The Origins of the Amazonian Coven

Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna are all direct descendants of West African natives. Brought to Brazil by Portuguese slave traders in the 1500s from what is modern-day Ghana, three African men managed to escape. One man hit his captor hard in the temple with his heavy shackles, killing him. The man was able to steal the key from the man's body, and he freed the two men he was captured with. They hid in the Amazon rainforest, an inhospitable environment for most humans, but an environment they were somewhat familiar with coming from the semi-deciduous rain forests of West Africa. They eventually found safety and integration with the Guató people of The Pantanal. The Guató were river-dwelling nomads who lived out of their canoes, with most of their diet consisting of grains and fish. Once the three men showed their worth by hunting land animals and presenting them to the Chief, they were accepted into the community. The men each found love within the tribe and all three produced daughters. Kachiri, Zafrina, and Senna naturally banded together as they were still considered outsiders due to their fathers recently integrating. But they grew up as contributing members of the tribe, and were never treated differently.

Kachiri was in her late twenties on that fateful day. Far too old not to be committed to someone in the tribe, but she wasn't considered an option among the men as she had an undeniably close relationship with her childhood friends, Zafrina and Senna. One day, Kachiri was gathering fruit for her tribe several miles from home when she was bitten by a vampire. When she awoke from the immense pain of her transformation, she was met by Christian, the leader of the Brazilian vampire coven. He had taken an interest in Kachiri's beauty and changed her to become his bride. Kachiri did not protest Christian's plan mainly because she was afraid and bloodthirsty and unsure of what and where she was. She overheard Christian telling another coven mate that he would not bed Kachiri until she was no longer a newborn, for only then would she lack the strength to fight him off. As a result, Kachiri worked hard at controlling her newborn wildness on the inside, while still acting like a newborn in Christian's presence. Liana, the coven's linguist and Thiago's mate, taught Kachiri more Portuguese than she already knew, along with English, as many travelers utilized the language. During her first few months, a strange and creepy vampire named Joham visited the coven, talking about his desire to impregnate women in the nearby tribe, where the Brazilians often fed. Internally, Kachiri was horrified by what would happen to Joham's eventual victims, but she said and did nothing. She continued to pretend to be wild and distractible as she worked on her control until she was confident enough to leave on her own. One day while Christian was hunting with Thiago, Kachiri ran. Liana did not attempt to stop her. Kachiri took to the waterways to mask her direction and find her best friends and lovers, who were still with the wetlands tribe.

Kachiri found her friends sitting close together beneath a tree, and when she approached, they were beside themselves with joy that their missing lover was still alive. It was thought by the tribe that Kachiri had been eaten by a jaguar or swallowed by an anaconda, as no body was ever found. Though they were happy to see her, they were confused by the new sharp symmetry of her features. Kachiri explained the fate which befell her and explained what it was like to be a vampire, that she'd been told she would never age or die, but in exchange, she had to drink blood. Zafrina and Senna had not gotten over Kachiri's death, and her loss had weighed heavily on them both every day. The trio had spent their whole lives together and if they didn't have to part again, they didn't want to. They asked to be turned into vampires as well, and Kachiri gladly turned them both, her control ironclad due to her work spent honing it so she could escape Christian before he could claim her.

Kachiri and Senna did not possess a tangible gift, although it could be argued that Kachiri had the gift of superior control if she could fool Christian and turn her two lovers before her newborn year was completed. Zafrina, however, had a rather powerful gift, where she could place whatever visuals she wanted into a person's mind. The three women theorized this talent had been born into her; her father had been a griot, and his father, and his father before that. She had been taught the art of telling their histories and legends, and her tales were so descriptive and convincing that it manifested in her ability to project such detailed illusions.

Together, the three vampires lived in isolation, hiding from Christian and the Brazilians, never to be seen again by their tribe. **(Christian never came to look for Kachiri because he didn't care enough. He just turned the next beauty he saw, and Carla became his wife.) Eventually, the Guató people moved on to another area of the Pantanal. To preserve their anonymity, the three women moved into the deserted area, often feeding in Argentina or Peru, or on poachers in the Amazon Rainforest. This continued for centuries, and the women never encountered others of their kind. They didn't need anyone else besides each other though, so the trio were content with their life.

In the 1940s, the American coven needed to escape the World War II draft. They could not go to Europe where the war was raging, and Asia was also dangerous. They instead travelled to South America, which was relatively untouched by the war, and they enjoyed the varied wildlife they found in the rainforest. This was where they encountered the Amazonian coven. Zafrina immediately used her gift to protect her lovers against the unknown vampires. The leader beseeched the women, saying that they meant no harm, and explained their bizarre way of life. Kachiri had taught Zafrina and Senna the languages she knew, so they were all able to understand Carlisle's words. Zafrina stopped using her gift and the women got to know the five new vampires. They parted on good terms, having forged new friendships with the Cullens: Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward.