If Coop is asking him to let down the barrier, then it must mean Spencer is unconscious and Joel feels such a sudden rush of anger that it seems to startle the demon. The power goes out of him long enough that he collapses, jarring his broken hand on the way down and he bites back a scream of pain, but he has to do it. He has to bite it back because for the third time since this had all begun, he's in control again. He's himself. Not entirely, he can still feel that dark presence lurking like it has been for months, but for the time being he's more himself than anything. It won't last long, he has no doubt of that, but it's enough. It's enough that he can roll away from the door and onto his back. It's enough that he can look across the room to see Spencer slumped against a wall, his eyes closed, a long crack zigzagging down the wall behind him. It's enough that, holding his broken hand against his chest, Joel can turn back to look at Coop and, in a voice that sounds like it hasn't been used in weeks, manages to rasp out, "Coop, come inside."
The words are barely out before his back bows hard enough that Joel feels his spine pop and he throws both his hands down on the ground, heedless of the broken bones, trying to find some kind of purchase, some way to stop what's happening. It's a new sensation, a combination of both being in control and being treated like a puppet and Joel knows it's just being done to torture him further, it's a punishment for having taken control long enough to let Coop in the house, but he doesn't care anymore. The demon can do whatever it wants to him so long as Spencer is okay and he knows he's in no state to check on him. Right now he needs Coop, he needs him to do more than just help Nerium and Les banish the demon when it's finally out of him, he needs him to protect Spencer. He needs Coop to make sure Spencer is okay.
Without Spencer, there's no hope.
Without Spencer, Joel will not survive this, there's simply no way around it. Spencer is the one who gives him the strength to fight and he's the only one the demon seems to be truly afraid of. It's that he loves Joel so much, he's sure of it. The demon has been hanging around since he summoned it, since the day Amy died, he's sure of that, too, but it had never expected Joel to find someone like Spencer and now it wants in before it thinks there's no chance at all. It's waited too long, though. That's what Joel doesn't think it realizes yet, or maybe it does, maybe it's beginning to understand because the pain it's putting Joel through is more than just making itself known, more than trying to take over, it's a punishment. For the first time, it's truly angry and Joel will gladly suffer every second of its revenge if it means it gives Coop time to check on Spencer and the others enough time to arrive.
He opens his mouth to see if he can speak and even with his back bent as an unnatural angle, even with the pain searing down his spine, he finds he can. He still has that control and he doesn't know if the demon is just so focused on causing him pain that it's distracted or if it's allowing him this control just to make everything harder for him, but he doesn't care. "Check him," he says, his voice feeling like it's being ripped out of his throat. It hurts, everything hurts, but he can take it. He can't stop now. "Check him, Coop, make sure he's okay. Wake him up. I need him."
His back drops, the pain diminishes and his control is gone. On the floor, his body flips over and the demon slowly rises, getting his knees under his body and then pushing to his feet. The bones in his hand grind and shift, and his entire hand has begun to swell, but none of that stops the demon from continuing to use it. It rises, watching Coop enter the house and Joel can feel his mouth stretching into that same smile he'd been giving Spencer earlier and he hates it. He hates it so much and can only hope that Coop can see through it as well as Spencer could.
It's not me, he wants to scream, but he can't do anything. His body takes several steps forward then stops, his gaze drawn sharply toward the glass doors of the liquor cabinet. Coop is so close and Joel wants to shout at him, he wants to warm him, but he's gone again, deep inside, he can't do anything. He needs Spencer so badly.
You won't get him, the thing says inside his head. I killed him.
It's not true. Joel knows it isn't because he'd be able to feel it. If Spencer was really gone, he would know, even like this, even in this horrible state. He would feel it. None of this would matter anymore. If Spencer was gone, he would tell Coop to leave, to keep himself safe, and he would let the demon take over because he'd have nothing left anyway. But Spencer isn't gone. Joel knows he isn't and so he say nothing, just waits deep inside.
