Author's Note: Hello readers! Thanks for your opinions on the last chapter and thanks to all who simply read it as well! I greatly appreciate it. Just so you know, this chapter takes a little peak at what the family went through (excluding Gabe and Charlie, since they weren't born yet). There's a lot more for you guys to find out so fasten your seat belts - this is going to be one hell of a ride! I'm taking this pace by pace and I'm not rushing into anything, so please be patient. I hope you guys enjoy!

Story Title: Far From Gone

Written By: ButterflyCryx

Chapter Two: Amy's Bad Dream

*Amy's flashback*

"Amy! Amy, where the fuck are you!"

Hiding in the closet with her two children, she whispered for them to be quiet. They were both crying now, their little hearts beating extremely fast. P.J was only seven and Teddy was only five. Amy knew they didn't deserve to go through this. She covered her daughters ears and told her son to cover his own, attempting to block out her husbands loud voice. It unfortunately failed.

"AMY! You bitch! Get out here! Where's my son and daughter?" the man slurred, searching his house for them. He clutched a beer bottle in his left hand and swung it widly as he looked. Determined to find them, he ascended the stairs, his loud footsteps scaring the children even more.

"Mommy, he's coming. He's coming to hurt us." P.J said, shaking violently with fear. Amy kissed her sons forehead then held him close to her chest.

"Shh, he's not going to hurt you P.J. Don't worry."

This was a promise she always made to the young girl and boy. She never let them down.

P.J knew what she meant by that, even at his young age. Living the way he did, he had learned more then his brain could fathom. With sad eyes, he looked up at his mother, who was now nine weeks pregnant. No one knew but herself. She feared what a drunk Bob would do to her if he found out they were expecting a third child, so she decided to keep it a secret.

"No, I don't want him to hit you!" P.J said, holding onto his mother. The footsteps grew louder and closer, then the closet door swung open.

"You thought that you could hide from me?" Bob shouted, reaching out to grab his wife by her hair.

"No daddy, no! Leave her alone! Please!" Teddy begged, watching as her father dragged her mother away from them. P.J was also pleading for his father to let Amy go. Without saying a word to them, Bob locked the closet door then threw his wife onto the bed. P.J and Teddy could hear how hard Bob was slapping Amy. The violent sounds seem to vibrate throughout the entire room.

"When were you going to tell me you were pregnant, huh? WHEN? YOU SLUT!"

P.J and Teddy held onto each other, fearing for their mother's life. Amy once told them to just count to a hundred and it would be all over. Teddy looked at her brother then began to count.

"One…" she said.

"Two." P.J said after. Amy began to scream as Bob kicked her in her stomach numerous times, calling her every bad name known to man. The two kids flinched at the sounds but countinued to count.

"Three."

"Four."

"F-Five… P.J, he's hurting mommy." Teddy said in a shaky tone, her tears were falling hard now. P.J held his sister tighter, then whispered into her ear.

"Mommy is gonna be okay-"

"I should kill you, you good for nothing whore!"

"Bob, p-please, you're drunk! You're scaring the kids-" Amy was interrupted by another kick in her stomach. She coughed then gasped for air. Bob grabbed her by her night gown then held her up so she could face him.

"Shut the fuck up Amy! This is all you're fault! You hear me! THIS IS ALL OF YOUR FAULT! You hear that kids? Blame your mother for this!" Bob yelled as he lifted the bear bottle and hit Amy on the head with it.

*End of Amy's flashback*

The sun began to peak throught the beige curtains that hung in the Duncan's living room. Amy, who had fallen asleep on the couch with Gabe, immediately woke up and reacted to the light. Her eyes opened then closed again at the bright contact. She rubbed at them vigorously, then realized she was on the couch. She looked down at her sleeping son then smiled. While pushing her nightmare, but what was more like a memory, to the far corners in her distraught mind, she removed some of his brown hair then softly kissed the top of his forehead. This caused Gabe to stir then slowly open his left eye.

"Mom?" he said in a low tone, looking up at Amy. The blonde smiled then caressed the side of her son's face. Just one look at him and the horrible memory began to slowly fade away. She needed an escape and her children always seemed to be the best way out.

"Yes baby?" she replied in an equal tone. He closed his eyes then smiled.

"I want pancakes." The ten year old said before dozing off to sleep again. Amy tried not to laugh aloud and instead giggled. She gently moved him off of her then got up from the sofa. She stretched for a few seconds then walked into her kitchen. The clock on the microwave read 6:39 am. It was a Saturday and the kids had separate places to go by 7:30. Teddy had a book club that she had been apart of since her freshman year in high school, being held in the neighborhood library. P.J had guitar lessons in a recreational center. Gabe had soccer practice and Charlie had 'Mommy and Me' with Amy. Sighing, she debated on whether or not she should wake her two oldest. She didn't want to argue or upset any of them but how else would they get to where they were supposed to be? They were both heavy sleepers and Amy knew it. She finally came up with a decision then left her kitchen. She stopped once she spotted Gabe and her mind began to wander.

