Tricked For Another Man's Treat (Patreon)

Massive thanks have to go out to my buddy Nate / Soul Controller on this one, not just for his usual beta read but also because this was a story he had actually outlined and crafted for himself but ran out of time to do for Halloween this year and donated the concept to me. It was an incredibly kind gesture and I hope I did him proud with it!

Back in their final two years of high school, alpha jock Todd Loomis and his closest teammates had celebrated every Halloween by trick-or-treating through the neighborhood and then getting drunk at the local park. Sure, it was unusual for high school seniors to still be dressing up and acting like kids, but the locals usually just rolled their eyes and dished out candy when they came knocking. It was a tradition that Todd was eager to repeat, even now that the group had graduated high school and were in their first year of college, which was why he had made the six-hour bus journey back to his small town.

He had begun the journey with high hopes about what the weekend would hold, but by the time the bus entered the town limits, his mood had darkened considerably. One by one his friends had cancelled on the plans, all claiming they were too busy at college to make the journey home. It soon became depressingly clear that the Halloween celebrations were going to be much smaller than they had been in the past. Even the guys who had stayed in the town rather than going to college seemed distant when Todd demanded to know their plans. Was everyone seriously going to bail on him?! Fuckin’ assholes.

Determined that he wasn’t going to waste the money he had spent on the bus journey (although realistically he knew that his father would cover the cost, the forty bucks was spare change to the Loomis patriarch), Todd decided to stick to his original plan. He’d throw on a sports jersey, knock on some doors, get some candy and maybe even some beers from the easily manipulated neighbors. After getting either a sugar high or alcoholic buzz, the jock would go hit up some of the high school’s cheerleaders who would now be in their senior year. Hell, maybe he’d just crash whichever Halloween party he stumbled across. He didn’t need to rely on anybody else to have a good time - he was Todd freakin’ Loomis, he was the good time!

A quick catch-up with his family had confirmed that very little had changed in the town since his departure for college two months prior, although there had been a notable new arrival in the neighborhood. Todd’s mother (always the gossiper) informed him that the house at the very end of their street had been purchased by an elderly man who supposedly came from Romania or some other eastern-european country. According to his mother, the old man was a total recluse and spoke incredibly minimal English, and the only infrequent visitor to ever be seen at his house was a much younger man that her fellow gossiping neighbors presumed to be his grandson. Todd didn’t care much for the story but he hummed politely and nodded along as his mother spoke, knowing all too well that it was better to pretend he cared than to dismiss her entirely. The women of the Loomis family were the highly emotional sort, Todd and his father frequently joked.

When the sun finally disappeared below the horizon, Todd decided it was time to finally put his plan into action. After firing off a series of texts to the friends that had bailed on him, cussing them out for being pansies and posers, the college athlete put on his TJ Watt jersey and Steelers cap and grabbed the pumpkin-shaped bucket that he had used for trick-or-treating since he had been a kid. The catch was that without his friends joining him, he was expected to escort the six-year old son of the Prescotts, their next door neighbors. Said six-year old was Jason, a shrimpy kid with an unfortunate stutter who also happened to hero-worship Todd. The college jock had done his best to argue that taking the kid around the neighborhood wasn’t his responsibility, but his mother had refused to hear it, and his father claimed that he wouldn’t reimburse him for the bus ticket if he upset his mother, so Todd was left with no choice but to play babysitter.

As expected, Jason completely chewed Todd’s ear off from the moment he collected the kid from the house next door. The young boy wanted to know absolutely everything about Todd’s time at college, but especially how it was adjusting to the wrestling team there. In his high school days Todd had become a state wrestling champion three times over, and Jason and his family had attended every competition alongside his own parents. The kid insisted that he would grow up to be just like Todd some day but the arrogant jock highly doubted it; he’d need to be able to string a sentence together if he wanted any chance of being taken seriously!

Although irritated by his annoying company, things went pretty smoothly for the first twenty minutes. It seemed like his mother had been telling all the neighbors about his early successes at college as they all wanted to stop and talk to him for a few minutes before letting him move on to the next house. Todd loved the attention he was receiving, but it did start getting a little boring repeating himself. As such, when they approached the last house on Elm Avenue, where his mother claimed the elderly man who spoke limited English lived, Todd was glad that he wouldn’t be subjected to another interview.

