The light from the cellphone would show Octavia herself or anyone she pointed it at, but when pointed into the darkness, the beam would be swallowed up by the void.

The unseen Things hated the light, despised it. This was a place of darkness, of emptiness...

...of freezing false comfort where the sorrows of the outside world couldn't reach. Where one could lay their head down and let the cold numb away all emotion. No sadness but no joy either.