Blood red seeps across the sky, sliding towards them. It stains the clouds, burning, fighting to stay alive as the sun slips down, greeting the other side of the globe slowly but surely. Even the sea is tinted, looking like a glittering fire. The flames come closer, wave after wave. They lap gently at their toes on the shore, teasing, knowing they could cause devastation.

And everything comes to a slow halt. No shifting winds, no noises, no more breathing. Time is frozen in that moment, perfection and flaw preserved.

To them, it looks like the end of the world.

***

There’s contentment inside of Spencer that feels as natural as breathing. It’s rhythmic and deep, and it’s moving her head and upper body in an enchanting lull that makes her eyelids droop every so often, only to open and find the unnerving blanket of deepening darkness above her. A shudder moves across her body at the sight. It looks as though the world is bleeding through a wound she can’t see.

Dying slowly for the sky to show.

***

There’s a star or two that manages to shine through the Los Angeles smog while the sun makes its descent. The transition makes the stars look like dots marring the colorful expanse above; almost as if mistaken they are even there. So close that one might be able to reach out and touch one of them, just for a moment, because they would burn everything alive.

The stars don’t care that the world is ending. They’ll burn forever.

***

Shivers slide down Spencer’s spine each time she feels slim fingers running along her scalp, through her hair, and she rests her hand on the knee bent to her right as if it could anchor her. It’s bare and she can feel goose bumps form on smooth skin when she lets her hand drift down to that warm leg.

***

The sun is falling further, and it’s taking the world with it. The ocean is on fire, filling the air with a heat that makes the head foggy. It’s heavy and weighs everyone down, pins them to the earth.

***

The stomach underneath Spencer’s head contracts with what she assumes is a chuckle. She smiles to the sky and runs her fingertips up and down, following the curves beneath her hand.