Much to his surprise though, Jason didn’t want to approach the house, confessing that he was scared of both it and the man within. Todd supposed he could understand why the house might seem intimidating to a child, with its gothic design and the dark colors, but he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from getting some more candy. “Stay here and try not piss your pants,” he told the young boy, before marching up the path and slamming his heavy fist down on the door several times.

There was the brief sound of shuffling from within before the door opened a few inches and a heavily wrinkled man with dull eyes and incredibly wispy hair peered out at him. “Trick or treat!” Todd boomed, smirking down at the embarrassing display of frailty before him. Even when he was in his seventies, Todd was confident that he’d never look so weak and vulnerable. It was pathetic that anybody would ever let themselves get into such a state!

In an instant the old man’s face shifted from confusion to remorse and he quickly shook his head - or as quick as an old man with creaking joints could! “No… no…” he replied, beginning to push the door closed. The disrespect of the action prompted Todd’s anger to flare up and with his superior strength he quickly outstretched his hand and refused to let the door close. This time the man spoke more forcefully: “No, nu pentru tine!” He attempted to push on the door again but his measly endeavor was no match against Todd’s youthful strength. “Nu am nimic pentru tine!” There was clear anger and even panic in the decrepit neighbor’s voice and finally Todd relented, but not before spitting at the man’s feet before the door could close.

“Fine, fuck you,” he growled, burgeoning with rage. He returned to where he’d left Jason at the bottom of the path and before the kid could stutter out his question about what had transpired, Todd quickly demanded for him to keep his mouth shut. His sharp attitude wounded the poor kid, but Todd didn’t give a damn. His mind was too busy planning some revenge against that asshole old man for daring to refuse him…

The revenge plan was put into action just a few short hours later. Todd had dropped Jason back off with his parents, devoured some of his own candy and downed a few beers with his dad, before slipping back out of the house and making his way down to the end of the street. He glared up at the menacing abode and wondered what the old man was doing inside before deciding arrogantly that he really didn’t care. All he cared about was making sure the man knew who the king of the neighborhood was and that he’d make a big mistake disrespecting Todd Loomis!

Carried in Todd’s hand was a can of silver spray paint that he’d stolen from the garage, and as he approached the front porch, he was already considering what message to spray across the front door. Unfortunately he didn’t have the most creative mind so he decided to settle for “Fuck U Old Man!” - it was simple and to the point. Right as he’d finished the exclamation mark though, the door suddenly swung open and Todd once again came face to face with the elderly man, only this time the expression on the other’s wrinkled face was one of unmistakable rage!

Firm in his belief that there was nothing the old man would be able to do to him that could hurt or cause him any suffering, Todd remained completely still and smirked smugly at the other. “You should have just given me some fuckin’ candy, dude!” he exclaimed, before sticking up both middle fingers at the man.

Then, with a swiftness that actually caught Todd by surprise, the old man reached out and grabbed the college jock by his wrists. As he did so, he shouted something that was completely incomprehensible to the narrow-minded young man and would invoke some much-deserved just desserts.

Todd was already opening his mouth to tell the old fucker to get his wrinkled hands off of him when his entire body froze up, every one of his muscles tensing all at once and his heart began to race at an unnaturally fast pace. For a fleeting moment he worried that he was having some sort of cardiac arrest, although it seemed impossible considering how young and healthy he was. If anyone was to be keeling over and struggling with heart issues then it should have been the old man who had dared to confront him!

His gaze was locked with the old man’s, and the other’s glare sent a shiver right down Todd’s spine, confusing the young stud. He couldn’t actually be scared, could he? A dull throbbing in his head had started and Todd struggled to breath, with his vision swimming and eventually disappearing behind a grey fog. Then, a sudden sharp pain in his gut prompted him to hunch over as if he had been punched in the stomach, although the violence of the movement managed to break the old man’s grip on his wrists.