Why couldn't P.J and Teddy at least respect her like he had? Sure, the ten year old was the bad apple out of the bunch, due to his history of egging the nieghbors cars and gluing things on his baby sister, but he was always so good towards his mother. Despite the nasty things Mrs. Dabney and his teachers at school said about him, Amy knew Gabe was a good kid. P.J and Teddy, as obedient as they were at school and to everyone around them, had disrespected Amy to the point where they would throw things at her. Yes, Amy knew it was unacceptable but she couldn't fight back. No matter how many times P.J would yell and physically push her away from him, she couldn't yell or punish him for it. She'd simply plead him to calm down and listen to her, but that didn't work.

Teddy managed to do much worse.

Not wanting to think about the horrible experiences she had with her teenage daughter, Amy shrugged it off then approached the stairs. She stopped again, getting that same feeling in the pit of her stomach.

It was called fear. Amy shook her head as tears threatened to be released. She was afraid of her own children, something she never thought would happen to her.

'This is sad. You're scared of your own kids Amy. How could you let everything get so bad?'

She shook her head once more then wiped her eyes. She couldn't cry and she definitely couldn't let them see her like this. She built up the last of her strength and began to walk up the stairs.

"P.J? Sweetheart? Wake up…" Amy whispered into her sons ear. P.J stirred slightly then opened his eyes. He looked at his mother then turned away from her, adjusting himself in his bed. Amy sighed then reached out to nudge him. P.J quickly moved away from her touch then sat up.

"I heard you, okay? Just get out!" he yelled, watching her face fall. She quickly recovered then tried to smile, backing out of his room.

"Sorry, I didn't want to bother but-"

"Leave, please."

Amy immediately stopped talking then exited his room. She walked back down the steps and saw Charlie on top of Gabe.

"I want cereal!" the four year old exclaimed while jumping on her brother.

"Charlie! Get off of me!" Gabe complained as the four year old giggled.

"Charlie, please get off of your brother."

"Okay mommy!" she said, hopping off of Gabe. She ran to Amy then gestured for her to pick her up. Amy happily lifted Charlie into her arms then covered her face with kisses. She giggled then kissed Amy's cheeks back. The two of them went on until Teddy appeared.

"Thanks a lot for waking me up." She grumbled, pushing past her mother.

"Sweetie I was going to…"

"Hey Gabe, do you want some pancakes?" Teddy interrupted, smiling at the boy. He nodded then watched as his sister disappeared into the kitchen. He sadly looked at Amy, who was feeling a bit hurt.

Those feelings were nothing new.

"Mom, I'll go get Charlie ready for 'Mommy and Me'." Gabe offered, grabbing his sister from his mothers hands.

"Thanks honey. " she replied, then amped up the courage to go into the kitchen. As she entered, Teddy was already working on the pancake mix. She stared at her daughter, not saying a word. She was too scared to.

"What?" Teddy asked annoyingly, suddenly mixing the pancakes faster. Amy cleared her throat then approached her daughter.

"Nothing, I was just going to apologize for not waking you up earlier. Me and Gabe fell asleep on the couch."

Silence. Amy waited for a response but didn't get one, so she spoke again.

"How's book club?"

Teddy stopped what she was doing and looked at her mother, arching an eyebrow.

"You care because…?"

"I…uh… I just wanted to see how it was going." Amy knew she was shaking but tried her best to control it. She always got like this whenever she talked to Teddy. With P.J, it wasn't so bad. She never wanted to say something that would upset her, even though everything she did seemed to.

"They're fine. Are you done finding excuses to talk to me?" Teddy snapped, getting back to the pancake mix. Amy closed her eyes then looked down. Just as she was about to respond, P.J walked in.

"Hey Teddy." He said, approaching his sister and completely ignoring his mother.

"Hey P.J, do you want some pancakes?"

"Sure, sounds good. Am I walking you to book club today?"

Amy couldn't help but jump into the conversation.

"I thought I'd drive you kids-"

"Yeah P.J, I'd appreciate it. Thanks." Teddy said, interrupting her mother. The two got back to ignoring Amy and engaged in small talk as the blonde sat down. Gabe entered the kitchen with Charlie, both of them fully dressed and ready to start their day. It was now 6:53 am.

The two kids greeted their older siblings then waited for breakfast to be made. Gabe looked over to his mom then looked back at his brother and sister.

"Are you guys making mom breakfast too?" he dared to ask. Teddy looked at P.J then at Gabe.

"She can make it herself." She said, placing one on P.J's plate.

"Why don't you just make her one since you're already-"

"Here you go Charlie, enjoy!" Teddy exclaimed as she placed a perfect pancake on a plate for her little sister. Charlie smiled wide.

"Thank you." She said, running to Amy afterwards.

"Feed me mommy." She asked, holding out the plate to her mother. Amy smiled.

"Of course baby girl, let me get you a fork."

Teddy rolled her eyes then moved so her mother could get a fork for Charlie. Amy put some syrup on the pancake then quickly exited the kitchen.

Gabe looked at his siblings then shook his head, knowing this was going to be another long day.

TBC

More of the family's violent past will be revealed and Amy's feelings towards her deceased husband will be discussed. Stay tuned for the next chapter! OH, and please, review! They give me the power to update much faster.