Bright stationary star suddenly disappears instantly

My husband and I were looking East off our porch at a bright star we suspected may be a planet because it looked somewhat similar in brightness and size as Mars, which was near it. It was lower on the horizon but still up in the sky, not high up though. We however didn’t remember another planet being in that area and were intrigued by this new, planet looking star. As we are watching it, the once steady intensity of light starts to somewhat fluctuate, dimming and then getting brighter, also subtly changing colors but still staying in the same spot. We commented on how it reminded us of Sirius, maybe it was Sirius we thought. It still seemed unusually bright and it really looked a lot like Mars but not red. As we are suspecting that must be the case, it literally disappears instantly from the sky! It was gone in an instant, my husband and I both saw it at the same time disappear. It did not come off as a ship or flying object however, it looked like a bright star provided its intensity and fixed position. Which is why we were so shocked when it suddenly disappeared.