Todd remained in his doubled-over state until the cloud over his vision finally started to dissipate and he was able to make out the dark wooden panelling of the porch floor. To his intense confusion though, he no longer seemed to be wearing his designer sneakers (paid for by his father, of course) but rather a pair of cheap slippers, the kind which his grandfather wore. Todd’s attempt to straighten up was thwarted by a sudden pain across his back, so he settled for merely craning his neck to look up at his attacker. Much to his surprise and complete horror though, Todd was no longer looking into the wrinkled face of the old man but rather at his own face: youthful, handsome and grinning like the happiest man alive!

Although he had never been academically bright, Todd wasn’t exactly stupid. He could put the pieces together and work out what had happened: that old fucker switched our bodies! It was the kind of thing that he had thought was only capable in those old Goosebumps books his mother had tried to get him reading as a kid, but this was much more real than Todd wanted to admit. Before he could let out an exclamation to express his surprise, fear and disgust, the old man started speaking first. Once again Todd failed to understand what the other was saying, although he was stunned to realise that it was because the other was actually now speaking English - he no longer understood his own language!

“How did you do this?!” he demanded only to know, only for the words to emerge from his withered lips different: “Cum ai făcut asta?” His furious demand was only met by cruel laughter and Todd was forced to watch as the man now occupying his youthful body lifted up the sports jersey and ran a hand over the hard abs underneath. Todd had never been one to deny that he had a narcissistic streak, but he’d never once contemplated how it would feel to see that streak in action from an outsider’s perspective. Now that he was forced to experience such a moment, he absolutely loathed it. Those strong muscles; the handsome face; the unending stamina; the raw sex appeal; the big cock - all of it was his! He was the young stud, not the creepy old man who was playing pretend in his body!

Out of everything the other was saying - continued taunts, Todd suspected - there was one particular phrase that he heard repeated and was able to understand: old man. Todd burned with anger at the prospect of such a descriptor being used against him, although as he looked down at the frail hands and the skeletal frame that he now possessed, even he couldn’t deny that it was a fitting description. His body ached in so many places such as his joints but no place throbbed with more pain than the muscles in his back, which forbade him from straightening up to his full height. The sheer difference between his powerful younger body and this weak carcass he had been stuffed into with seriously jarring, and Todd couldn’t even verbalise his distress in a manner that others would understand!

As if the situation wasn’t dire enough, glancing down at his withered body had distracted Todd for long enough that the body thief had already made considerable progress down the path and away from the house! Immediately Todd moved to give chase, but his much weaker limbs weren’t nearly strong enough to put him at a good pace and he was quickly forced to steady himself against the porch railing. His knees felt like they were about to give out! Knowing that a pursuit was out of the question, Todd instead called out and demanded the other man stop, but the only response he received was a brief wink before the other disappeared into the night.

With uncharacteristically watery eyes and a racing heart that once again made him nervous for his well being, Todd reluctantly hobbled into the house, closing the graffitied door behind him. Mercifully there was a cane just inside that he was able to use to steady himself, although the humiliation of having to use a walking stick just to stay on his feet was absolutely all-consuming. Todd cursed under his breath and flinched as the words came out in Romanian, just another reminder of how difficult it would be for him to prove his real identity to anyone. His father would be the logical person to turn to but even getting down to the other end of Elm Avenue sounded like an impossible task given his struggles to move without being overcome with pain. There had to be some way of letting someone know the truth though… he couldn’t possibly end up being stuck in this old fucker’s body!

After finding safety in the comfort of an armchair though, Todd’s plans to scour the internet were scuppered as he realised that the old man didn’t even have a cell phone and he couldn’t see a tablet or computer anywhere in sight! Even the television looked like it was about twenty years old. Silently praying that this was all a bad dream and he’d wake up back in his body on the first morning of November, Todd turned on the only source of entertainment he seemed to have available to him, although was once again reminded about his inability to understand the language he’d spent the last eighteen years speaking. Bitterly frustrated and overwhelmed, the former jock eventually gave up searching for a programme that he could understand and settled on whatever might serve as passable background noise.

