what do you mean spongy? in my 05 civic, the first ~inch of brake application is soft and afterwards the pedal gets hard. When the engine is off, the hydraulic pump is not running which is why you feel as if pedal is locked (same goes for steering). Its all normal
that grrr sound might be of ABS. Nothing to do with emergency brake... If u brake hard or if the surface is bumpy (speed breaker) the tyre starts slipping so ABS kicks in to stop this slip.
I dont think you have a problem