The glass doors of the liquor cabinet explode outward in tiny shards of glass, blowing toward Coop. All the demon had done was twitch one of Joel's hands and there's suddenly glass everywhere. He feels some of it fly past him, one tiny shard slicing the top of his cheek, but most of it doesn't reach that far. Then, one by one, the bottles all shatter, glass and amber liquid cascading down the front of the cabinet and as his body moves through the room, it starts to laugh again.
no subject
The words are barely out before his back bows hard enough that Joel feels his spine pop and he throws both his hands down on the ground, heedless of the broken bones, trying to find some kind of purchase, some way to stop what's happening. It's a new sensation, a combination of both being in control and being treated like a puppet and Joel knows it's just being done to torture him further, it's a punishment for having taken control long enough to let Coop in the house, but he doesn't care anymore. The demon can do whatever it wants to him so long as Spencer is okay and he knows he's in no state to check on him. Right now he needs Coop, he needs him to do more than just help Nerium and Les banish the demon when it's finally out of him, he needs him to protect Spencer. He needs Coop to make sure Spencer is okay.
Without Spencer, there's no hope.
Without Spencer, Joel will not survive this, there's simply no way around it. Spencer is the one who gives him the strength to fight and he's the only one the demon seems to be truly afraid of. It's that he loves Joel so much, he's sure of it. The demon has been hanging around since he summoned it, since the day Amy died, he's sure of that, too, but it had never expected Joel to find someone like Spencer and now it wants in before it thinks there's no chance at all. It's waited too long, though. That's what Joel doesn't think it realizes yet, or maybe it does, maybe it's beginning to understand because the pain it's putting Joel through is more than just making itself known, more than trying to take over, it's a punishment. For the first time, it's truly angry and Joel will gladly suffer every second of its revenge if it means it gives Coop time to check on Spencer and the others enough time to arrive.
He opens his mouth to see if he can speak and even with his back bent as an unnatural angle, even with the pain searing down his spine, he finds he can. He still has that control and he doesn't know if the demon is just so focused on causing him pain that it's distracted or if it's allowing him this control just to make everything harder for him, but he doesn't care. "Check him," he says, his voice feeling like it's being ripped out of his throat. It hurts, everything hurts, but he can take it. He can't stop now. "Check him, Coop, make sure he's okay. Wake him up. I need him."
His back drops, the pain diminishes and his control is gone. On the floor, his body flips over and the demon slowly rises, getting his knees under his body and then pushing to his feet. The bones in his hand grind and shift, and his entire hand has begun to swell, but none of that stops the demon from continuing to use it. It rises, watching Coop enter the house and Joel can feel his mouth stretching into that same smile he'd been giving Spencer earlier and he hates it. He hates it so much and can only hope that Coop can see through it as well as Spencer could.
It's not me, he wants to scream, but he can't do anything. His body takes several steps forward then stops, his gaze drawn sharply toward the glass doors of the liquor cabinet. Coop is so close and Joel wants to shout at him, he wants to warm him, but he's gone again, deep inside, he can't do anything. He needs Spencer so badly.
You won't get him, the thing says inside his head. I killed him.
It's not true. Joel knows it isn't because he'd be able to feel it. If Spencer was really gone, he would know, even like this, even in this horrible state. He would feel it. None of this would matter anymore. If Spencer was gone, he would tell Coop to leave, to keep himself safe, and he would let the demon take over because he'd have nothing left anyway. But Spencer isn't gone. Joel knows he isn't and so he say nothing, just waits deep inside.
The glass doors of the liquor cabinet explode outward in tiny shards of glass, blowing toward Coop. All the demon had done was twitch one of Joel's hands and there's suddenly glass everywhere. He feels some of it fly past him, one tiny shard slicing the top of his cheek, but most of it doesn't reach that far. Then, one by one, the bottles all shatter, glass and amber liquid cascading down the front of the cabinet and as his body moves through the room, it starts to laugh again.