Mercifully it wasn’t all that long until Todd’s tired body granted him the sleep he so desperately desired, although his torment would continue in the land of his dreams. The unwelcome nightmare placed him at an airport where he was trapped in a wheelchair while his own body disappeared beyond the departure gate and took off to live the rest of his life…

🎃

Emil snapped the photo of his reflection and let out a chuckle of approval at the gorgeous sight he had captured. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to gain access to such a delightful body, but it seemed like luck had been in his favour for once. Emil had always loved Halloween, whether it was back in his native Romania as a child, or when he had first moved to the States with his own children. Even compared to all those wonderful memories though, this would go down as the best Halloween of his life. He’d recognised the muscular kid to be the rotten sort immediately and even though Emil hadn’t actually understood what was being said to him, the young man’s aggressive body language had communicated enough. It was just his luck that the punk had decided to come back to enact some childish revenge; how could he have known that it was precisely what Emil had been waiting for?

It had been Emil’s plan all along to find a new body to switch into once he had moved into the neighborhood, but he had been biding his time until he found the perfect body. He hadn’t expected it to appear right at his door on Halloween of all nights, but his family had long ago taught him the importance of seizing opportunities when they arose and that was precisely what he had done! He had attempted to explain his plans to his grandson Florian who had been kindly checking up on him every few days, but the young man put his claims down to senility and joked that he’d have to put Emil in a retirement home if he kept talking so crazily. Oh, if only he could see me now! I’ve got an even better body than his. He had every intention of reuniting with his grandson but he knew that he’d have a hard job convincing him of the truth. Florian had always been a skeptic and unwilling to believe Emil’s claims that their family had been blessed with traces of magical ability. Perhaps the young man would never believe him and although that would be a shame, Emil was confident that he’d still manage to have great fun in his new body.

In the twelve hours since switching into the body of Todd Loomis, the former Romanian immigrant had done everything he possibly could to get to know his new body better. Not only had he given it a rather thorough physical inspection (and was delighted with his new stamina), but he had also familiarised himself with Todd’s various social media profiles and learned all he could about his friends and the rest of the Loomis family. He’d quickly discovered a packed bag that contained a bus ticket that would take him across state lines and a college identification card, as well as a wrestling singlet. Oh yeah, this new life of mine is going to be a lot of fun! 

Everything he had found indicated that he would be living a life of privilege from then on and he wouldn’t even have a language barrier to hold him back anymore! He’d be able to get any girl he wanted and perhaps even get the chance to experiment with guys - that was something the younger generation liked to do when they were in college, right? No doubt his peers would love his tight muscular body, especially when it was squeezed into a wrestling singlet and all the goods were on display for everyone to see.

After posting his latest selfie to his social media pages, the new Todd Loomis finally placed a shirt over his muscular torso and collected his bags. He had decided to get an earlier bus back to college so he could start his new life even sooner. In a few months he would be back in the neighborhood for the Christmas break and he’d have plenty of opportunity to taunt the new Emil then - if Florian hadn’t put him in the retirement home like he’d been threatening to! Oh well, that’s his issue now. Todd couldn’t help but grin as he thought about that arrogant punk being forced into an old folks home and how humiliated he would probably feel. Just what he deserves, I say!

Before skipping town though, Todd decided that it would be polite for him to check in with young Jason Prescott next door and apologise for his behaviour the previous day. He had watched through the window of his living room as the cocky teen had teased and dismissed the younger boy like he was nothing more than dirt on his shoe, and he was a firm believer that such behaviour couldn’t go unchecked. While he wasn’t exactly a perfect person, he was a grandfather and didn’t like the idea of him (or his body at least) having caused misery for a young boy.

Indeed, Jason seemed rather hesitant when his mother called him to the door to speak with “Todd” and the old man-turned-young jock felt a lingering bitterness towards the individual he had replaced. Thankfully their conversation soon lightened as the teen jock lowered himself to the boy’s level and suggested that the next time he rolled into town they could have a proper hangout as buddies, and he’d start teaching the boy how to grow up to be big and strong like him. The suggestion clearly delighted Jason, and Todd walked away with a much better feeling about himself too, although that didn’t necessarily mean his business in the neighborhood was done just yet... 

Now with further evidence of the damage the self-centered jock’s ego had clearly wreaked upon the people around him, it seemed clear to the new Todd that his body-swapping partner deserved a little more humiliation. As such, he decided to make one more stop by his old house before heading to the bus station, just so he could wish the new Emil the best of luck in his new life. There was no doubt that the other would need it! Maybe he’d even take his shirt off and flex his muscles to really drive home what a beautiful body the other had lost - and would never ever get back!