Spencer is hurt. Joel can see that immediately. His shoulder looks wrong and there's blood in his hair and on the wall and Joel's so angry and so sad all at the same time because he wants to be able to do something, he wants to be able to help, but there's nothing that he can do except watch as the demon carries his body across the room to where Coop is crouched beside Spencer. He'd been right, though, Spencer is still alive and he allows himself that little moment of victory, allows the demon to be privy to it and he feels the demon respond to it with anger. At least for the time being, though, it's anger directed internally instead of externally, an anger that caused a sharp blast of pain when the fingers of his broken hand suddenly all bend back. Two of them snap, but it doesn't matter to Joel. So long as the punishment is focused on him instead of Spencer and Coop. If he can keep the two of them safe until Les and Nerium arrive -- which he can only hope will be soon -- then maybe they have a chance. He can withstand this. He can withstand anything to keep the focus off the two of them.
"Is this... everything?" Joel manages to ask and he's surprised he can speak, but nothing makes sense anymore. There doesn't seem to be any set of rules except that the demon is afraid of Spencer. It's the only thing that remains consistent. Sometimes the anger of the demon is directed at Joel, sometimes it's directed at Spencer and just now it had been directed at Coop. Sometimes he can speak and sometimes he can't. Sometimes he can move and sometimes he's treated like a puppet. Nothing makes sense and Joel knows they can't rely on anything, so he's going to take what he's being given him and he's going to use it as best he can. If he can speak, then Coop can follow what's happening and maybe it can benefit them all. Somehow.
"Is this everything you... can do?" he asks, his voice grinding out like it's old and been misused. "Is... this all... you ha-" His words are cut off in a choked off scream as his arm is jerked behind his body, wrenched until he can feel his fingers going numb. It helps more than it hinders him, though, numbing the pain in his broken bones.
"I have eons of pain upon which to draw," the demon says using Joel's mouth, but the voice isn't his and it's a strange, surreal experience to have, knowing his mouth is moving, knowing the words are coming out of him but hearing them in a voice that sounds like nothing he's ever heard before. "I have inexhaustible resources with which to torture you and I will. I will until you stop trying to save his life."
But he'll never stop. He will never stop and the demon has to know that. It's why his arm is still twisted behind his back, why the muscles in his shoulder and back are beginning to scream in protest, but he doesn't beg and he doesn't make a sound. The longer he can keep this thing distracted, the better chance Coop has of getting Spencer up and that's what he needs right now. He needs Spencer. He needs the rest of them, too, he needs them all to be here because he knows there's no hope of doing this alone.
"You... know that isn't... going to happen," Joel manages to say. He staggers a little on his feet and he's still staring at Coop and Spencer, but he doesn't know if that's because he wants to be looking at them or because the demon is making him look at them. Either way, it's what he needs. He's waiting to see Spencer's eyes open, he's waiting for that moment to know he can let go. He's waiting for the others to arrive and he needs Spencer or Coop or both to be conscious so they can invite them in. If he has to wait like this for the rest of the day to make sure nothing happens to his husband, he will. He'll take every moment, every ounce of pain being fed into his body and he'll take it happily.
He's about to say something else, he's about to issue another challenge to distract the demon further from Spencer and Coop when there's a sound at the door and his body is whirled around to face whoever is coming up the front steps.
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"Is this... everything?" Joel manages to ask and he's surprised he can speak, but nothing makes sense anymore. There doesn't seem to be any set of rules except that the demon is afraid of Spencer. It's the only thing that remains consistent. Sometimes the anger of the demon is directed at Joel, sometimes it's directed at Spencer and just now it had been directed at Coop. Sometimes he can speak and sometimes he can't. Sometimes he can move and sometimes he's treated like a puppet. Nothing makes sense and Joel knows they can't rely on anything, so he's going to take what he's being given him and he's going to use it as best he can. If he can speak, then Coop can follow what's happening and maybe it can benefit them all. Somehow.
"Is this everything you... can do?" he asks, his voice grinding out like it's old and been misused. "Is... this all... you ha-" His words are cut off in a choked off scream as his arm is jerked behind his body, wrenched until he can feel his fingers going numb. It helps more than it hinders him, though, numbing the pain in his broken bones.
"I have eons of pain upon which to draw," the demon says using Joel's mouth, but the voice isn't his and it's a strange, surreal experience to have, knowing his mouth is moving, knowing the words are coming out of him but hearing them in a voice that sounds like nothing he's ever heard before. "I have inexhaustible resources with which to torture you and I will. I will until you stop trying to save his life."
But he'll never stop. He will never stop and the demon has to know that. It's why his arm is still twisted behind his back, why the muscles in his shoulder and back are beginning to scream in protest, but he doesn't beg and he doesn't make a sound. The longer he can keep this thing distracted, the better chance Coop has of getting Spencer up and that's what he needs right now. He needs Spencer. He needs the rest of them, too, he needs them all to be here because he knows there's no hope of doing this alone.
"You... know that isn't... going to happen," Joel manages to say. He staggers a little on his feet and he's still staring at Coop and Spencer, but he doesn't know if that's because he wants to be looking at them or because the demon is making him look at them. Either way, it's what he needs. He's waiting to see Spencer's eyes open, he's waiting for that moment to know he can let go. He's waiting for the others to arrive and he needs Spencer or Coop or both to be conscious so they can invite them in. If he has to wait like this for the rest of the day to make sure nothing happens to his husband, he will. He'll take every moment, every ounce of pain being fed into his body and he'll take it happily.
He's about to say something else, he's about to issue another challenge to distract the demon further from Spencer and Coop when there's a sound at the door and his body is whirled around to face whoever is coming up the front steps.