mindfully and rested her cheek on the corner of the pillow.
 
"No, you're letting it take over. You need to get rid of it."
 
"Everyone has darkness in them, I can't control it." It was a feeble excuse, a weak rebuttal against his statement even though she knew he was right.
 
"You of all people know that the only thing in this world we -can- control is ourselves." The admonishment came lightly, with sting but with care, a reminder both firm and hopeful.
 
The silence stretched on as she stared hard at the wall in front of her, the wall of darkness that soothed and depressed at the same time. She was swallowed in the night, lost in a sea of darkness both physical and metaphorical.
 
"What's that phrase you're always telling me?" The voice asked, full of gentle warmth now, a prod, a reminder of only good this time.
 
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." she replied obediently.
 
"Change your perspective, find your way again." She could hear the smile in his voice and one echoed on her lips, a ghost of a smile because it disappeared just as quick as it came.
 
She sighed and pulled the covers up over her shoulder.
 
"I'm lonely." The words reverberated in the darkness of the room and she shivered slightly.
 
"You know I'll be here as long as you need me." He assured. "Turn on Nils, you shouldn't be alone right now."
 
She nodded against the pillow and stretched her arm forward to where she knew her iPhone was nestled in the speaker charger and found the home button. She'd done it so many times that she wasn't sure she'd put the security code in until she was staring at the music button.
 
"Hold me? Please?" She had managed to find the playlist of soft music by Nils Frahm and Olafur Arnalds and settled back to pull the covers back over her shoulder.
 
"You know I can't do that." The reply was soft and was almost drowned out by her heavy sigh.
 
"I know." The tone was resigned again as she knew the truth to that and curled tighter around her pillow. In the darkness, Nils played a haunting melody and the loneliness grew.